White’s Directory of Lincolnshire 1856.
Wrangle.
Wrangle is a pleasant and well built village on the Wainfleet Road, 9 miles North-east of Boston. In the parish are 1196 inhabitants and 6890 acres of fertile land. The soil belongs to various owners and the Executors of J. Rooper Esq. are lords of the manor, which was held by Queen Elizabeth as part of the Honour of Richmond. Tradition says there was formerly a market and that a large creek ran within half a mile of the church, which is now about two miles from the great Estuary of the Wash where large tracts of silt etc., are left bare at low water and are intended to be recovered from the tides and warped into good land. In 1359, Wrangle furnished one ship and eight men to the navy of Edward III . In the parish are two moated mounds on which the foundations of buildings may still be traced.
The church (St. Peter & St. Paul) is a neat fabric with a tower and six bells. In its East window are some kneeling figures in painted glass and in the chancel are the recumbent effigies of a knight and lady. It was appropriated to Waltham Abbey in the reign of Henry II and is now a vicarage, valued in K.B. at £9 18s 6d and now at £868. The Rev. Thomas Bailey Wright M.A. is the patron and incumbent. The tithes were commuted at the enclosure, in 1813, for allotments of 438 a. 1r. 31p to the vicar and 292a. 1r. 2p to the impropriator. The latter now belongs to the Rev. James Linton. In the parish are two small chapels belonging to the Wesleyans and the Primitive Methodists.
The School & Bedehouse were founded by Thos. Alenson, who, in 1555, bequeathed his house, called Joy Hill, to be converted into a bedehouse for two poor men & two poor women of Wrangle & Leake and for a schoolmaster to teach English & Latin to the poor children of these parishes. For their endowment he bequeathed about 40 acres of land, now let for £120 per annum; out of which £60 is paid to the four almspeople in weekly stipends and the remainder to the schoolmaster who teaches reading, writing & arithmetic, gratuitously, to all the children of the two parishes who apply for such instruction. A descendant of the founder is the master and teaches about 60 free scholars. In 1705, the Rev. W. Erskine augmented the endowment of the bedehouse with a bequest of 9 acres of land, now let for £20 per annum. The poor parishioners of Wrangle have the following yearly doles, viz. :26s in bread, left by John Holland, in 1690, out of 24a. of land belonging to the Preston family; £4 as the rent of 2 cottages and 2 roods of land left by Hannah Leach in 1719; £5. 5s as the rent of 5a. 3r. 23p. left by Sir Charles Read before the year 1680; £3 from 2a. 33p. left by Rev. Richard Bailey in 1755; £6 from 3 acres left by John Wilby in 1752; £7 from 5a. 2r.19p. left by Rev. W. Erskine; £9 from 5 acres called the Town Lands; £3 11s 6d from 4 tenements and 3a. 36p. derived from the bequests of Thomas Taylor, alias Smith, and others; about £7 from land derived from unknown donors and let to poor labourers; 20s. out of Lowgate Marsh Farm left by Francis Read; 10s. left by Sir John Read from an estate here now owned by St. Bartholemew’s hospital, London; and 15s. as the interest from £20 left by Francis Chamberlain & S. & W. Wilby.
Post Office:- Mr. R. Chapman, Par. Clk. J. Chapman.
Residents.
Vicars. - Rev. T.B. Wright M.A.; Rev. R. Wright, curate.
Surgeon. - G.E. Creasey.
Free School. - C.M. Allison, schoolmaster.
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Beerhouses. - W.Evison, G.Kime, J. Snowdon; R. Swift.
Blacksmiths. - T. Haines, J. Tilley, H. Woods.
Boot & Shoe Makers. - J. Cowham, W. Cowham, G. Mitchell, J. Walker.
Brewers. - J & M. Greenfield.
Bricklayer. - S. Humble.
Butcher. - M. Bontoft.
Carpenters & Wheelwrights. - J. Dawson, W. Dawson, C. Doulman, J. Haddock, J. Royle, J. Woods.
Castrator. - C. Scrimshaw.
Graziers & Farmers. - T.Ashby, M.Blake, M.Bontoft, R.Chapman, R.Chapman Jnr., W.G.Glark, D.Codd, T.Cooke, J.Donner, C. Doulman, E. Exton, T.Edwards, J. English, W. Gask sen., J & M. Greenfield, W. Greenfield, J. Harrison, J. Hill, J.Huggard, O. Keal, R. Keal, D.Kitchin, Jhn.Lilley, Jsph.Lilley, W.Lilley, J.Newton, J.Parker, J.Pearson, F.Reeson, T.Reeson, J.Richardson, G.Saul, E.Simpson, J.Skinner, C.Swain ( Ram Breeder), J.Taylor, W.Torgoose, E.Ward.
Machine Owner. - Thos. Cooke.
Miller/Baker. - J.M. Balderson, J. Stephenson (Corn Miller}
Shopkeepers. - W.Bothamley, R.Donner, G.Kime,R.Rannard, W.Sawer, J.Snowden, R.Swift, W.Willerton.
Tailor. - W. Misdal.
Thatcher. - W. Walker.
Taverns & Public Houses. - W. Greenfield - The White Horse, J. Needham - The Angel Inn, W. Sawyer - The Black Bull (Also butcher & shopkeeper).
Carriers. (to Boston, Wed. & Sat., to Spilsby, Mon.) - R. Atkin, R. Donner.