WELL VALE HALL Well Vale Hall, Well, Alford, Lincs. A three-storey 1720s red brick house in parkland with three lakes at the edge of the Wolds; it was occupied by a school at the time the picture was taken. Rodney Burton 1993 CC BY-SA 2.0 The National Heritage List for England calls it Well Vale Park, and describes it as a former red brick country house, now a private school, which is Grade II* listed, dating from the early 17th century, altered about 1730 for James Bateman, and extended in the late 18th century for Francis Dashwood. It was partly destroyed Fire in 1845, and rebuilt in 1925 by Guy Elwes. Historic England: Well Vale Park https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000992 says: Parkland of early C18 origins, surrounding the possible remains of an early C18 garden which forms the setting for an early C18 country house. HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT The estate at Well was held at the time of Domesday by the Well family. It then passed to the Willoughby family, Robert, the twelfth Baron Willoughby de Eresby being created first Earl of Lindsey by Charles I in 1626. During the Civil War of the 1640s the Earl of Lindsey, a Royalist, was forced to sell Well to a Parliamentarian, Colonel William Wolley who occupied the estate. After the Restoration in 1660 the Wolleys kept their land but sold it in 1695 to Anthony Weltden, an explorer-trader who had worked for the East India Company. His son Anthony had succeeded by 1715. James Bateman, second son of Sir James Bateman of Shobden Court (qv) acquired Well c 1720, possibly from his future father-in-law Sir Robert Chaplin who had been ruined by the South Sea Bubble in 1720. James Bateman's only child, Anne married Samuel Dashwood in 1744 and they were given Well in 1752 when James Bateman moved to a smaller house in Claxby. Anne and Samuel's son, Francis Bateman Dashwood (d 1825) inherited in 1793. Debts forced Francis’s heirs to sell the estate in 1836 to the Right Honourable R A Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, MP who purchased the manor and several other estates. The Hall was being let by 1856 to Thomas Turnell Cartwright. Mr Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton's daughter, Mrs Hamilton Ogilvy inherited in 1876 and sold Well in 1914 to Major Walter H Rawnsley who had rented Well Hall for several years. Major Rawnsley's son, John Chaplin Rawnsley married Susan Reeve in 1925. John Chaplin Rawnsley's widow died in 1974 and the estate passed to their nephew, John Reeve. The Hall was then sold and became a school, Maypole School Independant, in which use it (2000) remains; the grounds are in private ownership. The description continues on the same page. Rev. William Warren Porter, 1776–1804, British, Well Vale, Lincolnshire, undated National Heritage List for England https://www.historicengland.org.uk/ Reference: GD1990 Grade: II PARK The park lies predominantly to the south of the Hall, with two serpentine lakes to east and west formed by the damming of Well Beck which flows from west to east through the parkland north of Low Wood. A path on the line of a Saxon road, Barton Street, enters the site through Park Farm Strip, a boundary plantation 1.25km south of the Hall, and runs north-westwards through the site; it then continues north-westwards as Well High Lane outside the site here registered. The south parkland lies south-west, south, and south-east of the Hall. Extending into the south parkland south-east of the gardens are the school playing fields comprising 1.75ha. Low Wood lies east of the eastern lake. At the south-west corner of the Wood lies Osier Holt and south-east of the Holt is a square patch of woodland which continues south-westwards as the thinner strip of Belt Plantation. This plantation extends south-westwards to the southern tip of the park as Park Farm Strip. Some 900m south-east of the Hall stands Park Farm (Claxby Grange). A strip of woodland extends south- westwards from the Farm to Rigge Wood. The woodland continues south- westwards, then northwards as a belt alongside Handkerchief Piece Lane to