In the time of Henry the second, an Abbey of premonstratensian canons, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was founded here, by Allan de Nevill and Gilbert his brother, and endowed by them with their possessions in this place, together with estates in other parts of the county. This abbey also had numerous benefactions in lands and churches, from other persons; and the king gave a canal, so large, that ships might pass between the Witham and Tupholme. These gifts were confirmed to the abbot and canons, by charter, from Henry the third, in the twentieth year of his reign. {57b} At the dissolution of monasteries, this abbey contained nine religious: and in the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth, the scite was granted to Sir Thomas Henneage. [Picture: Remains of Tupholme Abbey] Of the abbey, a wall only is now remaining, the upper part of which appears to have formed a side of the refectory or dining hall. It contains lancet windows, and a small gallery, in which the person sat who read to the brethren during their meals: a practice which was common in all monasteries, and anciently in colleges. The story beneath the refectory appears to have been vaulted, and was probably used as a cellar. Adjoining to the ruins is a farm house, which has been built out of part of the materials. The gate house, now gone, was standing when Dr. Stukeley visited this place in 1716. A view of it is engraved in the Itinerarium Curiosum. The manorial estate, comprising the whole parish, is the property of Robert Vyner, Esquire, of Gautby, by an ancestor of whom it was purchased in the early part of the last century. The church has been long since demolished. The benefice is a vicarage in the patronage of the Bishop of Lincoln. [Picture: Ancient Cross at Somersby] SOMERSBY. THE village of Somersby is pleasantly situated on the wolds, in the hundred of Hill, at about the distance of six miles east from Horncastle. The manorial estates, which comprise the whole parish, have for many years been the property of a family named Burton. The present proprietor is William Raynor Burton, Esquire, which latter name he assumed on coming into possession of the estates on the death of his uncle, Robert Burton, Esquire, of Lincoln. On the south side of the church, near to the porch, is an elegant stone cross, which having escaped both the ravages of time, and the destruction of the Puritans, remains in so perfect a state as to be justly esteemed of unrivalled excellence and beauty. The extreme height of it, including the subcourse, is fifteen feet. The shaft is octagonal, and decorated with a capital, surmounted by a coronal of small embattlements. The cross, with its pediment, which rises from this, is ornamented on the south face with the representation of the crucified founder of the christian faith, and on the opposite side with that of the virgin and child.