STIXWOULD AND WOODHALL: East Lindsey Parish #12 of 188

EAST LINDSEY PARISH #12: STIXWOULD AND WOODHALL

Stixwould and Woodhall – “Stigr’s Wood and Hall Wood”

In East Lindsey this week, we’re in Stixwould and Woodhall, an area that bounds the River Witham to the West and the large village of Woodhall Spa to the South. It’s made up principally of three settlements – Stixwould, Old Woodhall and Edlington Moor. The largest of these is Stixwould, and for such a small place, it is teeming with history.

Situated 13 miles Southeast of Lincoln, Stixwould lies on a piece of flat, high ground in the Witham fenlands. It contains numerous ancient woodland areas, because its also on the edge of the Lincolnshire Limewoods. Its name is Old English, and literally means “Stigr’s wood”, further cementing its association with trees. Originally a parish in its own right, Stixwould was merged with Woodhall in 1987 to give us the current boundaries.

Historically, Stixwould manor was the property of Sir William Kyte, a baronet, who squandered away his fortune. He sold it to Lord Anson, a year before burning himself to death in his Cotswold hills mansion. At that point, the Turnor family stepped in. Stixwould owes much of its modern existence to Christopher Turnor, who rebuilt many of the houses in the village, as well as the school and the church in the early 1800s.

There’s loads to talk about here, so let’s get stuck in. Welcome to Stixwould folks!

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#StixwouldandWoodhall, #Stixwould, #Woodhall, #WoodhallSpa, #Lincolnshire, #EastLindsey, #Railways, #Ferries, #Signals, #Cycling, #Priories, #ArchbishopofCanterbury, #Archbishop, #Nuns, #Halls, #Churches, #Ponds, #SAS, #Jim, #Books, #CorinSilva,

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SAS Rogue Heroes:
https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/23082500.warrington-actor-star-new-bbc-drama-sas-rogue-heroes/

Jim Almonds:
https://jobs.army.mod.uk/roles/infantry/sas-reserve/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/history/1833400/Lord-ashcroft-jim-almonds-sas-original
https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/almonds-john-edward-gentleman-jim.28907/

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/well-never-see-like-again-1016980

Village Hall/Old School:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/StixwouldResidents/
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101063162-the-old-school-stixwould-and-woodhall

GENUKI:
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/Stixwould

Station/Ferry:
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/stixwould/

Church:
https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-peter-stixwould

Brick Pits:
https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI40054

Halstead Hall:
https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI40033

Various Bits:
https://www.slha.org.uk/photogallery/?thislocation=Stixwould

Demographics:
http://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastmidlands/admin/east_lindsey/E04005733__stixwould_and_woodhall/

Rightmove (Stixwould):
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/stixwould.html?page=1

Some of the following music tracks may appear in this video:
Brendan Perkins – “Foxsnow” (B. Perkins)

Brendan Perkins – “Mickey’s House” (B. Perkins)

The Keyhouse – “Voices” (H. Flunder)

The Keyhouse – “Circles” (H. Flunder)

Helen Flunder – “Sun” (H. Flunder)

Helen Flunder – “Angels” (H. Flunder)

Helen Flunder – “C Song” (H. Flunder)

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Hello my name is Andy and I Am The Village Idiot I’m armed with a car and a GoPro and an unhealthy amount of time on my hands I’m using that time to attempt to visit every civil Parish in England you’re watching the East Lindsay Series this is the biggest District in

Lincolnshire containing 188 civil parishes without further Ado here’s today’s offering welcome back to East Lindsay everybody on a very cold January morning the last day of January actually so it’s going to be February tomorrow 2024 is going at quite a pace already now you can see behind me there’s some farm

Buildings now that farm stands on the site of something extremely historic which we will definitely be covering in this episode and that is the site of a prior you wouldn’t know it would you so look at it it’s a Farm building there was a priy there yes there was welcome

To Sticks world and wood All The East Lindsay series is sponsored by Gaines recycles 01427 6177521922 Lo at at 20 ROP Road Gainesboro or online at Gaines cycles.com there’s a link in the description Gaines Cycles ask for Trevor Halstead here’s my disclaimer for people who may be watching me for the first time I say

Things as I would in my native accent and dialect as a result I may not pronounce things in the same way as the locals do remember I’m a visitor it’s impossible to know everything leave me a comment spin me a like and Bash that subscribe button let’s get to today’s Parish video

Sticks wall and wood all stickers wood and Hall wood in East Lindsay this week we’re in sticks wal and Woodall an area that bounds the river with him to the west and the large Village of Woodall Spar to the South it’s made up principally of three settlements stitial

