West Ashby History
- Bones and teeth of woolly mammoth and other animals have been found in the alluvial gravels of the Bain Valley within the parish boundary.
- The first evidence of human settlement, some 4000 years ago, was the late Neolithic henge or burial ground found in the south of the parish. Archaeological work in 1977 found pottery and worked flints at the site.
- A roman road running roughly east to west is about a kilometre north of the parish boundary crossing the A153 at grid reference TF273761.
- The Danes settle in the area using the name Aski or Askr meaning ash tree; by is the Danish word for farmstead or village.
- The village was recorded as Aschebi in the Domesday survey of 1086.
- It is mentioned again in the Lindsey survey of 1115 commissioned by Henry 1 as Aschebi.
- The use of West was first recorded in the 16th century. The parish has two outlying farmsteads or “thorpes”, at Midthorpe and Farthorpe.
- The tithes of the village were also recorded in charters of 1100, 1125 and 1179. The Manor of Ashby passed to the Bishops of Carlisle in 1229 and remained with them until the 19th century. The lands were bought by the Elmhirst family and the current manor house was erected in 1840.
- The parish church, All Saints, was built during the reign of Henry VII, and the parish register dates from 1561.
- The village’s population peaked at 534 recorded in the 1841 census, declining to 339 by 1901 and 252 in the 2001 census.
- A more comprehensive history of the village and its environs can be found in the Millennium Booklet produced in 2000.
- The LCC website, www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/residents/archives also provides a comprehensive suite of services for researching village and family histories.