Owston, Lincolnshire

Description
Owston, a village, a township, and a parish in Lincolnshire. The village stands in the Isle of Axholme, on the W bank of the river Trent, 3 1/2 miles SE of Epworth, 3 1/2 E of Haxey station on the Spalding and Doncaster section of the Great Eastern and Great Northern Joint railway, and 7 N of Gainsborough, and is a pleasant place. The township contains also the small town and port of West Ferry, Kinnards Ferry, or Owston Ferry, which has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bawtry. It comprises an area of 5126 acres; population of the civil parish, 1294; of the ecclesiastical, 1325. Owston Place is a chief residence. The Trent is crossed by ferry boats at Owston Ferry. A market and fair were formerly held here. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln; gross value, £292 with residence, in the gift of the Crown. The church, which stands within the embankments of what was formerly a strong castle of the Mowbrays, is a handsome building of stone and brick, chiefly in the Early English style; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower; has a rich stained glass E window, put up in 1836, and five others; and is approached through a beautiful arch, and through a fine avenue of elms, sycamores, and chestnuts. It contains some ancient and interesting tombs and monuments. There is a church burying-ground of half an acre, and a cemetery of 1 1/4 acre with a mortuary chapel. The vicarage of West Butterwick is a separate benefice. There are a Wesleyan chapel and endowed almshouses at Owston, a Primitive Methodist chapel, a public hall, and a reading-room, with billiard-room attached, at Owston Ferry.