Wolsthorpe, or Wolstrop, one of the antient manors belonging to the lords of Belvoir, is situated in the county of Lincoln, about a mile East of Belvoir castle ; and consists of near 2000 acres of old and new inclosures, all (except three freeholds) the property of the duke of Rutland. Though the history of this village is not, strictly speaking within our province ; its connexion with the castle, and its noble owners, seems to demand some short account of it.
In bishop Sanderson's Lincolnshire Collections we have the following particulars of this place and its antient possessors :
Wistorp, Wulestorp, Wilsthorp, Wilthorp, Woolerthorp, Wollesthorp.
It standeth upon the river Devon, or Divene.
Nicholas, son of William Vou, of Woolesthorp.
Joan, his sister.
Reginald de Voo, and Sibill his wife.
Gerald de Fancurt.
Richard de Vauz.
John, son of William de Vou, nephew of sir Geoffry de Cheshire, held lands in Wullestorp.
Nicholas Wou.
John de Vaus, 9 Edw. II.
Herbert Grele, lord of Herdeby, helds lands.
Lands once belonging to Albert de Grele occur 10 Edw. III.
19 Edw. II. Robert Basset, of Wooesthorp, held lands
Robert Bassett, of Wollesthorp, son of Robert Basset, held lands of the fee of Robert le Dyne of Eyton.
9. 19 Edw. II. William Basset, of Wollesthorp.
Robert Basset, of the fee of Albini, and ad seutag' XLs. 6 Edw. III. Pays 111s. 1d.ob.
------ 111s. 1111d. to William de Belver, of whose barony he holds.
William Basset, sen. And William Basset, jun.
Agnes wife of Robert Basset, of Wollesthorp, had lands in dower of the inheritance of William Basset, which Andrew de Lane, with the consent of the said Agnes his wife, leased for 20 years after the decease of Agnes to the said William.
Robert Basset, of Wollesthorp. Knight, son of Reginald Basset.
11 Hen. VIII. James Basset, late of Wollestrop, by gift of Thomas Basset, son of Robert Basset, late of Wollesthorp, one messuage, 5 bovates, &c. in Wollesthorp.
Agnes, daughter and heir, wife of William Cherington, of Peterborough.
Thomas de Stavenby, or Steinby, held land.
William Grethead.
Richard Grethead
John de Hungate.
William de Hungate of Wollesthorp.
Nicholas Roos, of Wollesthrop, 9. 19 Edw. II.
William Roos, of Wollesthorp, 17. 27 Edw. I.
Isabel de Roos had a warren in Wollesthorp, and held lands 2 Hen. V.
William de Roos, and Beatrix his wife, held lands in Wollesthorp, as a member of the manor of Belver.
Robert de Roos, lord of Belver, held lands which were of fee of Robert Dyne, of Eyton.
John, son of John Roos, 5, 10 Edw. II.
William de Charnell demised to lord Robert de Roos.
Thomas, son of Nicholas de Roos, of Wollesthorp, demised land 2 Edw. II.
William de Roos, of Hamlak, held lands in Wollesthorp, as a member of the manor of Belver, by inquisition.
Robert, son of Robert Clarke, of Wollesthorp.
William, son of Thomas Clarke, of Wollesthorp, 19 Edw. II.
Robert le Clerke, 9 Edw. II.
Gerard de Fanecurt owed lands.
Thomas de Fanecurt's will.
Gerard de Fanecurt, 1223.
Helias de Fanecurt demised to Reginald de Vere and heirs, by Sibilla his wife, one carncate in Wollesthorp, which Gerard de Fanecurt demised to him in fee-farm, paying 32s. per annum.
Simon de Bonavilla holds lands of the fee of William de Albini ; and for scutage pays 9s. 53/4d.
Charnels held of the same fee ; and pays in scutage 4d.
William de Charnels held land.
John de Charnels held land.
William de Charnels, son of John.
John Charnels and William his son.
Nicholas Charnels, of Wollesthorp, gave lands10. 12 Edw. II.
Adelina de Charnels, of Wollesthorp, lands.
Constantine de Mortimer released to Edmund de Swinford, and his wife Beatrix, in the town of Swinford, 14 Edw. III. Qu.
Henry le Kene, of Wollesthorp, demised lands, 6 Edw. II. He was dead 10 Edw. II.
Alan le Kene, 9 Edw. II.
Emma, wife of William De Kene.
Thomas de Wolthorp and Joan held one fee of the fee of the earl of Chester.
Richard, son of Alexander de Wolsthorp.
Robert, son of John de Wolsthorp, 16 Edw. III.
17 Edw. II.
Robert chev. And Alice his wife, 10 Edw. III.
John de Wolsthorp, son and heir of Robert de Wolsthorp, 1364, 43 Edw. II.

John
________|_______
/ ............................\
Robert=Joan.............. John 1312.
______|_______ .
/.......................... \ .
John..................... Roger.= Cecilia,
sister of Thomas and Matilda,
entail with remainder, 10 Edw. III.

