Francis Ayscough inherited the manor of Stallingborough on the death of his father in 1546. At this time it is likely that he was living in the nearby village of South Kelsey. Francis was the older brother of Tudor martyr Anne Askew and is known to have been interested, like Anne, in the teachings of the new religion.

When Anne left her husband it is thought that it was to Francis’ home that she fled, she would later leave for London where she was tortured and executed. In Foxe’s Book of Martyrs it states that it was Francis who betrayed his sister to the authorities after her first trial and release, and who quickly made it clear he had returned to the old faith.

I don’t know what I think about this, it’s easy to think Francis was unprincipled, weak and a coward who betrayed his sister to save his own skin, in reality though, I wonder how many of us would have done the same?

Francis Asycough was married twice and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire on three separate occasions. He can claim Sir Issac Newton as one of his descendants.

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#churchesoflincolnshire #tudor #anneaskew #tudorwomen #women
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On the floor of St Peter and Paul’s Church in the Lincolnshire village of Stallingborough is this brass marker, it features William Ayscough and his wife Margery Hilyard. This couple were the grandparents of Anne Ayscough (Askew) who was burnt at the stake for her Protestant belief.

William Ayscough died in 1509, just a few years before the teachings of new religion began to take hold.

William was knighted in 1501 at the marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon.

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Church Lane in Stallingborough meanders its way north with what remains of a medieval village to its left. The green fields, seen in my photographs, cover the foundations of buildings that can be seen as ridges and hollows.

To the south of this lane, there were open fields, archaeologists think this was where the village expanded during the 16th century and where the Tudor house belonging to the Ayscough's was situated.

Living there in the 1520s was Anne, a young girl who was forced to marry a man to whom her dead sister was promised.

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