West Ashby Church ~ A Look at the History and Village
All Saints church, in the small village of West Ashby, sits next to the road leading to Horncastle.
It’s primarily 15th century work and a place I’ve passed countless times - this time I stopped to record the church for our list
My first task was to look for any interesting gravestones and for once was rewarded, a very nice
Freemason’s Headstone !
The building itself looks to be mostly greenstone and displays a variety of building styles and periods.
It was heavily restored in 1873 but still retains an early Norman doorway with much of the interior being Early English in style.
There are some fine gargoyles on the tower and some interesting stained glass.
The existing parish registers go back to 1561 and there is a memorial to those who lost their lives during the Great War
“In memory of these West Ashby men who died in the war 1914-1919 may they rest in peace”
All Saints Church in West Ashby near Horncastle
West Ashby House
A fine Queen Anne house circa 18th century sits near the church and is a notable building.
It was once the vicarage and was also used at one time by the Bishops of Carlisle.
One point of real interest is the doorway of the house - it once belonged to Captain Cook !
Quite how and why Captain Cook’s doorway left his house in London and ended up in a tiny village in Lincolnshire is unknown to me - I’d be interested to hear if anybody knows anything about it.
There also appears to be a rich history in the area going back to medieval and Iron Age times. Listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Aschebi it’s described as bing ‘King’s Land’ and having a mill.
Names mentioned are: Gilbert de Ghent , Roger from him , WilliamTailbois and Chetelbern from the King.
I should be very interested to hear from anybody with any information at all about All Saints and the village of West Ashby - please do kleave any comments, information or thoughts so they may be collated and preserved - many thanks in advance
All the best
Rod
History Hunter said,
May 7, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
I have just found this relating to the name William Tailbois (Tailboys or Tallboys)
Quite a bit of family history in it and at some point mention of a Barony in Lincoln!
The following is taken from the website 1066 : A Medieval Mosaic
THE
BATTLE ABBEY ROLL.
WITH SOME
ACCOUNT OF THE NORMAN LINEAGES.
BY THE
DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND.
Talybois :
Here again we come upon a nick-name, clearly alluding to some long-forgotten feat of wood-craft or swordmanship. There is no saying whether, in a former age, Mr. Gladstone might not have been handed down to posterity as Taille-bois.
Four of the name—variously rendered in Domesday as Tallebosc, Talgebosc, and Tailgebosch, possessed estates in England in 1086. Ivo held a barony in Lincoln and Norfolk: Ralph and his daughter were likewise tenants in chief in Lincolnshire: and William an under tenant in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
[edit for copyright and search engine reasons]
History Hunter said,
May 7, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
Now for Chetelbern from the King
KETELBIORN. The Domesday forms of this name - Chetelbern, Chetelbern[us], Chetelb[er]t[us], Chetelber, Chetelbar - represent Old Danish Ketilbiorn: von Feilitzen, Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, p. 304. The printed Phillimore edition has the forms Ketilbiorn and Ketelbern; these have now been standardized as Ketilbiorn. The Alecto edition has Ketilbiorn. This is the only occurrence of this name in Domesday Nottinghamshire.
[edit for copyright and search engine reasons]
History Hunter said,
May 7, 2010 @ 9:03 pm
Gilbert de Ghent
Gilbert de Ghent or Gilbert de Gand, was one of two Norman commanders who assisted Duke William in reducing Yorkshire, where he held the garrison at York. He received grants of 172 manors and lordships in England and became the Baron Folkingham. He was apparently the younger son of Baldwin, Count of Flanders but others call him merely a Flemish adventurer. The former is more likely true, considering the extent of his grants, and Baldwin’s huge participation at the Battle of Hastings, and his early death death in 1067 at age 33. The difficulty if true, however, is the age of Gilbert. He could scarcely have been older than 16 at the Conquest, but he was a younger son. Either Baldwin’s birth date is in error or he may have been a brother to Baldwin. His third son Walter, succeeded to his father’s vast possessions and was ancester of the Earls of Lincoln.
[edit for copyright and search engine reasons]
History Hunter said,
May 7, 2010 @ 9:12 pm
Further to the above re: Gilbert de Ghent
Cadet GILBERT de GHENT (GANT) of Guines
circa 1050 - circa 1095
* TITLE: Cadet
* OCCUPATION: Flourished circa 1066 Earl of Lincoln
* RESIDENCE: Alost and of Guines and England and Scotland
* BIRTH: ABT 1050
* DEATH: ABT 1095
* BURIAL: Bardley
BARDLEY? No such place! Is there a chance that it should be BARDNEY?
There is proof that Gilbert funded the building of Bardney Abbey so it seems it may be a possibility
Rod said,
May 8, 2010 @ 9:51 am
HH,
many thanks for the detective work, much appreciated. The edits are for copyright and search engines as we can’t take large blocks of text from other sites I’m afraid.
Bits and pieces, quotes etc are OK but the best is simply researching the information and putting it in our won words.
Very interesting bardney connection HH
Best
Rod