Wybers Wood ~ An Exploration of the History and Origins
Wybers Wood
This post takes me full circle really, going right back to the start of what might euphemistically be termed as my historical investigations.
The aim of this article is to accumulate as much information on the area and the immediate vicinity as possible from today right back to . . . well as far as possible.
The aim of this page is to put all the information that can possibly be found in one place and to uncover hitherto forgotten or unknown information on the area. It wil be something that grows over time.
Firstly I think we should look at some questions which come to my mind
-
A: Where did the name originally come from ?
B: What went on around the area 100s of years ago ?
C: Was there a monastery or religious building here or hereabouts ?
Below you’ll see a map from 1831 which clearly marks a place called Wyber. The question is why is this marked so. It is where Wybers Farm is marked in later maps but why do they mark a farm on the map - they don’t mark other farms - only places of significance !
Map Dated 1831
The next map is a little earlier, 1824, and of greater detail, you’ll note the addition of Wybers Covers, covers another name for wooded area, this is actually Wybers Wood (not the built up area) itself which still exists roughly as is today.
Records of the Brocklesby hunt mention a fox hunt in 1818 which . . .
 Wybers Wood to Great Coates, thence through Little Coates Decoy and left-handed into the marshes. After first making nearly for the Humber bank, hounds turned left-handed down the marshes, with Great Coates, Healing, and Stallingborough away on the left, to Immingham.
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The diary from the Brocklesby hunt also mentions a Wybers Bridge which was presumably used to cross Laceby Beck
Old ‘Matched’ Ordnance Survey Map Dated 1824
All this talk of fox hunting brings us very neatly to Sir Richard Sutton who used to hunt in the area in the early 1800s and is mentioned in these very diaries. He was a prominent landowner in the area and still to this date Sir Richard Sutton Settled Estates owns land and farms this area.
I did speak to a very nice lady at their estate offices but couldn’t find out much of historic interest sadly. Incidentally Sir Richard Sutton was a patron of Great Coates Church
You’ll also see a Pewet Hall marked on the first map. I cannot find anything out about its status as a hall per se but that is the site of what is now Pyewipe Farm run by M.F. Strawson, who was kind enough to talk to me a while ago. Pewet, Piwit and Pyewipe are all derivatives of the same name, also this farm should not be confused with Wybers Farm.
In Winter - the Actual Wood Itself
What Next ?
What exactly was Wyber as marked on the 1831 map or Wybers on the 1824 map ? Was it a farm before it was designated so on later maps ?
There appears to be 4 buildings there, perhaps it was originally a tiny hamlet ?
If it was a farm we return to the question - why list it on those maps - especially as it would have been small in farming terms.
From whence did the name come. The genealogy of the name could be connected to the following:
Wyburghs Farm, Wyvers, Wiberfurlong, Wyver Hedge, Wiber Close, Furzy Wibers, House Wibers
Do You Know Anything ?
Do you have any information on anything related to the area, whether it’s evidence, actual maps or anecdotal we’d love to hear from you.
Do you know anything of a monastery, priory or related building or of any carved stone which may have turned up around here or the golf course
If you know of anything at all no matter if it’s seemingly trivial please do leave a comment - it could be the missing piece that cracks the puzzle.
Please check the comments for a lot more information - for the origin of the name especially see comment #25 by Amiguru
[edit again] Ensure you see comment dated June 7th 2011 for possible etymological breakthrough
All the best
Rod
Please feel free to click the Facebook link below to share with others - many thanks
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Steve... said,
January 8, 2010 @ 4:53 pm
Have been checking some ‘Wyber’ or ‘Wiber’ ancestry names.
There is an old Scottish Clan by that name.
‘Wiber’ also appears in a Welsh place names and means, ‘Viper’.
gwiber viper Carregwiber SO0859 Allt y wiber SN4628
Rod said,
January 8, 2010 @ 5:12 pm
Steve,
that’s very interesting - many thanks - I especially like the last bit.
I did find some mention of Irish clans.
I do like viper Steve !
Best
Rod
Steve... said,
January 8, 2010 @ 5:17 pm
The viper is a bringer of justice (Gen 49:16-17).
Rod said,
January 8, 2010 @ 6:56 pm
Steve,
I like it even more now !
Snippets like this could easily tie something in and unlock something
Best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 8, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
Rod,
Not a lot of use but on topic and the right location and charming, as are all the other postcards of Lincs. on Kath’s page……take a look, all period pics
le
http://www.tappin-family.org.uk/PostOthers2-05.jpg
Regards,
N
Rod said,
January 8, 2010 @ 8:00 pm
Neville,
I know the exact spot - I stood there today - it’s not changed.
