Ashby Puerorum

Description and Travel

Ashby Puerorum is both a small village and a parish in the Wold hills, 5 miles east of Horncastle and 10 miles south of Louth. Somersby parish lies to the north and Greetham parish to the west. The parish covers about 1,620 acres.

Ashby Puerorum village is a small place in a low valley. If you are planning a visit:

• See our touring page for visitor services.
  
  

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Census

• The parish was in the Tetford sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• This section has been moved to another page due to size. The Church History includes several photographs.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Church of St. Andrew has brasses in memory of the LITTLEBURY (LYTLEBURYE) family.
  
  
• The parish register dates from 1657.
  
  
• The LFHS has published several marriage and burial indexes for the Horncastle Deanery to make your search easier. In 1900, the church was in the rural Hill Deanerey, which no longer exists.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Tetford sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
  
  

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History

• In 1794, a labourer cutting a ditch discovered a Roman sepulchre of a stone chest holding a green glass urn.
  
  

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Land and Property

• In 1842, the principal land owners were S. D. TOTTON and Charles FARDELL.
  
  
• In 1872, Lady COLTMAN owned the puerorum estate and was lady of the manor. The other land owners included Earl MANVERS and R. S. BETTS.
  
  
• In 1882, Earl MANVERS owned the Stainby estate, but most of the rest of the parish was owned by William B. and Francis J. COLTMAN.
  
  
• In 1900, the principal landowners were William B. COLTMAN, Francis J. COLTMAN, Earl MANVERS and Frederick W. S. HEYWOOD.
  
  

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Manors

• The manor house is Holbeck Lodge, built in 1823 on a rise called How Hill, 4.5 miles northeast of Horncastle. It is sometimes called Clapgate House, from a tradition that the troops, assembled there the night before the Battle of Winceby, were alarmed by the clapping of the lodge gate. The lodge occupies 70 acres, which contained three small lakes in 1900.
  
  
• Stainby House was formerly the seat of the LITTLEBURY family. In ancient times it was a large mansion, but by 1872 was reduced to a simpler residence, occupied by Mr. Edward S. CLARKE.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is TF 3271.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer 273 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Names, Geographical

• The name Ashby is from the Old Scandinavian Aesc+by, or "farmstead where ash trees grow". Puerorum is from the Latin for "boys" (or, losely, "children"). The Latin part was added to distinquish the name after an estate was established here for the support of a boys' choir for Lincoln Cathedral.
  ["A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
  
  
• The village appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book simply as Ascheby.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the ancient Hill Wapentake (Hill Hundred) in the East Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
  
  
• For today's governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• The common fields were enclosed here around 1777.
  
  
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Horncastle Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A small school was built here before 1872. A National School was erected in 1878, funded by the COLTMAN brothers.
  
  
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
  
  

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