BURWELL, a parish in the Wold division of the
hundred of LOUTH-ESKE, parts of LINDSEY, county of
LINCOLN, 5 miles (S. byE.) from Louth, containing
161 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage,
with- the perpetual cxiracy of Walmsgate annexed, in the
archdeaconry and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's
books at £8, endowed with £400 private benefaction,
and £800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage
of M. B. Lister, Esq. The church is dedicated to
St. Michael. Fairs are held annually on May 15th and
Old Michaelmas-day. There are the remains of a
small Alien priory of' Benedictine monks, founded by
John de Hay, and given by some of the lords of Kyme
to the abbey of St. Mary Sylvas Majoris, near Bordeaux'.
This is the birthplace of the celebrated Sarah, Duchess
of Marlborough, whose ascendancy in the affections of
Queen Anne had a material influence on the political
events of that reign.