A lovely card
Steve... said,
January 9, 2010 @ 10:35 am
‘The village of Wyberton is said to derive its name from one of the stewards of Algar Earl of Mercia, named Wybert, who, with his master, so gallantly resisted the incursions of the Danish marauders, A. D. 870, and was by them slain on the second day of battle.’
***The History of the County of Lincoln 1833***
Peter Mullins said,
January 20, 2010 @ 12:47 pm
I’d always thought that the name of the Wybers Wood estate was simply what the developers settled upon in the late 1960s or early 1970s as sounding nice for sales even though the actual Wybers Wood (as you observe) isn’t quite where the estate was built. I had never noticed that Wybers is named separatly as you point out on the two maps from 1824 and 1831; it looks like being near the fishing lakes west of the Laceby Acres estate (another name invented by developers with sales in mind!) rather than where the Wybers Wood estate is today. My guess is that it is a farm. Perhaps you could check whether it shows up as a dwelling name in the 1841 census (it would be in Laceby parish)? Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure that before the eatate was built and for centuries before that it was simply fields between Great Coates and Little Coates; there is no documentary evidence of any church, chapel or priory between the two, and the people who live along the southern edge of the estate (and of the Willows estate) know to their cost that even the present controlled Freshney river can flood. I’m told that the parish churches at Great Coates, Little Coates, Grimsby and Clee are all the same height above sea level (you could check this out!) and my guess is that any prehistoric settler in his coracle coming along the Humber with no sea defences would have found those sites to be the first firm ground above the bog; the use of the names West Marsh and East Marsh in the Grimsby parish would be the remaining memory of this, and the eigtheenth century names for the fields at the mouth of the Freshney in the Little coates parish are Little Marsh, Great Marsh and Far Marsh.
Rod said,
January 20, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
Hi Peter,
thanks for the insight, really appreciated.
I agree the farm seems most likely but what seems a little strange is why it should be marked on the map.
No other farms are, indeed only the most prominent things are, so why include simply this farm and exclude all others ?
The other issue is, of course, all the stone found where the golf course now is and also the intriguingly named Chapel Field House at Toothill
I’d love to pin down all aspects of this one day, especially as it was the very beginning of all my historic interest and research (such as it humbly is)
Best
Rod
Peter Mullins said,
January 20, 2010 @ 9:27 pm
How interesting! I’m glad I dropped in on the conversation!
I think I’m very clear about things on the north / Great Coates parish side of the Freshney (which will have had very little to do with what was across the river). Despite what you say, there are actually some other farms (almost a random selection) on the eastern side of the 1831 map, and I now see that the 1908 OS map does label Wybers Farm. I’d stick to my guns that the estate is built on fields (the southern most parts of which mediaeval people wouldn’t have touched with a barge pole as building land!), that the neighbouring Wybers Farm buildings have disappeared during the twentieth century (but will, I’m sure, show up in census returns), and that names like Sanctuary Way are a developers wimsy.
But I’m really fascinated by information new to me on the south / Little Coates side of the Freshney. Nobody has ever drawn my attention before to archaelogical evidence for a lost mediaeval village of Little Coates situated near the present Golf Club buildings. I want to know more! And your finds from the recent (?) Anglican Water trench are quite a discovery too. Did no proper archaelogical record get made? What exactly did those who gave you these things say about their provenance (and did they have first hand links with the digging up)?
Nevertheless, I’d take a lot of pressure before going for an explanation which involve speculating about unknown ecclesiatical building which hasn’t left any documentary record; any church or priory is almost bound to have had an appointment or licence show up in the usual places which show up so much evidence about places like St Michael’s and Nun’s Corner. My instinct would be that they do come from somewhere like Wellow Abbey - after all the whole building has disappeared and its stones must be all over the place - but exactly how or why in this case is a certainly a puzzle. I do see, however, that Chapel Field is not a new house builders name and is in fact really there in an eighteenth century record of Little Coates.
Amiguru said,
January 20, 2010 @ 10:52 pm
Rod,
Just a bit more info…
In 1881, the greatest concentrations of the surname Wyber were, (in decreasing order,) Guildford, Edinburgh, Watford, Gloucester. Definately none in the 1881 census born or recorded living in Lincolnshire.
Regards,
le
N
Rod said,
January 21, 2010 @ 8:59 am
Peter,
I myself struggle to see a religious building there. At first I did but I knew absolutely nothing . ..