Old Woodall and edlington Moore the largest of these is stitial and for such a small place it’s teaming with history situated 13 Mi southeast of Lincoln stickworld lies on a piece of flat High Ground in the Witham fenlands it contains numerous ancient Woodland areas because it’s also on the edge of the

Lincolshire Lim Woods its name is Old English and literally means stickers wood further cementing its association with trees originally a parish in its own right sticks world was merged with wood Hall in 1987 to give us the current boundaries historically stickweld Manor was the property of Sir William kite a

Baronet who squandered away his fortune he sold it to Lord ansen a year before burning himself to death in his cotswald Hills mansion at that point the Turner family stepped in stitial owes much of its modern existence to Christopher Turner who rebuilt many of the houses in

The village as well as the school and the church in the early 1800s there’s loads to talk about here so let’s get stuck in welcome to Sticks World Folks We start at the grade one listed Halstead Hall a 15th or 16th century brick building on the edge of sticks world it’s dark but even in the daylight you wouldn’t be able to see much here here’s some pictures of it house dead Hall is the oldest building still

Standing in the village and it’s built on the site of a medieval moat dating from around 1290 the the current Hall was probably built for the wellby family but in 1778 it was purchased by the Turner family of stoke Rochford it’s been restored three times in 1852 1922

And 1966 the house is built of bricks similar in type to those found at Tel Castle not far away the reason for that is all down to the area directly to the Halls West again you can’t see anything but here we’re driving through an ancient area of brick pits this is where

The clay was dug for the bricks that built both house dead Hall and tatel castle before being fired in kils on edlington Mo research also suggests that the clay from here was used for land drainage pipes too there was also a sticks World Kil probably built in the

Late 1850s and it was from there that the bricks were provided for almost every house Farmstead and other building in the village by the Turners well let me tell you folks there are no street lights in this part of the world which is why um that first section

You probably couldn’t see anything but trust me it’s all there um of course with the with the uh the time of year it is and it being dark at this time of the morning you can’t really see anything yet but but I’m using that Darkness to

Get from one end of the village to the other I’ve parked up close to The Abbey the Old Abbey stickwell PRI and I’m walking towards the church which you can you might just be able to see the Pinnacles of peeking out into the morning sky over there that’s going to

Be our first Landmark this is a very short walk cuz stickworld is a a very small place place we’re going to start with the church we’re going to work our way back towards the Abbey and the duck pool and everything else it’s got um not

A lot to be honest with you uh and then we’ll we’ll head off down to the withm at the end of this episode because that has probably more than the village itself so here we are in the village itself and we’re beginning at the Eastern end on a small green where the

Main Street meets the road to edlington Mo it was still dark but there was just about enough light in the sky now to make out certain buildings there are few properties anywhere in stickwell village that predate the 1830s a lot of 20th century but the oldest ones all date

From the time when the Turners rebuilt the entire settlement the old vicarage which stands right next to the church is one of the structures from the 1830s dedicated to St Peter the Parish church is grade two listed and it too was rebuilt by the Turner family it was constructed in 1831 using materials that came from its predecessor a building that dated from the middle of the 15th century not much remains from the

Earlier church but it still retains its 16th century font it also has some pns from the first older Church which have some interesting carvings including a lady sticking her tongue out at the Devil there’s a notable 13th century grave slab too which can be found leaning against the tower it’s believed

To have come from stickwell prior and it’s also believed to be that of the last abess the church is built in the gothic style consisting of a large chancel a Nave a North porch and an embattled Tower with four Pinnacles containing two old Bells the churchyard also features this 14th century Cross In 1851 the Turners built stickworld school it was then enlarged in 1894 the date stone over its port which has been moved from its original position has the initial CT a reference to Christopher Turner now the two opposing ends of the school are private residences and the middle section is stickworld Village

Hall here’s the parish notice board outside it Mark it off folks 176 to Go now we’ve reached Abby farm and this is is where stickweld prior was once located it was a cian nunery founded by Lucy the Countess of Chester in 1135 it was dedicated to St Mary and was another of the nine that lined the banks of the river with them it was suppressed twice

The first occasion was in 1536 and almost immediately afterwards it was refounded by the Benedictine order and nuns from stainfield were moved in by the king it was finally suppressed for good in 1539 part of the Porter’s Lodge still remain and its incorpor ated into a farmhouse dating from the early 17th

Century Alice krmer a nun at stitial in 1525 played a crucial role in the spiritual uncertainties of her brother Thomas the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry VII while he was awaiting execution in Oxford the remains of some of the fish ponds that serve the prior can still be

