Calceby is a small village in the

East Lindsey East Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The population of the district council was 136,401 at the 2011 census. The council is based in Manby. Other major settlements in the district include Alford, Wragby, Spilsby ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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. It is situated approximately west from the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Alford.It is in 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 ...

South Thoresby South Thoresby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Horncastle and south-east from Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth. Its population was 128 in ...

. Once much larger, Calceby is recorded in the ''

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 ...

'' as "Calesbi".

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 ...

in 1086 was Earl Hugh of Chester. By the early seventeenth century, the conversion of agriculture from corn to pasture had begun a process of depopulation of the parish. In 1638 the vicar said that his meagre income from tithes (£13 16s 6d per annum) could only be increased if the village were to be repopulated. The parish church of

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

is now in ruins, the last service to take place there being in 1692.

Maurice Beresford Maurice Warwick Beresford, (6 February 1920 – 15 December 2005) was an English economic historian and archaeologist specialising in the medieval period. He was Professor of Economic History at the University of Leeds. Early life and educat ...

included Calceby in his "Lost Villages of England". Calceby Beck & Spring are the source of the

Great Eau The Great Eau is a river in Lincolnshire, England, rising from the Chalk Streams of the Lincolnshire Wolds and running to Saltfleet Haven on the coast. It is joined by its companion stream, the Long Eau. The placename element ''Eau'' for a r ...

, and are part of the local network of Chalk Streams. Calceby Marsh has been designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI) as "an outstanding example of base-rich marsh". The site consists of three areas of marshland, each differing slightly in

species composition Species richness is the number of different species represented in an community (ecology), ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the Abundance (ecology), abunda ...

and surrounded by grassland of value to breeding

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a near ...

and

lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...

. Calceby Marsh SSSI is owned by the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...

References

External links

* {{authority control East Lindsey District Villages in Lincolnshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Lincolnshire