Subsequently I did a lot of research and ended up doing all sorts of historical stuff. I soon learnt how good church records are and the smallest details I found about certain things 800 years ago or so makes it hard to believe and entire building would exist without record.
The culvert went in just after WW1 I think, before it was a golf course I believe.
Do you remember the cottages opposite the Humber Royal Hotel (were St Margaret’s nursing home is now) the man that lived in one of those actually was involved in digging it and he carted tons of the stone back.
For further interest Peter check out Cun Hu Hill, not related by adds to the interest of the area
All the best
Rod
Rod said,
January 21, 2010 @ 9:06 am
Neville,
that’s very useful, many thanks. I thought it would be easy with this name as it’s unusual I suspected it would stick out. Indeed it does but is conspicuous by its absence around this area.
It would be a huge boon to pin the origins of the name down and when it started.
If it goes back a fair way then it could be a derivative based on another name but if relatively recent, i.e. 1800s then I’d guess it always was ‘Wybers’
) you
Great work on the census, there’s not much gets past (ha ha - see what I did there
All the best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 21, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
Rod,
Another incidental:
There was a guy called Harold Wyber on a winning University Challenge team a couple of years ago. Perhaps you could challenge him to solve this for us.
Regards,
le
N
Rod said,
January 21, 2010 @ 5:14 pm
Let him come forth Neville - there seems to be a few people doing ancestry, genealogy and family research on the name - Scotland and Ireland keeps coming up
Cheers
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 21, 2010 @ 5:36 pm
Rod,
No, he came first…
N
le
Rod said,
January 21, 2010 @ 6:47 pm
Nev,
that’s up to Dino’s standard and he’s known to be a gag meister
Peter Mullins said,
January 22, 2010 @ 9:53 pm
I’ve found Wibers (that is how Wybers Farm appears to be spelt in this source) in the 1881 census, in Aylesby parish (not Laceby parish, my earlier mistake). John Clark (56), himself born in the parish, is the Farmer of 120 acres with two labourers and one boy. His wife Hannah (49), born in Irby, is listed, but no children. They had three servants resident on census night. The neighbouring dwelling is Pipewipe Farm, which totally confirms that I’ve been looking in the correct place.
The parish boundary does have a very great significance because, once Great Coates parish was brought into the Borough of Grimsby in the 1960s (nobody living on the Wybers Wood estate today could be an enrolled Freeman of Grimsby if it had not been!), this was also the Borough boundary, and the estate is built right up to but not across what was the Borough boundary at the time. (Incidentally, exactly the same thing is true of Laceby Acres where the limit of the estate hugs the Little Coates / Laceby parish boundary - Morrisons got planning permission from the neighbouring local authority which is why it till receipts still say ‘Morrisons, Cleethorpes’ today.)
Amiguru said,
January 22, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
Brilliant work Peter!
Rod will be exstatic inthe morning
Regards,
le
N
Rod said,
January 23, 2010 @ 9:35 am
That he is !!!!
Peter that is superb - I need to really get my teeth into this one - cracking !
(nobody living on the Wybers Wood estate today could be an enrolled Freeman of Grimsby if it had not been!),
Some good came of it then
I’m off to do some research Peter - can’t tell you how good this is - many thanks for taking the time
All the best
Rod
Rod said,
January 23, 2010 @ 2:29 pm
1818 is the earliest mention I think I’ve found so far of Wybers
Peters’s great find from the 1881 census states that it was being farmed by John Clark and wife
The buildings marked on 1824 map are still extant on a 1951 Ordnance Survey map of Grimsby.
It would be interesting to find the demolition date as the site is now a clear field.
In 1966 the farm wasin the hands of the T.F.Strawson (M.F. Strawson Ltd are still at Pyewipe farm) as permission was granted to extract water from a borehole and the planning application specifically mentions “Wybers Farm” though of course that doesn’t mean the buildings were still standing then.
Also from whence did the name originate - how far back can we get in terms of farm ownership ?
Best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 23, 2010 @ 5:14 pm
Rod,
Peter’s information verified by Kelly’s Directory 1885 under Aylesby:
‘Clark, John Farmer’
Regards,
le
N
Amiguru said,
January 31, 2010 @ 12:20 pm
Rod,
I would suggest that the most likely etymological derivation of Wyber’s is Wigburh’s. Your lady followers will like this as is a Viking name and feminine to boot
Bearing in mind that the who area is steeped in the Danish place names due to their invasions of the East Coast over several centuries.
