The Dymoke family of the Manor of Scrivelsby in the parish of Horncastle in Lincolnshire holds the feudal hereditary office of King's Champion.

The functions of the Champion are to ride into Westminster Hall at the (now defunct) coronation banquet and challenge all comers who might impugn the King's title.

[2] Sir Thomas Dymoke (d. 12 March 1470) joined a Lancastrian rising in 1469, and with his brother-in-law Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles, was beheaded on 12 March 1470 at Queen's Cross, Stamford, Lincolnshire, by order of King Edward IV after he had been induced to leave sanctuary at Westminster Abbey by the promise of a royal pardon.

Legend has it that a suit of armour formerly belonging to Sir Lionel Dymoke, which 'kept guard' over his remains in St. Mary's Church, Horncastle, was taken from the building in 1536 and worn by Phillip Trotter, one of the leaders of the Lincolnshire Rebellion.

The church contains monumental brasses depicting Sir Lionel Dymoke clad in armour and kneeling on a cushion with plates showing his three daughters and two step-sons.

[6] The following story respecting Charles Dymoke, in 1689 the Champion of William and Mary, was printed in the "Gazetteer" of August 1784, nearly a century after the event, and therefore open to some suspicion:[8] "The Champion of England (Dymoke), dressed in armour of complete and glittering steel, his horse richly caparisoned, and his beaver finely capped with plumes of feathers, entered Westminster Hall, according to ancient custom, while the king and queen were at dinner.

His nephew Sir Henry Dymoke, 1st Baronet (1801–1865) was champion in 1821 at the coronation of King George IV (reigned 1820–1830), the last time the traditional ritual was enacted.

At the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, it was decided not to include the traditional ride and challenge of the Champion, and in recompense, in 1841 Henry Dymoke was made a baronet.

[citation needed] However at the coronation of King Edward VII (1901–1910) H. S. Dymoke bore the Standard of England in Westminster Abbey.