Forest Wood which lies c 950m south-west of the Hall. North-east of Forest Wood is Badger Hill and Church Wood, at the north-east corner of which stands the church of St Margaret (1733, altered late C18, 1959, listed grade I), set on a hill and aligned with the front door of Well Hall. Built in the form of a Palladian temple with a boarded bell cupola, the church is of red brick with painted ashlar dressings and stucco and Westmorland slate roofs. There are views from the church to the Hall. James Bateman acquired Well Hall and its estate c 1720 and purchased the neighbouring manor of Claxby from Lord James Cavendish in 1729 (CL 1972). Well village was probably moved to its present position at the edge of the park at the same time and the park laid out with two lakes. A drawing by F Massingberd of 1780 shows the east lake little changed from its present form (ibid). By 1839 the north-east park had to a large extent been created, the process having been completed by the late C19 (Parish map, 1880). The boundary of the north-east park was a belt of woodland running north-westwards then south-westwards to abut the orchard north-east of the walled kitchen garden (Estate map, 1839). What became the south park is shown on the 1839 estate map as divided by field boundaries. The line of Barton Street is shown cutting across the south- east corner of the large south-west field. By 1891 (OS) the land south of the Hall is marked as parkland, and by 1906 the area north-east of Park Farm (Claxby Grange) had been taken into the park. Well Vale, which lies west and north-west of the Hall, is a wide area of woodland running west from the church then northwards and continuing north- westwards. The planting is now (2000) young sycamore and conifers with older beech. The Vale had been laid out by 1839 (Tithe map) but tree planting continued into the 1860s (Sketch map, 1868). 1893 -1936 Major Walter H Rawnsley MAJOR WALTER H. RAWNSLEY Birth 1856 Shiplake, South Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England Death 9 Apr 1936 (aged 79–80) Well, East Lindsey District, Lincolnshire, England Burial St Margaret's Churchyard, Well, East Lindsey District, Lincolnshire, Memorial ID 262468642 · Former High Sheriff of Lincolnshire PROMINENT BREEDER OF HUNTER STOCK The death occurred on Thursday at Well Vale, near Alford, Lincolnshire, of Major Walter H. Rawnsley, D.L., J.P., former High Sheriff of Lincolnshire and a leading man in the county. He was 79. A member an old Lincolnshire family which had been long associated with the Tennysons of Somersby, Major Rawnsley was born at Shiplake-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, in 1856, his father, later Canon Rawnsley of Lincoln and Rector of Halton Hoigate, near Spilsby, being at that time incumbent of Shiplake. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, where he took a Law degree. It had been his intention to study for the Bar, but forsaking the legal for the scholastic profession, he was for a while associated with his late brother in a private school near Winchester, and afterwards acted as a private tutor. Major Rawnsley married in 1890, Helen Maud, daughter of the late Major Richard Chaplin, Louth. There was a son and a daughter of the marriage. Major and Mrs. Rawnsley made their home at Well Vale, near Alford In 1893, and 21 years later purchased from the late Mr. Hamilton Ogllvy the Well Estate, which embraces the Manor of Alford. He also acquired an estate in Nottinghamshire, as well as extensive lands In Northern Rhodesia; but his most Interesting purchase was that of Harrington Hall, in 1927, by which he saved from demolition one of the most beautiful of Lincolnshire's county homes, rich in Tennysonian memories. The garden at Harrington Hall, it Is Interesting to recall, is the one referred to In Tennyson's poem, " Maud." Former Master of Southwold Appointed a county magistrate in 1902, Major Rawnsley was chairman of the Alford magistrates for nearly 20 years, and in 1921 was High Sheriff Lincolnshire. A keen sportsman, he was Master of the Southwold Hunt for three years, up to 