Owston Ferry Local History Pack

• The name
• The place
• Population history
• Entry from Kelly's Trade Directory for 1900.
• Holdings in North Lincolnshire Local Studies Library.
• References in the Star Newspaper Index.
• Related websites.

The name

Referred to as Ostone in 1086 translated the villages name means 'farmstead, village to the east (of Haxey)'.

More information can be found in:

• Cameron, Keith The Place-Names of Lincolnshire.
• Eminson T.B.F. Place and River Names of the West Riding of Lindsey Lincolnshire.
• Mills, A.D. A Dictionary of English Place Names.

The place

The village of Owston Ferry is located along side the River Trent in the Isle of Axholme. The village has strong links with the Mowbray family. The families stronghold in Owston Ferry, Kinnard's Castle, was destroyed in the early 1170's by Geoffrey Plantagenet. Within the earthworks of the destroyed castle stands the parish church of St Martin, which dates from the 14th and 15th century. An archway erected in 1859 by Archdeacon Stonehouse dominates the approach to St Martin's.

Population history

Entry from Kelly's Trade Directory for 1900

OWSTON FERRY is a parish, township and pleasant village, in the Isle of Axholme, extending along the west bank of the river Trent, from Heckdyke Lane End, in the county of Nottingham, to the parish of West Butterwick, and adjoining the parishes of Haxey on the west and Epworth on the north, 4 miles north-east from Haxey station on the Spalding and Doncaster section of the Great Northern and Great Eastern joint railway, 9 miles from Gainsborough and 15 north-east from Bawtry, in the West Lindsey division of the county, west division of the wapentake of Manley, Epworth petty sessional division, Gainsborough union and county court district, parts of Lindsey, rural deanery of Axholme, archdeaconry of Stow and diocese of Lincoln. The church of St. Martin is a building of stone and brick, chiefly in the Early English style, the oldest portion dating from the end of the 12th century, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower with pinnacles containing 6 bells: the stained east window and two more were given by Miss Francis Sandars in 1836, and there were five others: in the chancel are inscribed slabs with shields of arms, to Henry Masterman esq. 1674; to D'Arcy Stanhope esq. 1681, placed by Isabella, his widow; John Stanhope esq. 1705; to the family of Pindar, of Brumby Wood Hall, 1628-1813; the family of Littlewood, 1797-1837; and that of Peart, 1795-1824: In the chancel is also a large fractured slab with a deeply incised inscription in Old English characters to Richard Becbanke, vicar, ob. 1458; this church was anciently the burial place of the Sheffield family, and there were here in 1530 five tombs, which John, Earl of Mulgrave, in the reign of Charles II, is said to have removed to the church of Burton-on-Stather, where there is a mutilated effigy of one of the Sheffields, with a tablet recording the removal: in 1790 the nave roof was renewed, and shortly afterwards those of the aisles, the clerestory being, in the course of these alterations, destroyed; at this time also the ancient oak benches were replaced by pews; the chancel retains a piscina, and there is another in the south aisle: in 1823 a vestry was erected on the north side of the chancel, and in 1835 a organ was presented by Elizabeth Stonehouse and placed in a loft built at the cost of the Most Rev. Edward V. Harcourt D.D archbishop of York (1808-41), and Earl Beauchamp: in 1896 the chancel was refurnished and the walls decorated, and in 1897 a rood screen, designed by Mr. H.G Gamble A.R.I.B.A. of Lincoln, was erected, much of the work being executed in the village, the nave roof lengthened and restored to its original form, the western gallery removed and the tower arch opened, the north aisle arranged as a chapel with vestries, the flooring re-laid and the interior reseated, the panelling of the old pews being converted into a wainscot, and placed around the walls of the church: a good carved oak chest is preserved in the church, which affords 600 sittings: the approach to the church is through a beautiful stone arch, and an avenue of elms, sycamores and chestnuts planted about 1823. The earliest register, including West Butterwick, consists of some loose leaves only, from the date 1603, but the registers are continuous from 1709; there are also churchwardens' accounts from 1660to 1684. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £300, including 70 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the crown, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Harry Emmitt Clark. The ecclesiastical Commissioners are impropriators of the great tithe. Here is a Weslyan chapel, built in 1837. A detached church burial ground of half an acre was acquired in 1883, but is used only for burials solemnized in accordance with the rites of the Church of England. A cemetery of 1 ½ acres was formed in 1881, with a mortuary chapel, at the cost of £700; and is under the control of the parish council. A fair and also a market were once held here. There is a warping drain, which enters the river here, 90 feet wide and 9 mile long and flooding 700 acres. Here are almshouses, built in 1860, and endowed by the late Miss Frances Sandars, in the year 1860, for six poor women, who receive 5s. per week each. The poor's land produces £42 yearly for fuel, and there are charities of £5 for yearly distribution. Archdeacon Stonehouse, late vicar of the parish, left in 1862 the interest of £5,800, and Miss Sandars, in 1868, the interest of £5300 for various charitable purposes. Near the church is Castle Hill, and various Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood. The trustees of the late Albert Parkin Esq. are lords of the manor. The principal landowners are Thomas Wilkinson esq. of Barnsley, York's, Samuel Pulleine esq. Messrs. Hutton and Skipworth, John Barnard esq. the trustees of the late Thomas Horberry esq. and Matthew Maw esq. of Cleatham Hall, Manton. The soil is clay and warp; subsoil peat. The chief crops are wheat, barley, celery, potatoes and beans. The area of the entire parish is 5102 acres of land, 24 of water, 73 of tidal water and 11of foreshore; rateable value, £6196; the population in 1891 was 1294.

Holdings in North Lincolnshire Local Studies Library

• Owston Ferry History Society. Living off the Land. 1988.
• Read's History of the Isle of Axholme: 1858. pp294 - 310.
• Stonehouse, W.B. The history and topography of the Isle of Axholme. pp222 - 246.

References in the Star Newspaper Index

• Passive Resistance League formed LLS 26.09. 1903 5b.
• Trent Bank subsides SFS 03.02. 1931 11c.
• Epidemic of Diptheria - 3 deaths SFS 09.02. 1935 10e.
• Aegir on Trent clearly visible (Tidal Wave) SFS 24.08. 1935 11c.
• Mill gutted by fire SFS 01.05. 1937 7e.
• Trent floods - property damaged SFS 20.02. 1943 1c.

Related websites

• Owston Ferry (Isle of Axholme Family History Society).