The history and antiquities of Boston, and the villages of Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Freiston, Butterwick, Benington, Leverton, Leake, and Wrangle; comprising the hundred of Skirbeck, in the county of Lincoln. Including also a history of the East, West, and Wildmore fens, and copious notices of the Holland or Haut-Huntre fen ... sketches of the geology, natural history, botany, and agriculture of the district; a very extensive collection of archaisms and provincial words, local dialect, phrases, proverbs, omens, superstitions, etc. By Pishey Thompson. Illustrated with one hundred engravings.

IJfREISTON is situated about three miles to the eastd _ -| M A ward of Boston; its name is variously written: in, Domesday Book it is called Fristune; LELAND
called it Freiston; STUKELLEY says Freston, and
- derives the name from Frith, a bay.l
The Domesday account of this town is as follows: Soke, of the manor of Butruic (Butterwick)
land of Wido de Credon,"In Fristune twelve carucates of land to be taxed. Land to as many ploughs. Twenty
sokeinen and twenty-six villanes and fifteen bordars have there fifteen ploughs. Two vassals
of Wido have five carucates, and one oxgang 2 of this soke, and they have there two ploughs
and a half, and five sokemen and twelve villanes having one plough and a half."
It will be observed, that there is no mention of a church at Freiston in this
extract from Domesday Book; but in the survey of Butterwick, two churches
and two priests are said to be in that parish. The present church at
Freiston is in the hundred of Butterwick, as is also the whole site of
the priory formerly there; it is, therefore, obvious, that at the time of the
Norman Survey, Freiston was only a hamlet to Butterwick, for it had soke of
the manor of Butterwick, Wido de Credon being lord of both, and it had no
separate church within its limits.
Guy or Wido de Croun or Credon, who came over with the Conqueror,
founded the seat of his barony at Freiston; he had also another seat at Burton
Croun, near Sleaford, which town took its name from him, as it has done its
more modern one of Burton Pedwardine from his descendant. "The family of
the de Crouns was one of the most illustrious in France, and the barony of de
Croun the first in Anjou. The ancient seat of the barony is a small walled city,
in that province, upon the river Ocedon, near Britagne."3
Guy de Croun appears to have possessed immense property in Lincolnshire,
as may be seen by a reference to Domesday Book.
We shall endeavour to describe this property in connexion with our account
of the Croun family.
We venture to differ from this high authority Friesland, and was the town of the Frieslanders, or
respecting this derivation. We have found the Freiston. Sir FRANCIS PALGRAVE has furnished
name of this town in many different shapes, but much evidence of the large and direct share which
never with the first syllable in any way approaching the Frisians took in the invasion of Britain.
to Frith. In 1550, this village is called Phrestou. 2 Oxgang, not any certain number of acres.
We think it was originally settled by a colony from 3 STUKELEY'S Itinerary, p. 25.