1932; and he was also interested In the breeding of fine hunter stock. He was a member of the Council of the Hunters Improvement and National Light Horse Society, at whose 1935 show London he received from the hands of the present King the champion cup given by King George V. for the champion thoroughbred in the show. Another outstanding achievement was the winning, in two successive years, of the Prince of Wales's Cup at the National Hunters Shows 1925 and 1926, with his famous gelding Tarpaulin. Major Rawnsley had farmed extensively during the last quarter of a century, and with his Scotch Shorthorn cattle and his Lincoln Longwool sheep has been a most successful exhibitor the Royal and other agricultural shows. Founder of Hospital In conjunction with Mrs. Rawnsley, widely known through her Red Cross work, he was responsible for the founding Alford Cottage Hospital, and one his last public engagements was when, in October last year, he presided the opening of the hospital extensions. The funeral will take place at Well Vale, Alford, this afternoon. [Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Saturday 11 April 1936, p.7] MAJOR WALTER H. RAWNSLEY Coffin Borne on Farm Wagon at Alford The coffin was carried on a farm waggon drawn by full team of horses at the funeral Saturday, Well Vale, near Alford, Lincs., Major W. H. Rawnsley, DL, JP. Six of the oldest servants on the estate were bearers. The simple service was conducted by the Rev. W. Whitehead (Vicar Alford). assisted by Canon H. L. Harrison (Rector of Halton Holgate). Among the large assembly present were: Lord Henenge (representing the Lord- Lieutenant of Lincolnshire), the Hon Mrs. Eastwood. Lord and Lady Liverpool. Field- Marshal Sir A. Montgomery- Massingberd. General Watson. Mr. Eaton Evans (representing Sir Archibald and Lady Weigall). Lieut.- Col. A. P. Hencage, D.S.O. MP., and Mrs. Major N. V. Stewart. Major and Mrs. J. St. Vigor Fox. Major B C. Morrison, tor F, D. Newman. Major T. Jessop, Major J H. and Mrs. Hadfleld. Major H. G. Maddison. Cap!. R. E. Boothby. Capt Oscar Dixon, Miss Rosemary Sanders, Mr. W. D. Gainsford, Mr H. Hartley, Mrs. C. B. and Mr. V. Fyson (representing Horncastle Divisional Conservative Association). [Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 13 April 1936, p.5] Above from ‘Find a Grave’ website https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/262468642/walter-hugh-rawnsley John Richard Rawnsley 1892 to 1957 His son, John Richard Chaplin Rawnsley was born on 17 January 1892 in Louth, Lincolnshire, his father, Walter, was 35 and his mother, Helen, was 25. UK Census Date 31 March 1901: Living with his parents in Well, Lincolnshire, England. Aged 9. He married Susan Edith Reeve on 22 April 1925 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. He was with the 12th Royal Lancers and gained the rank of Major. John died on 8 June 1957 in Well, Lincolnshire, at the age of 65. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rawnsley-21 Wife of above Susan Edith Reeve 1901 - 1974 Born 28 Feb 1901 Chelsea, London Died 14 Nov 1974 at Well Vale, Alford Married June 1925 Sleaford Rawnsley - Reeves 1914 Registrations of family burials in St Margaret s Parish Register Walter Hugh RAWNSLEY Burial 11 Apr 1936 St Margaret : Parish Register John Richard Chaplin RAWNSLEY Burial 11 Jun 1957 St Margaret : Parish Helen Maud RAWNSLEY Burial 28 Aug 1959 St Margaret : Parish Register Susan Edith RAWNSLEY Burial 14 May 1974 St Margaret : Parish Register Bateman - Dashwoods 1720s Charlotte DASHWOOD Burial 2_ Dec 1747 St Margaret : Parish Register George Bateman DASHWOOD Burial 28 Jun 1751 St Margaret : Parish Wm Bateman DASHWOOD Burial 23 Apr 1758 St Margaret : Parish Saml DASHWOOD Burial 07 Jan 1793 St Margaret : Parish Register George James Bateman DASHWOOD Burial 06 Jan 1798 St Margaret Ann DASHWOOD Burial 18 May 1802 St Margaret : Parish Register Sophia DASHWOOD Burial 13 Dec 1826 St Margaret : Parish Register Wolley 1640s Anna WOLLEY Burial 15 Apr 1679 St Margaret : Parish Register Susanna WOLLEY Burial 27 Aug 1719 St Margaret : Parish Register Donate