reful to secure; for Reginald, in return, gave him a certain sum "to
buy a rent in another place."

The worldly wisdom of the same abbot appears again in the following
Concord: On the morrow of St. Michael, 10 Henry III. (30th Sept. A.D.
1226); a dispute between Sarah, the wife of Alan de Tymelby, and Henry,
Abbot of Kirkstead, about a certain meadow in Tymelby, was happily
settled (it being to the soul's peril to incur an abbot's anathema!) by
the said Sarah giving up all claim to the meadow in favour of the said
Abbot, and his successors; in recognition of which he gave her one mark.

A gap now occurs in our history, which can only be filled in, for a time,
by conjecture. On the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the
possessions of Kirkstead Abbey were granted by him to Charles Brandon,
Duke of Suffolk; on whose death without issue, they reverted to the
sovereign, and were re-granted to the Earl of Lincoln, of the Fiennes
Clinton family, subsequently Dukes of Newcastle. The Abbey lands in
Thimbleby are not, so far as we know, specially named in this grant, and
therefore we are unable to say positively whether that family acquired
property in Thimbleby or not; but they had undoubtedly property in
Horncastle and neighbourhood. For instance the manor of Baumber remained
in their hands, and Baumber Church continued to be the family burial
place, until the 3rd Duke of Newcastle, late in the 18th century, sold
that estate to T. Livesey, Esq.

A few years later, however, we have official evidence that the manor and
advowson of Thimbleby were vested in the sovereign. By a deed (a copy of
which is in the Rector's possession) dated 10th April, 7 Edward VI. (A.D.
1553), of the Court of Augmentations, a toft and messuage in Thimbleby
were granted by the King to John Welcome; also "the lordship and manor of
Thimblebye, with all its rights, &c., lately belonging to the monastery
of Kirkstead;" also "the advowson and right of patronage of the Rectory
and Church of Thymmelbie, aforesaid." In the next reign, of Mary, the
benefice was presented, by the Queen herself, to William Brantinghame,
being admitted on her nomination 19th Sept., 1554. {171a}

A deed of that reign, dated 6th Feb., 1 and 2 Philip and Mary (1554),
grants certain lands belonging to the manor of Thimblebie, to Anthony
Kyme, for 21 years, at 10s. per annum

[Picture: St. Margaret's Church, Thimbleby]

Next, in the reign of Elizabet