Regards,
N
le
Rod said,
January 31, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
Neville,
I particularly like Wigburh’s
I’d come across Wyburgh but not Wigburh
Off for a look - I rather like how far back it goes
Many thanks
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 31, 2010 @ 6:59 pm
Rod,
It is even more convincing if you consider the phonetics. I am no expert linguist but I understand that the Danish linguistic influence on the language in Lincolnshire is known as Old East Norse which was spoken in Denmark and Southern Sweden and that there is a connection between the written letters ‘g’ and ‘y’. It easier to explain using examples: yat means gat or gate; saga is a saya or saying; yellow comes from geolu or golwe, and so on.
Now, pronounce Wigburh’s and sound the ‘g’ as a ‘y’……need I say more?
Ahaaa! I’ve just googled around and found this in the Internet surname database under the name ‘Wybrow:
“This unusual and interesting name is a dialectal variant of Whybrow, itself from the Middle English female given name “Wyburgh”, spelt, in the Old English pre 7th Century “Wigburh”, composed of the elements “wig”, war and “burh”, fortress. This name was recorded once in 901 and afterwards not until the 12th Century. In view of the variety and frequency of the surnames it must have been more common than the records suggest. In the modern idiom the variants include, Wyber, Wyberg(h), W(h)ybrow, Wh(e)ybrew, Wiber(g)”
And elsewhere this: “This unusual and interestng name is a dialectual variant of Whybrow, itself from the Middle English female given name ‘Wyburgh’, spelt, in the Olde English pre 7th Century ‘Wigburh’
Man points please boss
le
N
Rod said,
January 31, 2010 @ 7:38 pm
Neville,
there’s a hat load of man points for that !
Bloody marvellous - if you’ll excuse the language on the Sabbath
You’ve really got to say that sounds as right as right can be . . . surely
Oustanding - really it is - I need to add a note to the original post now !
In Admiration
Rod
Rod said,
January 31, 2010 @ 7:52 pm
Wyberton is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wibertune possibly meaning ‘farmstead of a man called Wigbeorht or of a woman called Wigburh’ from the Old English personal name and -tun (Mills 1998, 395).
There’s also a Facebook group for Whybrows who claim their name comes from:
It is pre 7th century and is said to derive either from a place called Wigburh, a now lost medieval village, or from Wigbura
Amiguru said,
March 12, 2010 @ 5:48 pm
Rod,
Your all now active…….Streetview
N
Rod said,
March 12, 2010 @ 6:12 pm
Neville,
thanks for the tip off, I had no idea - just been having a look. I reckon the images were taken about a year ago looking at the veg markers, sans actual growth at that time, in my front garden !
I’m not sure I really like the idea of all this in principal - that said it works well - Google certainly are clever - although not clever enough to get my street name right !
Good to hear from you again Neville - you’ve been missed
King regards
Rod
Val said,
April 16, 2010 @ 2:35 pm
When we were children we use to play in the area from Greatcoates Road Bridge to Sandy Bay, which is back of Laceby. As children we always new that stretch of woods, farmfields and river to be called the Willows. I can remember a derelict farm where we used to play at the side of which is now Wybers Wood Estate. When we where children we used to dig for treasure, as we called it, which was broken coloured pottery, glass and pot medicine bottles and jars ect.
Rod said,
April 16, 2010 @ 7:30 pm
Val,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
Very interesting indeed, the farm you mention must have been Wybers Farm, was it near the river ?
I wonder if I dare ask if you’ve any idea of a rough date for the derelict farm and what was standing ?
All the best
Rod
Val said,
April 19, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
No, it was not. It was about, in the field on the very edge of Wybers Estate where St nicholas drive stands. There was a nut tree in the garden which we used to climb and old farm equipment there. the doorway which we entered led straight into a scullery, and it was about 1958/59 at the time. i will ask around and get back to you as soon as i have picked up any positive information.
Rod said,
April 19, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
Val,
that’s very interesting indeed - thanks for coming back, great to have a date range for whne the buildings were still extant.
Have you had a look at the map above (building just to left of spot marked Wybers) because that suggests the buildings were opposite the acutal wood on the far side of the road and alongside the trackway which still exists today.
Any recollections or anecdotal information is really appreciated Val
Thanks and regards
Rod
Peter Mullins said,
April 20, 2010 @ 4:38 am
Just to confirm that the very detailed large scale 1900 field map which St Nicolas’ church has shows no buildings at all in the whole of the area covered by the Wybers Wood estate today including all of the present St Nicholas Drive area (but does, as you’d expect, show buildings at Wybers Farm a little to the west of where the estate now is and buildings around the church north of where the estate now is). Are we looking at a post-1900 building? Or does (as Rod’s question to Val hints, as as seems most likely at this stage) Val’s memory relate to Wybers Farm?
