Somerby (or Somerby by Gainsborough) is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in the
West Lindsey 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. It is situated south-east from the town of
Gainsborough, and lies 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 ...
of
Corringham.
The settlement is best known as the home of
Richard Topcliffe, the infamous Tudor torturer and persecutor of Roman Catholics. Topcliffe brought one of his victims, Anne Bellamy, to Somerby in 1593 where she had a baby - believed to be Topcliffe's. He died here in 1604.
Excavations at Somerby in 1957 showed it was once larger, revealing 15th-century streets and house foundations, with finds ranging from the 12th to the 16th century. Much of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
village of Somerby was the site of an ancient deer park which belonged to Somerby Park mansion.
Somerby Park is described in the 1872 ''Whites Directory'' as "a commodious ancient mansion in the Elizabethan style".
References
{{Authority control
Hamlets in Lincolnshire
West Lindsey District