THURLBY GRANGE

Thurlby Grange

This was originally part of the estates of Peterborough Abbey, owned by them probably from Saxon times.  It was given as part of the endowment of the Convent of St. Michael, Stamford Baron, by William Waterfall, Abbot of Peterborough, in 1156 when he founded the Convent, to which endowment additions were made by;-

• Grace Humilie early in the 13th.  Century
• The purchase of reclaimed land in Northwood, Thurlby, in 1279,
• The gift  of land at Obthorpe in 1290 by Roger La Kew and Alexander Lucas,
• The gift of land at Obthorpe in 1291 by Alan Cook.

The Convent leased their estate in Thurlby:

• 1452 to  Simon Hareby, knight
• 1475 to William Bloodless of Thurlby
• 1537 to Thomas Tholmowode
• 1538 to Robert Weldon or Isaac Mychill
• 1539 to Robert of Wilsthorpe.

At the suppression of the Convent the estate was, presum­ably confiscated by the Crown, and it passed, by exchange of lands, to Eton College in 1546,   “to whom it was granted by Letters Patent   in 1547.  After acquiring the estate, Eton College had Terriers drawn up in 1552, 1554 and 1559, and Surveys made in 1566 and 1615.

With the ownership of this land went the Lay Impropriatorship, or responsibility for the maintenance of the fabric of the Chancel of the Parish Church, which responsibility is still theirs.

Par­ticulars of the leases that follow appear in Eton College Records.

• 1560                     To Richard Harobye
• 1580                     To Thomas Cecill of Burlegh, the eldest son of Lord Burghley.

Rent, 20 quarters of malt, £13.8s.0d and a boar at Christmas, with the lia­bility to provide for the lessors and their horses should they visit the farm, and food for two days and two nights

• 1609 –                to Henry Stoyte of Castor, gent. Nicholas Stoyte of Uffington, gent and Tobie Stoyte of Workesworth, clerk.       Rent,  £l0.14s.8d.   and 20 quarters of malt, and a boar or the money equivalent
• 1609 – 1613     to Henry Stoyte of Castor, gent. Nicholas Stoyte of    Uffington  gent, and William Stoyte of Coventry, mercer
• 1613 – 1624       to Henry Stoyte of Thurlby, gent. Dorothy widow of Nicholas Stoyte, and William Trolloppe of Thurlby, gent. Rent, £10.14s.8d. and 20 quarters of malt, 8 quarters of wheat, and a boar or its value.
• 1624 – 1637       to  Dorothy Stoyte  widow, John Stoyte of Thurlby,gent.-and William Trolloppe  of  Thurlby,  gent.
• 1637 – 1653       to  Dorothy Stoyte widow,  James Trolloppe of Thurlby,gent, and Stephen Smith of Thurlby,  yeoman.
• 1653 –  ?               to   Simon Degge  of Thurlby,   esq. and Alice his wife.
• ?       – 175?           to Alice Minshull of London, spinster.
• 1768 – 1772       to John Hubbard of Thurlby, yeoman
• 1772 –                   to Richard Hubbard of Thurlby, yeoman At  this time the Eton College  estate   in Thurlby was  about  120 acros which, with the great tithe, was worth about£1500
• 1786 – 1793       to  Joseph Pare of Bourne,  draper.
• 1793  – 1804       to Lord Brownlow of Belton Park.  Rents  576 gallons of wheat  and 1,440 gallons of malt
• 1804 – 1816        to Thomas Rawnsley of Bourne, gent, and William Hardwick of Market  Deeping,   gent.

Buildings costing £1,520 were erected at The Grange in 1807 –   1808.  At this time  the Eton College estate   in Thurlby was about 427   acres,   including the  enclosures of the  common and open fields

• 1816 – 1832               to Robert  Steevens Harrison of Thurlby,  grazier,
• 1832 – 1841               to Thomas Sturton of Holbeach,   gent.   Alfred Harri­son of Thurlby,  gent,   the Rev.  William Tennant  of Castle  Bytham,   John Linnoy of  South Witham,   farmer and  grazier, and Edward  Arden  of Morton, gent
• 1841 – ?                      to Robert Hawkins Nicholls of Bourne,  gent
• ?     – 1848                  to Harriet Harper of Stamford widow, Eleanor Thomp­son  of Taunton spinster, William Thompson of  Stam­ford,   gent,   and the Rev.William Tennant of Castle Bytham
• 1848 –  1868             to Thomas Cook Hubbard of Witham–on-the-Hill, farmer  and grazier.
• 1868——–              to William Hubbard of Thurlby, farmer and grazier,

The  existing residence  displays a tablet with the date l877,  which suggests when it was built.

• Mr   Callis Bell  bought The Grange  from Eton College.
• Mr  A.Holbourne  bought  it from Mr.Callis Bell.
• Mr   F. Richardson of Morton bought it from Mr A. Holbourne
• Mr  J.K.  Gandy bought   it  from Mr  F.  Richardson,   1938.
• Mrs R.H. Cooke  received it by bequest from Mr J.K.Gandy, 1960