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Crowland in Lincoln County England History and GeographyCROWLAND, or CROYLAND, a parish (formerly a market town) in the wapentake of ELLOE, parts of HOLLAND, county of LINCOLN, 51 miles (S.S.E.) from Lincoln, and 89 (N.) from London, containing 2113 inhabitants. During the Heptarchy this place was the retreat of St. Guthlac, who in the reign of Cenred, eighth king of Mercia, retired from the persecution of the pagan Britons into a hermitage, near which Ethelbald, in 716, founded a Benedictine monastery to the honour of St. Mary, St. Bartholomew, and St. Guthlac, endowing it with a considerable sum of money, and with ';the whole island of Croyland, formed by the four waters of Shepishea on the east, Nena on the west, Southea on the south, and Asendyk on the north, with a portion of the adjoining marshes, and with the fishery of the Nene and Welland.' This monastery, which, from the marshy nature of the soil, was built upon an artificial foundation of piles, having been destroyed by the Danes in 870, was rebuilt by King Edred in the year 948; in 1091 it was by an accidental fire reduced to a heap of ruins, from which, under the influence of its abbot, who granted a plenary indulgence to such as should contribute to its restoration, it was again rebuilt in 1112, but was destroyed, by a like cause, about forty years afterwards; it was a third time restored, with increased splendour, and continued to flourish till the dissolution, at which time its revenue was £1217. 5. 11.: the conventual buildings, which from neglect were gradually falling to decay, were almost entirely demolished during the parliamentary war, when the monastery was occupied as a garrison: the remains are highly interesting, consisting chiefly of the western piers of the eastern portion, in the Norman style, and of some portion of the nave and aisles of the abbey church, in which the south piers and arches, and part of the clerestory, are remaining, the western part of which is partly in the Norman, and partly in the early and later styles of English architecture: the north aisle of the nave has been restored, and is now used as the parish church. The town, which is accessible only by artificial roads, consists of four principal streets, separated by watercourses, and communicating with each other by means of an ancient triangular stone bridge of singular construction, erected in the reign of Edward II., and consisting of one principal and finely groined arch, from which diverge three pointed arches over the streams Welland, Nene, and Catwater; the building is in the decorated style of English architecture, on one side of which is a mutilated figure of Ethelbald in a sitting posture, and holding a globe in the right hand. The principal employment of the inhabitants is agriculture, the feeding of cattle, and the management of the dairy: a great number of geese and wild fowl are sold for the neighbouring markets, and an extensive fishery is carried on, for the privilege of which £300 per annum, formerly paid to the abbot of the monastery, is now paid to the crown: the soil, under the influence of an efficient system of irrigation, has been greatly improved, and much of the land formerly unprofitable from the morasses with which its surface was covered, has been converted into rich pastures and fruitful corn fields: the engines employed in draining the water from the fens are of considerable power, and are set in motion by wind; one of them, which has twelve sails, throws up forty tons of water every minute. The market formerly held here has been removed to Thorney, in the county of Cambridge; but a fair is held annually, commencing on the festival of St. Bartholomew, and continuing for twelve days. The living is a rectory not in charge, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Lincoln, and in the alternate patronage of T. O. Hunter, and James Whitsed, Esqrs. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew and St. Guthlac, though consisting only of the north aisle of the nave of the abbey church, is a commodious and very handsome edifice, chiefly in the later style of English architecture, with a low massive tower; the west front, which is highly enriched, is ornamented with several statues of kings and abbots, among which are those of St. Guthlac and St. Bartholomew, and of King Ethelbald, the first of whom was interred in a small stone building near the abbey, probably his abode while leading the life of an anchorite, from which circumstance, perhaps, originated its modern names, ';Anchorage House,' and ';Anchor Church House;' the interior contains an ancient font, divided into compartments, a cylindrical stoup, and some well executed screen-work; the roof is finely groined, and the windows are large, and decorated with elegant tracery. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. Between the river Welland and the marshes is a causeway, on which, at the distance of two miles from the town, is St. Guthlac's pyramid; and in the neighbourhood are many stone crosses. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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