Alan, son of Robert.
Robert, son of Emma.
Philip, son of Emma.
Alexander, son of Eadward de Wulstrop, gave lands to Robert Basset.
Thomas le Waite hels lands, 10 Edw. II.
John de Wickham, sen. And Cecil his wife, gave lands.
John de Wickham, jun.
Thomas, son of Hugh de Goteham.
Hugh de Goteham and Alice his wife held lands.
John Stoile, of Sedgbrook held lands.
Hubert Stoile.
Nicholas Richman de Wollsethorp, 9 Edw. II.
William Cherington, of Peterborough, 18 Hen. VIII. Married Agnes, daughter and heir of James Basset, of Wolsthorp, deceased, and had Christopher, son and heir apparent, who married Agnes Talbon, or de St. Alban.
John, son of Thomas de Stonithwait, lands in Wolsthrop.
Adam de Stonithwait.
Richard, son of Adam de Stonithwait.
William ch. De St. Assen, Agnes his wife, gave land.
Bartholomew, lord of Stonithwait, gave a tenement.
Osbert de Sire held lands.
Robert de Sire held lands.
Reginald Bond held lands.
William Fitz Comyng.
In all 23 different names of landholders
Thomas Girlee.
/''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''\
Dñs Herbert= John.
/'''''''''''''''''''''\
Albert. Margaret.
Nicholas de Vau of Wolsthorp released to sir Herbert Grilee in chief a messuage and all the land formerly of his fee in Wolsthorp.
Herbert, son of Thomas de Girlee, gave to Albini, his son and heir, all his lands in Hertheby and Wollthorpe, with remainders.
Thus far bishop Sanderson's MS.
The abbey of Croxton had also several parcels of land in Wolsthrop, as appears by their register ¹.
The old Parochial church of Wolsthorp, which was dedicated to St. James, and is part of the deanery of Grantham, was appropriated to the priory of Belvoir in 1308 ².
In 1645, this antient church, being on an eminance, about half a mile South from the town, which commanded the castle ³, was occupied by the batteries of the besiegers till it became itself the scene of ruin so well represented by Mr. Peters in plate XX. It is said, by tradition, to have been burnt down by a party of the Pariamentary soldiers who lodged there, and at their departure set fire to the straw on which they lay. And this tradition is the more probable, as pieces of melted lead have frequently been found in the rubbish ; of which I was myself a witness, in June 1792, when a grave was digging in the chancel for an infant of the present very excellent rector.
From this demolition till the year 1791, the place of worship was a chapel in the centre of the town, a more convenient situation, probably built after the destruction of the church, though it had a more antient appearance ; having on the roof two very small bells betwixt the nave and the chancel, which formed the whole of the building ; till, having been for a some time in a ruinous state, it was last year taken down, and a new one is now rebuilding on the same spot, with materials from the ruins of Belvoir priory, which were hewed out for a steeple when I was there in June 1792 : but the old churchyard is still the only burying-place for the dead. Marriages were solemnized in the ruins, sheltered from the weather only by the branches of an alder-tree. The last wedding was in the year 1760 ; since which time the ceremony has been performed in the chapel.
On the South side of the churchyard, on the upper half of an old slab, remains
.............. William
Etor ⁴ ifti ecclie redor'.
And, among many other grave-stones, is one for Mary, the widow of Joshua Woodlands, who died Jan. 13, 1763, aged 84.
Richard Ragdale died May 24, 1789, aged 74.
Mr. John Armson, steward to lord George Sutton, of Kelmarth, died March 21, 1789, aged 68.
On the North wall of the chancel of the old chapel was a neat inscription on statuary marble to the memory of Adam Woollands, servant to captain Evelyn Sutton, who died Nov. 2, 1782, on board the Myrtle transport, in her passage to England, in lat.2⁰ 20' North, long. 90⁰ East, in the 28th year of his age.
And on the North-east corner was an inscription to the memory of Mrs. Alice Shepherd, relict of Richard Shepherd, gent. Of Wilbarston, in Northamptonshire, who died Feb. 13, 1718, aged 78. These are preserved, to be replaced in the new building.
The register, which is for some years very imperfect, begins in 1661, the earlier register having been destroyed with the church. In 20 years, beginning with the year 1688, are 159 baptisms, 113 burials, and 23 marriages ; and in 20 years, ending in 1782, are births 180, burials 138, and marriages 33. By a memoranduim taken about 50 years ago, the number of families at present is 64, and inhabitants 284.
The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the duke of Rutland, and worth about 130l. a year.
Roger de Gravele, rector of Wolsthorpe, was buried in Belvoir church ⁵ ; and
Ralph Gouphyll, rector, occurs in their Necrology.
William Hewyk also occurs rector in 1369.
Other rectors, as far as appear by the registers, are,
Thomas Neale, who died in 1689.
George Cartwright, in 1691.
Cyprian Banbury, about 1700.
Derham Huddlestone, about 1733.
William Atkinson occurs in 1738.
Richard Eason inducted in 1744.
Richard Stoup in 1787.
William Peters, LL.B. in 1788, the present rector.
Mr. Edward Guy, in the year 1727, left ten shillings yearly, to be paid out of a close in the parish of Barrowby, to ten of the poorest widows of Woolsthorpe: but, in case so many widows cannot be found, to ten of the poorest people.
Near the town is a spring of brakish taste, walled round by John duke of Rutland, but not much frequented.

Gravestone of Edward Guy

1. See the particulars in Appendix, No XI
2. See p. 79 (I can't find this reference Guy Etchells)
3 Mr. Peck has given a poetical description of the siege of Belvoir ; in which he suggests the Royalists, after having bravely defended themselves at Staunton Tower, were betrayed by treachery. See the Appendix, p. 68.
4. This word begins with a capital C, but the name is not easily ascertained.
5 Roger de Gravele, rector of Woosthorp, under the South wall of St Mary's Chapel

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