Manor of Scrivelsby

The Manor of Scrivelsby, part of Scrivelsby civil parish, is in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, 2 mi south from Horncastle and on the B1183 road 1 mi east from the A153 road.

The manor is held by grand serjeanty, a form of tenure which requires the performance of a service rather than a money payment – in this case as the King or Queen's Champion.

History
Scrivelsby appears in the Domesday Book as "Scrivelesbi". It comprised 89 households, 16 villagers, 11 smallholders and 30 freemen, with 8.5 ploughlands, a meadow of 5 acre, woodland of 100 acre, a mill and a church. In 1086 lordship of the manor and tenancy-in-chief was transferred to Robert the bursar, alternatively Robert De Spencer, but shortly after the Conquest it was given to Robert De Marmyion, Lord of Fountenay, on condition that he accept the office of King's Champion. The Marmions had historically been Champions to the Dukes of Normandy and Henry I wanted to reestablish that relationship for his English crown.

The Marmyon (sometimes Marmion) family's time as Champion died out with Philip De Marmyon, who only produced daughters. Joan, the youngest, married Sir Thomas De Ludlow, and it was to her Scrivelsby was left. They had a son, John, who died with no children, and a daughter, or great granddaughter (disputed) Margaret, who married Sir John Dymoke, who in turn became the monarch's champion.

The duty of the King's Champion was to ride armed into the coronation banquet at Westminster Hall and challenge anyone who doubted the new monarch's right to the throne. The Champion then threw down his gauntlet to prove he would fight to the death anyone who did. This was done three times and if no challenge had been made, the king, presented with a gold cup of wine, drank to the Champion, who in turn took the cup, finished the drink, and shouted "Long live your Majesties!". The custom was abandoned after the coronation of George IV in 1821.

Landmarks
The manor house, Scrivelsby Court, was burnt out in 1761, and was demolished between 1955 and 1957. However the gatehouse was retained and restored in 1959. The west front is predominately 15- and 16th-century, with the rest, being Georgian and later. It is a Grade I listed building. The Lion Gateway was built around 1530 and was rebuilt in 1833. It is Grade II* listed.

The park was designed by Humphry Repton before 1791. Repton also added two octagonal lodges to the side of the Lion Gate.

The church of St Benedict originates from the 13th century, with 15th-century additions. It was completely restored in 1860 by Sir Henry Dymoke (who added a small tower with spire), in greenstone, and in Perpendicular and Early English style. A stained glass east window by Thomas Willement was part of the 1860 rebuild. Within the church is a 1776 chalice by John Swift with an 1805 paten by Samuel and George Whitworth. There are monuments to the Dymoke family and one, c.1300 of a Knight and Lady, probably to the earlier Marmian family.

Today
Today Scriveslby is a country estate with deer park, still under the Dymoke family, and an event site for country fairs. In May 2012 it was announced that the estate would be part of Horncastle's events for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, with a beacon lit as part of a sequence of National beacons.