Ashby de la Launde is a small village, part of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Ashby de la Launde and Bloxholm
Ashby de la Launde and Bloxholm is a civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 796, increasing to 837 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the villages of Ashby d ...
, in the
North Kesteven district of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, England. The village is situated just west of
Digby
Digby may refer to:
Places Australia
* Digby, Victoria, a town
Canada
* Digby (electoral district), a former federal electoral district in Nova Scotia (1867–1914)
* Digby (provincial electoral district), a provincial electoral district i ...
, and east of the
A15 and
B1191 roads.
History
In ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' the village is called "Ashebi", comprising two manors, in the possession of
Ralph Paynel
Ralph Paynel or Paganel ( fl. 1089) was an 11th-century Norman, a landowner, partisan of William II of England, and sheriff of Yorkshire. He was the son of Ralph Paynel (also known as Ralph de St. John; Ralph de Brehal; Ralph de Moulins; Ralph de ...
and Kolsveinn of Lincoln.
The
Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
, William de Essheby, (or ''Ashby''), founded the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
preceptory
Temple Bruer
Temple Bruer with Temple High Grange is a civil parish and a former extra-parochial area in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, which had in the Medieval period been held by the Knights Templar and later by the Knights Hospitaller of Temple Bruer Pre ...
, around 1150,
joining the order himself, and increasing his endowment to it before his death.
In time, the preceptory, became the second wealthiest in Britain, funding the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
from sheep rearing and wool exports to Europe.
![Boothby Pagnell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Boothby_Pagnell.jpg)
A descendant, also named William de Essheby, gave the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
the advowson of the village's
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
, dedicated to
Saint Hybald, in return for the Templars providing, for ever more, a chaplain to perform divine service in the private chapel, dedicated to St. Margaret, in the de Essheby's manor house.
This manor house, built in 1220, was 'a rectangular two-storeyed semi-fortified manor with first floor external stair access', similar in style to the surviving manor at
Boothby Pagnell
Boothby Pagnell is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population is now included in the civil parish of Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe.
History
The village lay in the historical wapentake of ...
,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
.
The advowson returned to the family, in the 13th century, but, after the death of his son, Jordan de Essherby once again gave the Church to the Templars.
In the 13th century, Cecilia, daughter of Jordan de Essheby, married Walter de la Laund (or ''Launde''),
Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of
Laceby.
Upon the death of her father circa 1260, Cecilia, his sole heir, inherited the Ashby manor, and the settlement became known as Ashby de la Launde.
In the 15th century, descendant Thomas de la Launde, commenced a suit against the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
, who had been given many of the Templars assets after their dissolution, to regain the advowson of the church, but he died before it was completed.
[ In 1493, another Thomas de la Launde commenced a similar suit.][
The de la Launde's finally lost their land holdings in the area in the reign of ]Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. The King granted the manor to John Bellow and Robert Brocklesby in 1543, John Bussey then held it from 1555, until, in 1564, the estate was purchased by Thomas York. In 1580, George, the son of Thomas York, sold the estate to Edward King.
Ashby Hall
Ashby Hall was built in 1595 by Edward King using the original Norman manor house as part of the foundations. It remained in the King family until the late 19th century when it passed through the female line to Colonel William Vere Reeve King-Fane. Between the years 1814 and 1835 it was let to a Mrs Gardner as a girls' school.
The hall was home to Colonel Edward King (c 1606 - 1681) Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby, as was his father-in-law Sir Edward Ayscough. Colonel King was a strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
, serving as a captain in the Parliamentary army and as Governor of Boston during the Commonwealth. Despite his strong republican and nonconformist beliefs, he is credited as being the first Member of Parliament to call for the restoration of Charles II
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...
.
In 1841 the Hall and estate passed to John William King who was also the parson
A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...
of Ashby. Now squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
and parson he took over the stables and stud and set about breeding racehorses
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
. In 1874 his filly
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
*In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old.
*In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...
Apology won the Triple Crown of the Thousand Guineas, the Oaks and the St Leger. His activities came to the notice of Bishop Wordsworth of Lincoln who demanded his resignation from his church positions. King resigned a year later and died on 9 May 1875.
The Hall was sold in 1925 by Colonel William Vere Reeve King-Fane
Colonel William Vere Reeve King-Fane (born Fane; 29 October 1868 – 5 November 1943) was an English local politician, magistrate and landowner, who served as vice-chairman of Kesteven County Council and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire.
Family
A ...
of Fulbeck
Fulbeck is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Byards Leap) taken at the 2011 census was 513. The village is on the A607, north from Grantham and north-west from S ...
to George Canning, Baron Garvagh who had sold his Irish estates in Garvagh near Londonderry and moved his family to Ashby Hall. Lord Garvagh rebuilt and modernised parts of the Hall, and during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, to keep his staff employed, he built a large wooden indoor Badminton court which in later years became the present Village Hall; it has been relocated today in the centre of the village.
Lord Garvagh moved to Keswick at the beginning of the Second World War, and by 1942 various fighter squadrons at RAF Digby had taken over Ashby Hall as their officer's mess. One of the most notable was 609 Squadron (White Rose). By the end of the war the house became derelict and stood empty until the estate were broken up in the late 1950s. The park was cleared of its oak trees, the walled garden and surrounding farms sold separately, leaving the Hall itself to become the Lake Rendezvous Club, featuring acts including Diana Dors, Bob Monkhouse and Ken Dodd.
The Hall was purchased in 1960 by a Mr Roy Baines from Ruskington who renovated parts of the Hall. He converted it into an old fashioned Country Club calling it Ashby Hall Country Club. The facilities were swimming pool, fishing, water skiing, boating, horse riding and nightclub. Members paid an annual Fee. Roy Baines lived there with his wife June and children Carol, Jackie, Tony and Peter.
The Hall and Club was purchased by the Ward family in the late 1960s under the new name Ashby Country Club, eventually closing in 1992. The Hall was then purchased to become the headquarters of a defence and security manufacturing company.
Superfast Broadband
In 2010, having been told that high speed broadband was unlikely to reach Ashby De La Launde in the near future, residents brought in an external company to lay a fibre optic ring main around the village, providing access to a 100Mbit/s connection to every home.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby De La Launde
Villages in Lincolnshire
North Kesteven District
History of Lincolnshire