Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HAXEY

HAXEY, a village and a parish in Gainsborough district, Lincoln. The village stands in the isle of Axholme, adjacent to the Gainsborough and Doncaster railway, 3 miles W of the river Trent, and 8 NW of Gainsborough; was anciently called Axel, and gave name to Axholme; suffered much injury by fire in 1741; and has a post-office‡ under Bawtry, and a railway station. A fete is held at it on 6 Jan., for an ancient game called "throwing the hood;" and a pleasure fair is held on 6 July. The parish contains also the hamlets of Burnham, Eastlound, Graizelound, Westwoodside, Upperthorpe, Nethergate, Newbigg, and Park. Acres, 8,470. Real property, £13,436. Pop., 2,157. Houses, 509. The property is much subdivided. The manors of Haxey and Westwood belong to G. F. Lister, Esq. A castle of the Mowbrays once stood near here. An oaken statue, about 6 feet high, black like ebony, and representing a Roman warrior, was found, several feet deep in the earth, in 1802. There is a stratum of gypsum. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £900,* with about 100 acres of land. Patron, the Archbishop of York. The church is partly Norman, partly early English; consists of nave, aisles, Lady chapel, chantry, and chancel, with two porches and a tower; and was repaired in 1826 and in 1854. There is an unusually fine peal of bells and chimes of several tunes; the church plate is very costly; and there are several very ancient books in the church library, and deeds in the parish chest from the time of Henry III. downwards. There are twelve Methodist chapels, variously Wesleyan, Primitive, and New Connexion. The charities include church-lands, let for £230 a-year; a free school and master's house, £120 a-year; alms-houses for 7 widows, £10 a-year; about £230 for the poor; and some others of smaller amount. There are remains of three ancient crosses.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Haxey CP/AP       Gainsborough RegD/PLU       Lincolnshire AncC
Place names: AXEL     |     HAXEY
Place: Haxey

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