Hale Farm Hale Road
Compiled by John Hart. May 2024
Circa 1800.
The early history of the land at Hale Farm (pictured below right in 1970] is known from legal correspondence dated 1821 when parish officials sought legal advice about disputed ownership and parish rights to the land. In 1775 commissioners were appointed following the Act of Enclosure to allocate land for gravel digging in Horsington for parish road repairs, shown as No. XVIII on the plan (below left), and Gravel Pit Road leading from Bridge Road (now Hale Road) into the allotment for cart and carriage access.
The first known reference to the farm dates to a sale by auction in 1808 and describes...
‘A good Farm-house, with suitable Barns, Stables, and other Outbuildings, and 107A. 8R. 2P. of Arable, Meadow, and Pasture Land, divided into 9 Closes, and in the occupation of Arthur Hebblewhite’. (Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury October 7 1808).
In 1808 Arthur Hebblewhite is also recorded as the occupier [tenant farmer to Mr Vernon], contracted to sell a messuage or tenement and about 100 acres of land, which was afterwards conveyed by Hebblewhite’s direction to Henry Swan.
It appears that Hebblewhite continued to occupy the land but died in 1811 when his widow Ann became tenant [to Mr. Swan?]. In 1811 the farm was offered for sale again in two lots with a description that the arable land ‘has only been broken up one year, and was never ploughed before’. (Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury April 12 1811). The owner was named as William Hebblewhite of Horsington, merchant, farmer and chapman. In 1815 the farm was in the occupation of William Hebblewhite and his son, and was again offered for sale in 1815 as ‘two messuages or tenements, and homesteads’ when Hebblewhite was declared bankrupt. According to a document from the parish chest which outlines the legal case, in 1816 Swan let the farm to Richard Wilson but Ann Hebblewhite refused to give up the Gravel Allotment to Wilson and ‘removed a Barn which she or her husband had built... from thence to the Gravel Allotment and she afterwards converted the barn to a dwelling where she now resides and she has also built a Cowhouse and other outbuildings on the said Allotment’. In 1816 Wilson, who was also Surveyor of the Highways, had the Gravel Allotment measured and marked out but Ann fenced off the land and refused to give up possession or pay rent and asserted that gravel could only be dug with her permission (Case document, 1821).
The Surveyors of the Highways sought legal advice about the legal ownership of the land and rights to herbage and gravel-
digging but were advised in 1821 that it was unclear as the ‘Gravel Allotment’ was not staked or marked out at the time of enclosure. It was resolved that the land was the property of the parish and that non-ejectment should be preferred. (N G Clarke, Temple, June 12 1821). However, a Vestry Record entry dated 31st Mar. 1819 shows that Mrs. Hepplewhite was to have only one cow and two pigs run in the lanes according to the arrangement of the last Vestry but to keep the other cow in until the 19th day of July.
In November 1821 Ann married a local agricultural labourer, James Stovin. An entry in the 1832 Rate Book dated 9 Aug shows ‘ Richard Willson [sic] 75a 2r 24p House, Buildings and Land’ as well as James Stovin in the next entry, also in possession of a house, buildings and land, perhaps the same as formerly occupied by Ann Hepplewhite. However, the 1832 Rate book also records that James Stovin and wife have no right to title and were described as ‘intruder on the land’ in a legal letter. An assault by Stovin on men whilst digging gravel was also recorded, but the case was dismissed. In May 1832 Stovin was served with a notice to quit but in March 1833 refused to leave. In August 1833 Richard Wilson, farmer, was listed in a tax assessment in Horsington and was it seems still in occupation.
Elvin, the Parish Overseer, was despatched to Horncastle for an opinion as to whether Stovin’s house should be pulled down. The legal case continued until 1834 when Rev. Wray purchased ‘the House and premises adjoining.’ In October 1834 the legal bill stood at a hefty £9 6s and 10d!
The census of 1841 shows Richard Wilson aged 70 [b. 1771] and wife Jane aged 60 [b. 1781] still at Hale, Horsington. A Vestry Minute Record dated 1847 shows Richard Wilson entitled to vote as a tenant renting the land. Another Vestry Minute record dated Aug 5th 1841 refers to the ‘sale of ye Gravel land upon ye Hale to Mr. Swan for £130’. In 1847 George Swan of Horsington Hale was also entitled to vote as a landowner, so it appears that the Swan family may still have owned the land at this time.
LATER REFERENCES
1881 Scott, Francis W single aged 23 [b. 1858] Farmer 120 Ac (2 Men 1 Boy) b Bucknall and housekeeper Elton, Sarah with a domestic servant and farm servant at Hale, Horsington. (1881 census)
1891 Scott, John aged 71 [b. 1820] Shopkeeper & Farmer and wife Sarah aged 63 [b. 1828] with a domestic helper Elton, Bessie at Hale Farm, Holmes Road, Horsington (1891 census). John Scott was the father of Elton and Francis W. Scott.
1891 Scott, Elton landowner and merchant Hale Farm. Elton Scott of Lincoln described as a principal landowner. (Kelly’s Directory)
1911 Scott, Elton [b. 1853 in Bucknall] aged 58 single farmer at Hale Farm, Horsington. (1911 census)
Farmer and corn merchant Elton Scott was a well-known local character and held auctions of farm machinery, livestock and other effects at Hale Farm and other local venues.
In 1915 Hale Farm was sold with 75 acres of grass and meadow land, together with a ‘good Farm-house and Buildings. Possession 6th April 1916’.
1921 Henry Holmes farmer employer Horsington age 38 single (1921 census). He died in 1968 leaving £18476 19s gross.
1970 Conveyance to John Barter, who also purchased the adjoining Post Office Farm in Bucknall at the same time.
Hale Farm continued to be a working farm until the farmhouse, now Hale House (see separate entry), outbuildings and approx. five acres of adjacent land were sold into private ownership in 1981 and the rest of the land became part of the adjoining Post Office Farm in Bucknall. By 2007 the outbuildings were converted into two separate properties known as Hale Farm Bungalow and The Cottage [below], and Hale House was extended at the same time.
English Heritage Farmsteads Project. 4484
Building record MLI119336 - Hale Farm, Horsington Summary Hale Farm, Horsington Type and Period (1) FARMSTEAD (Post Medieval to Modern - 1800 AD to 2050 AD) Protected Status/Designation None recorded Images (0) Documents (0) Full Description: Hale Farm, Horsington. Partially extant 19th century farmstead. Regular courtyard with L-plan range plus detached buildings to the third side of the yard. The farmhouse is detached from the main working complex. There has been a partial loss (less than 50%) of traditional buildings. Isolated location. {1} Sources/Archives (1) SLI15702 Digital Archive: English Heritage. 2015.