Old Somerby (pronounced ''Summerby'') is a village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

South Kesteven South Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. Its council is based in Grantham. The district also includes the towns of Bourne, ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England, south-east of

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

. It lies on the B1176 road, with the village centre about east of its junction with the A52 and B6403, and adjacent to the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

Structure

The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 224. Adjacent villages are

Ropsley Ropsley is a village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated approximately east from Grantham, and falls within the civil parish of Ropsley and Humby . Ropsley is the location of the source of the Ri ...

and

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 W ...

. The village divides into Old Somerby, High Somerby and Low Somerby.

Amenities

The

church parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

is part of The North Beltisloe Group of

Beltisloe Beltisloe is a Deanery of the Diocese of Lincoln in England, and a former Wapentake. The Wapentake of Beltisloe was established as an ancient administrative division of the English county of Lincolnshire before the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

in 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 Leice ...

. Its church in High Somerby is dedicated to

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

, the same dedication as at nearby

Bitchfield Bitchfield is a village in the civil parish of Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It consists of two groups of buildings connected by Dark Lane, known as Bitchfield and Lower Bitchfield, colle ...

. There is bed-and-breakfast accommodation in School Lane. The village

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

is the ''Fox and Hounds'' in Grantham Road (B1176). Schools, shops and other amenities are available in Grantham (, to which there are occasional daytime, weekday buses.

Heritage

Somerby was a colony of the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

who ruled Lincolnshire after peace was made with

King Alfred Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when ...

in 878. The village is listed 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'', where the King's tenant-in-chief is given as Walter of Aincourt. The village belonged to the historical

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

Winnibriggs and Threo Winnibriggs and Threo was an anciently established hundred (county subdivision), wapentake in the Parts of Kesteven, the south-east division of the English county of Lincolnshire. Most of the administrative functions of the wapentake had been lost t ...

. The population of the 51 houses in 1870–1872 was given as 234.

Historic buildings

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is Grade II* listed. Initially from the 12th–15th centuries, it underwent alterations and additions in the 18th century and in 1876. The Old Rectory in School Lane is Grade II listed and dates from about 1700, with alterations and additions in the late 18th, the 19th and the 20th centuries. The other Grade II listed buildings in the village are a barn at the Manor House, the Manor House itself, the stable block at Cold Harbour Farm, and the Old Farm House. Near the church is the site of a moated manor house.

Notable people

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was an American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course ...

(1703–1770), didactic writer and politician, purchased the parish of Somerby and lived at Somerby Hall, as did his descendants into the 1930s. His monument remains in the churchyard. *

William Henry Brookfield William Henry Brookfield (31 August 1809 – 12 July 1874) was an Anglican priest, Inspector of Schools, and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria.. His son was the playwright Charles Brookfield. Biography William Henry Brookfield was th ...

(1809–1874), formerly inspector of schools and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria, became Rector of Somerby-cum-Humby in 1865.

Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

, a friend, wrote a sonnet in his memory.

Cold Harbour

The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Cold Harbour stands to the north-west of the village. It is on the road named High Dyke, also spelled High Dike, which follows the line of the Roman road

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earninga ...

, at the junction where the

A52 road The A52 is a major road in the East Midlands, England. It runs east from a junction with the A53 road, A53 at Newcastle-under-Lyme near Stoke-on-Trent via Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne, Derby, Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, Stapleford, Notting ...

between

and Donington joins it. A house at Cold Harbour named Blue Harbour was previously a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, and the stable block of Cold Harbour Farm is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, dating from the mid 18th century with later additions. There are several theories on the origin of the settlement name ''Cold Harbour'', which occurs in several places: it may mean a "cold", or no longer inhabited, "harbour" or refuge.

References

External links

*
"St Mary Magdalene, Old Somerby"
Achurchnearyou.com {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire South Kesteven District Areas of Grantham