Seen and speaking of ponds directly over the road from Abby Farm is the duck pool I believe this wasn’t one of the medieval ponds but instead has always been ornamental check out how pretty this looked under the golden pinky Hue of the late January Sunrise okay so as far as a village goes

That’s pretty much it for ssor it’s a very small place linear settlement and not much to see really in the actual Village itself but stick wal borders the river with them out to the west and if we go out there there are at least two other things which we need to cover in

This episode one of them is an Old Railway Station and the other one is a ferry if you go all the way to the end of Station Road you’ll be standing on the riverbank this is the site of sticks World railway station in 1846 the Great Northern Railway purchased this land to

Build the 58m long pacher Lincoln line it followed the course of the Witham we’ve already seen three other stations on this former line 5 Mile House suy and bney stickweld station like the others opened in 1848 it had two platforms a booking office and a signal box which

Controlled access to a small Goods yard the station Master’s house was next to the signal box it all closed in 1970 leaving behind the platforms one of which still has its station name board the track bed is now the water Railway part of sustrans Route 1 and the station

Building and former signal box have both been turned into private residences there was also a pedestrian crossing here that led to a chain Ferry which crossed the Witham to blankley Dales giving passengers access to the north C Fen the ferry could carry just one single vehicle at a time but it was

Mainly for pedestrians it was largely used by children going to school and by Railway passengers coming from the opposite Bank the ferry ceased regular operation in the 1960s in later years the local Postman was the only regular passenger but fishermen also used it during the angling season

Too so there you go folks that’s sticks wal but of course this parish is sticks wal and wood hall now when we say wood Hall we don’t mean wood Hall Spa that’s a separate a separate Place Al together and that will be covered at some point in this East lindsy series no we’re

Talking about the old Parish of wood Hall it’s literally called old wood Hall the village and we’re going to drive through that to finish this one off if you think Stix world’s small wait till you see this place just before we go there here’s a bit about Jim almonds he was born and

Raised in stickweld and lived possibly one of the most extraordinary and unusual lives of anybody from Lincolnshire from fighting the Nazis in North Africa to advising Emperor Hy salassi and sailing a homemade boat across the Atlantic Gentleman Jim as he was known was one of the original

Members of the SAS they were founded during the Western desert campaign of World War II and they were a highly trained largely autonomous unit that would parachute in under the dead of night sabotage Nazi and Italian air forces from the ground and Escape out into the desert Jim’s daring wartime

Exploits twice earned him the military medal not bad for a boy who left school at the age of 14 it was in Ghana where he embarked on an epic three-month voyage across the Atlantic to Boston Lincolnshire aboard a boat he made himself he designed the vessel in his head during 7 months solitary

Confinement as a prisoner of war after all of his Amazing Adventures he returned to stickworld and lived in the house where he’d been born in 1914 he died in 2005 age 91 his daughter L alman’s windmill chronicled his wartime escapades in her book Gentleman Jim the

Wartime story of a founder of the SAS and Special Forces later Warrington born actor Corin Silva played gentle Jim in a show based on the true story of the formation of the SAS this bit didn’t go as I planned this is edlington Mo where the brick Hills for both house dead Hall and tachel Castle were located they dated back to about 1440 according to records edlington Mo was part of the old stickwell par still forms part of the

Modern sticks W and Woodall via this you can get to Old woodor but it seems the local roadwork teams in the area had other ideas this morning the road to old woodor was closed meaning I had to abandon part of this drive as a result I

Was forced to go along what used to be the old boundary between stitial and Woodall and completely miss out the village itself I can tell you though you aren’t missing much when Woodall Spa was created at civil Parish in 1889 it took chunks of the former Woodall Lon thimble

And thornson parishes with it woodor was left with everything to the east of the Reeds Beck Road until in 1987 it was Amalgamated with STI World Woodall used to have a church dedicated to St Margaret it was built in the 14th century and may have once been part of a

Moted manorial complex belonging to Woodall Hall it was declared redundant in 1971 and was demolished a year later the moted site of Woodall Hall which is a scheduled ancient Monument can still be seen other than that woodall’s only other notable Landmark is the 15th century Darwood house a grade two listed

Farmhouse and that folks is it for sticks world and Woodall time for us to move on and if you think this was a small one wait till you see what’s in store next Week Thanks for watching this video folks don’t forget to like this episode if you haven’t already it really makes a difference with YouTube if you’re new here subscribe to the channel for more videos like this and give us a share too if you’ve got friends who’d like it you

Can find all the links to my social media accounts below as well as my buy me a coffee page where you can donate to the channel also if you’ve enjoyed this episode have a look at some more videos in this series until next time I’ve been

Andy also known as The Village Idiot and I’m out