If you think this information is inaccurate please e-mail corrections to North Lincolnshire HER .

Summary

A 'large number of corpses' were found in the West Street area c. 1897. They were thought to be 17th century plague victims, but could be nonconformist burials.

Monument Types

• CEMETERY (PM?, Post Medieval - 1600 AD? to 1700 AD?)

Protected Status - None

Associated Finds - None

Associated Events

• Land at Fleet Farm, 47 West Street (Ref: WEBU 12)

Full description

In about 1897, a 'large number of corpses' were found near to the house occupied by a J. Threadgold. The local historian Sidney Morle stated that: 'Several experts were called to examine the bodies, and give their opinion on the time and nature of their deaths. They thought that they had died about 200 years ago, and were probably victims of a plague raging at that time.' Morle himself supposed that these burials were of prisoners of Lord Mulgrave, the President of the Council of the North in 1625: 'Mr Threadgold's house is built on ground which formerly formed part of the park on the estate of Lord Mulgrave…(who) would require a burial ground on his estate…at a distance from his castle.' [1]

A John Threadgold is recorded on the 1881 census, but the address is listed only as South Side, West Street. [2] A parcel of land south of West Street was named 'Park Hill' on John Snape's estate map of 1778, and was probably part of the Mulgrave/Sheffield estate. [3] A conjectural location for these burials might be in area TA831 057. [4]

The groundworks for a domestic extension at Fleet Farm, 47 West Street, were monitored by an archaeologist in March 2012. Only recent animal burials were recorded. [5]

An ecclesiastical census of 1676 recorded 49 nonconformists in Owston Ferry parish. Although it is not certain that West Butterwick was included in these figures, it seems likely. West Butterwick was the centre of Quaker activity in the parish, and may of these nonconformists were likely to be Quakers. Quaker registers record a number of burials in West Butterwick. [6]

The location of the Quaker burial ground in West Butterwick is not known, so the burials discovered in the 19th century may be nonconformist. [7]

<1> Stanley Morle, History of West Butterwick, 46-47 (BOOK). SLS4037.

<2> Familysearch.org (WEBSITE). SLS4039.

<3> North Lincolnshire Museum, Parish files, West Butterwick (MUSEUM RECORDS). SLS1344.

<4> M Hemblade, 2010, Untitled Source (PERSONAL OBSERVATION). SLS4040.

<5> Evershed, R. & Clay, C., 2012, Archaeological Watching brief report: Land at Fleet Farm, 47 West Street, West Butterwick, north Lincolnshire, 1 (REPORT - INTERIM, RESEARCH, SPECIALIST, ETC). SLS5101.

<6> Joy Lloyd, 1998, The Communities of the Manor of Epworth in the 17th Century, 26 (THESIS/DISSERTATION). SLS6434.

<7> M Hemblade, 2013, Untitled Source (PERSONAL OBSERVATION). SLS6435.

Sources and further reading

Related records

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.