66 'In the interior the pillars and arches were found in excellent preservation, and have been thoroughly scraped and cleaned. There are five bays on either side. The whole of this work was completed at a cost of £1,300." The length of the Nave and South Aisle 68 feet. The Tower was restored in 1873. The height of Tower is 66 feet to the top of the battlements. The east and south-west windows in the chancel were filled with stained glass by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Barbadoes; the former in 1893, in memory of his muchloved mother; the latter in affectionate memory of a daughter who died and was buried at sea, as the Bishop with his family was going out to British Guiana to commence his episcopal work there. Tetney has contributed several recruits to the clerical ranks, but only one Bishop. There are living of these at the present time the Rev. George Maughan, some time Vicar of East Kirkby; the Rev. Joseph Hewson, who went out to New Zealand to undertake Mission work; and the Rev. W. R. Hewson, Curate of Worksop. One can scarcely mention the Bishop's love for the old Church, and his liberality towards it, without adding a word about himself. In his early days he enjoyed none of the advantages of a superior home: like the other boys of Tetney, he had to attend the Endowed School of Humberston, 3 miles distant. Here he won for himself golden opinions from the Head-Master, who has left a glowing record in the School-log of young Swaby's progress and abilities, and anticipates for him a brilliant future; yet outside the School, among his school-fellows, he was as ready for the race or the fray as any of them, and some of his hard-fought battles linger among the school traditions to this day. "Disgraceful!"-Not at all! Did not the great Duke of unconquered fame say that Waterloo was won at Eton? and would he, a man of battles, be thinking of the play-ground or the pleasant lanes, where students might ramble book in hand and dream away the sunny hours? No; he was thinking and speaking of the rougher side of life, of its struggles for supremacy, in which men must endure hardness and danger, and therefore the Duke's mind would be much more likely to rest on the retired field, where school-boy battles were won or lost, and where courage and endurance were developed and exercised-hence, soldiers after the great General's heart. One of the most beautiful traits of our Bishop's character is his unchanging love for the old parish, with its Church, its thatched cottages, and its old inhabitants. Almost every lane and field has for him its special memories; and I venture to think that if his Lordship were to make a confession on the subject, it would be that the few days spent at Tetney re-visiting old scenes, or talking over old events, are among his happiest. Well, long may this brightest ornament of our parish be spared to labour "pro Deo et Ecclesia," and may he often refresh his mind and body with invigorating draughts of his native air, is the earnest prayer of all his friends at Tetney. The Registers are, unfortunately, incomplete; those that remain commence with the year 1730, but I am glad to add that complete transcripts of the missing volumes exist in the Bishop's Registry at Lincoln. The Bells. There are three Bells and a Priest's Bell. The inscriptions are as follows: 1. CVM VOCO AD TEMPLVM VENITE 1700. When I call, come to GOD's House. 2. BEATVS EST POPVLVS QVI EXAVDIT Blessed is the people who hear My voice. 3. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1823. In 1553 there were here "III greatt belles I sanctus bell." It is currently reported, and the report is said to be perfectly true, that the Priest's bell here was sent out of the parish to adorn a "Hermitage," built by Bishop Tomline, at a house of his at Riby, near to Grimsby. It was, however, badly packed, and, in the carrier's cart, gave tongue in a way which attracted notice. So the good people of Tetney, when they missed their bell, had no difficulty in tracing it to Riby. There was naturally a hubbub, and the bell was returned. Some amusing verses were written at the time on the incident. (North's Ch. Bells of Lincolnshire, p. 707.) Vicars of Tetney. Tetney Vicarage was instituted between 1209 and 1235. A.D. 1240. RALPH DE HOUTON (Holton), chaplain, presented by the Abbot and Convent of Grimsby. 1262. SIMON, priest, presented by same as above, on the death of Ralph. A.D. 1274. MAGISTER WILLIAM DE GRIMSBY, priest, presented by the same, on the death of Simon. 1291. HENRY DE RIBY, presented by the same, in succession to William. WILLIAM, particulars not found. 1315. RALPH DE CROXBY, presented by the same, in succession to William. 13.. DOMINUS JOHN.* 1349. GILBERT DE CABURNE, of Grimsby, priest, presented by the same, on the death of Dominus John. 1359. ROBERT, SON OF JOHN DAY, of Tetney, priest, presented by the same patrons, on the death of Dominus Gilbert de Caburne. This is the Robert Day who restored the Church in 1363. See inscription in the Church Compare p. 25. on one of the pillars. 1369. Nov. 26. JOHN DE SYRYNGTON, priest, presented by King Edward III., on the death of Robert Day.† 1404. April 16. WILLIAM SUET, of Humberston, priest, presented by Wellow Abbey, on the death of Dominus John Grene. (Is this an alias of the last Vicar ?) 1415. Feb. 11. ROBERT DE HELYNG, priest, presented by the same Abbey, on the resignation of Dominus William Suete. 1421. Sept. 30. JOHN DENE, of Humberstayn, priest, presented by the same Abbey, on the death of Dominus Robert Helyng. * There was a vacancy in the Abbey of Grimsby at this time, and its possessions were in the king's hands. The cause of this presentation by the king was that, through the vicious extravagance of the then presiding Abbot, the Abbey was overwhelmed with debt, and there appeared every probability of its total destruction and the dispersal of its inmates. In this emergency Edward III. took it under his immediate protection, and committed the management of all its temporal concerns, for a time, to a commission of three persons. A.D. 1461. Jan. 24. DOMINUS THOMAS JEKYLL, priest, by the same Abbey, on the death of Dominus John Deen. (There is a monumental slab to this Vicar in the south wall of the chancel.) 1501. June 17. DOMINUS ALAN THOROLD, priest, by the same Abbey, on the death of Dominus Thomas Jekyll. 1505. Feb. 2. DOMINUS RICHARD BUTTLER, chaplain, by the same Abbey, on the cession of the last Vicar; name not given. 1531. Dec. 30. DOMINUS JOHN KYNGESTON, by the same Abbey, on the death of Dom. Rd. Butler. Note. In 1538 the Monasteries were dissolved. It was a time of confusion, and we are unable to follow the details of all the changes of Church property and patronage, but the following is of interest to our subject:-"During his (Bishop Holbeach's) administration* of the Lincoln Diocese considerable changes were made in its temporalities, tending greatly to impoverish the See. Thirty-four rich manors were alienated, and the Cathedral a second time plundered of the few valuables left in it. As some compensation for the injury done to the Cathedral and See of Lincoln, Edward VI. assigned to Bishop Holbeach nineteen parsonages which had belonged to the Monastic houses, most of them being in this county." As, however, the king did not restore to these Churches their proper rectorial tithes he perpetuated a gross injustice on both the parishes and clergy. Among these "nineteen parsonages I find "The Parsonage of Clee and Totney, with the manor of the last, belonging to the Monastery of Wellow." It was thus the Bishop of Lincoln became patron of the Vicarage of Tetney, and owner of land here with manorial rights. * A.D. 1547 to 1552. |