Holywell is a tiny settlement in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Careby Aunby and Holywell Careby Aunby and Holywell is a civil parish in the district of South Kesteven, south-west Lincolnshire, in England. It stretches from the county border with Rutland in the west to the River West Glen in the east. The B1176 road from Corby Glen p ...

, in the

South Kesteven South Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. Its council is based in Grantham. The district also includes the towns of Bourne, ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. It lies north from Stamford and south-west from Bourne. It is a collection of houses around a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

and park. The park includes a small private church dedicated to

St Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and beca ...

. Ornamental lakes have been restored over the last 20 years, and new gardens laid out. In 2009 the gardens were open to the public through the National Garden Scheme. Two venerated springs are reported in the village, Holy Well and St Winifred's. Only the location of the first is known. There are no other place names associated with venerated springs in Lincolnshire, although other Holy Wells exist such as those near the site of Sempringham Priory and nearby

Ryhall Ryhall is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is situated close to the eastern boundary of the county, about 2 miles (3 km) north of Stamford, Lincolnshire, ...

History

Geograph-1238066-St-Wilfreds-Holywell-by-Wendy-Parkinson

The 1885 '' Kelly's Directory'' notes that Holywell with Aunby consists of with chief agricultural of barley and wheat, and an 1881 population of 63, and that "a medicinal spring rises here from where the place takes its name". Holywell Hall, a mansion in "well-wooded park", was then the seat of Charles Thomas Samuel Birch-Reynardson DL,

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

, and sole landowner. The chapel in the park, a small stone building in Early English style, was reconstructed in reign of Queen Anne. It comprises a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

and two-bell

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. A restoration of 1863-64 included the replacement of a previous flat roof with one of open timber, with the church interior re-fitted in oak, "effected under the superintendence of rector Rev J B Reynardson".''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, p. 483 In 1916 ''Cox'' stated that Holywell is a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

of Careby parish. The church in Holywell Hall grounds was moved in 1699 from a site east of the Castle Bytham road 'between the bridge and the mill' where it had been subject to frequent flooding. It incorporates material from the destroyed church of Aunby, including two Norman piers that support the tower, a Decorated doorway and a window glazed with

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style glass.Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' p. 168; Methuen & Co. Ltd. '' Pevsner '' adds that St Wilfrid's church stands south of Holywell Hall as one of its garden ornaments, has an east window with a mosaic of small fragments from the 15th to 19th centuries, and a

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist (as in a mass). It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Wes ...

and

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

dated 1662. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Harris, John; ''The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire'' pp. 575, 576; Penguin, (1964); revised by Nicholas Antram (1989), Yale University Press. St Wilfrid's is Grade II* listed. In 1921 the parish had a population of 67. On 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished to form "Careby, Aunby and Holywell".

Holywell Hall

Holywell Hall is a Grade II* listed 17th-century country house, built on the site of an older medieval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. It was built in three phases. Beginning as an L-shaped house, it was extended in either 1732 or 1764, and again in the early 19th century. The west front of the house is possibly from 1764, and the south and east fronts from the 19th century. In 1728, it was bought from the Goodhall family by Lady Mary Barnadiston, née Reynardson, for her nephew Samuel Reynardson. Reynardson may have laid out the gardens, and built the temples in

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style in 1732, the time of his marriage. South-west of the house, against a lake, is a Grade II* listed fishing temple with

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

ed Roman Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

and rusticated windows. It is identical to the

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

at Hackwood and published in his 1728 "Book of Architecture". Facing the hall's drive are listed Palladian stables with an octagonal domed

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

. Further listed buildings are a 17th-century

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

, an

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

to the west of the hall, and a three-arched balustraded bridge on the road between two easterly lakes. In 1954 the Hon. Mrs Mountjoy Fane (Agatha Isabel Acland-Hood-Reynardson) sold the hall with 69 acres to Philip Lockwood who owned Lockwood Foods Ltd. Mrs Fane retained ownership of several hundred acres of farm land. In 1977 Philip Lockwood emigrated to France and the Hall was then occupied by his son, William Lockwood. In 1984 the hall was sold to Keith Childs who had a shoe import business, Holywell Footwear Ltd, based at the Hall. In 1994 the hall and 830-acre estate was sold to Princess Yuri Galitzine (Dr. Jean Shanks) for £4m. In 2003 it was sold to Robert Gillespie for £7m. In October 2013 the hall with approximately 76 acres was sold for £4.7m to a company based in the British Virgin Islands, Slipstream Overseas SA. The farmland of 863 acres was sold separately for approx. £6.25m. File:Holywell, Lincolnshire - House and road.jpg, Road through Holywell File:Holywell, Lincolnshire - Lake 01.jpg, Lake at Holywell File:Holywell, Lincolnshire - Lake 02.jpg, Lake at Holywell

Conservation areas

At the western boundary with Rutland, at Lincolnshire Gate, lies the small nature reserve of Robert's Field. Farmland at Holywell Banks () has been designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

."Holywell Banks"
Sssi.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2011

Other holy wells nearby

* Greetham, Rutland * Skillington: Fish well *

Oakham Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...

: Our Lady's well

References

External links

*
"Holywell"
Genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2011
"Holywell"
Homepages.which.net. Retrieved 12 December 2011
"Holy Well (Careby and Aunby)"
Megalithic.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2011
National Garden Scheme
Retrieved 12 December 2011 {{Authority control Villages in Lincolnshire

Former civil parishes in Lincolnshire South Kesteven District