Rod said,
April 20, 2010 @ 7:17 am
Peter,
there’s clearly structure marked in the 1800s and what’s interesting is if you take the path, still extant as seen on map, which starts opposite the wood with the substation in and walk down:
When you get towards the ‘bottom’ where it ‘Ts’ off (left to Wybers houses) you can see a marked increase in rubble type stone in the soil around the area.
Peter I hope you’ve scoured that map for any possible scoops
Regards
Rod
Steve... said,
April 20, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
Yes, this is the site where my father once found a boars tusk and a horse riders spur amongst other items.
Amiguru said,
April 20, 2010 @ 4:57 pm
Rod,
I’m intrigued too with Val’s account. I have checked the area in detail on reliable maps of the dates: 1819, 1824, 1891, 1930, 1940, 1962. Over this whole range of dates there are only two buildings indicated.
Firstly, a small building at the lower end of a track running from Pewet Farm towards the bend in the beck which we know is indicated on some early maps, including the two illustrated above as being a mill, its co-ords are: TA22620 07948.
Secondly, buildings indicated variously by Wybers Farm/Wybers/Wyber, which is at the bottom end of a track, also running down to the beck, (or as it is classed at that point on some maps, R. Freshney), the track leaves the Gt. Coates to Aylesby Road just SW of Wybers Wood/Wybers Covers. Its co-ords are:TA23139 08467.
The centre of St Nicholas Drive has co-ords of: TA 23267 08754. There is only one feature on the older maps which is running exactly parallel to the line of the future St. Nicholas Drive and that is a drainage ditch which is absent on the 1930 map but present on the 1940 one.
Please don’t be put off by all these details Val as I’m sure we all are prepared to learn things which are not always apparent; after all, you were there!
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
April 20, 2010 @ 6:55 pm
Steve,
a boar’s tusk !
I wonder how long go wild boar roamed the area ?
Cheers
Rod
Rod said,
April 20, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
Neville,
that’s what I’ve got as well.
The date Val mentions means St Nich’s wasn’t there, it was all just fields I believe - there’s only a few hundred yards in it as we see it built up today so without the houses there it would all look pretty much as one I suspect.
Val’s information about a date when the buildings were still standing, albeit derelict, is very interesting - it would be nice to pin down a demolition date (even nicer to pin down an original build date)
Best
Rod
Val said,
April 27, 2010 @ 11:09 am
Two people so far that i have managed to contact can remember a derelict farm building there, but can never recall going into to it or exploring it’s surroundings. I have walked the track on the on the west side of St Nicholas Drive and I can pretty much, pinpoint the sight, which seams in the rear gardens of the estate.
I am clutching at straws here, but is there a possibility that when the land was cleared for building the estate, would there have been any presivation orders on any trees which would have been encompased in the planning? I am thinking, is the nut tree still there.
Couple of things I remember. There was an rusty water pump in the garden. Also, the building it wasn’t there in the mid seventies.
Amiguru said,
April 29, 2010 @ 10:55 pm
Rod,
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Second Series, volume 5, part 2, 1869; there is an article on, including a map of, “the farms at Aylesby, Riby and Rothwell” occupied at that time by W. Torr. The article was by H.M. Jenkins.
I can get access to the Journal Index so far but not the actual article!
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
April 30, 2010 @ 8:26 am
Neville,
Tantalizing !
I’d still like to turn up some photographs of the area - there must be some out there somewhere
Cheers
Rod
Peter Mullins said,
April 30, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
At the 1871 census William Torr (unmarried, 62, born Riby) was living in Aylesby village itself rather than at a farm address, and was listed as Farmer employing 56 men and 20 boys. His scatter of farms may (or may not) have included Pie Wipe (where two households are listed with a Shepherd and an Agricultural Worker listed as Heads of Household) but wouldn’t have included Wybers where as previously reported another Farmer Theophilus Clark was Head of Household (with a much smaller enterprise employing just two labourers)
Amiguru said,
April 30, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
Peter,
Thanks for that. Since my last post above I have found a biographical account of him on Wiki. Apparently he was really quite important in farming circles in the mid to late 19th. C. being an early member of The Royal Agricultural Society and famous for his cattle and sheep breeding. About 3,000 people attended one of his sales. Really interesting character and well worth reading to understand why he employed so many hands. He died at Aylesby Manor on 12 Dec. 1874, and was buried in Riby churchyard.
Regards,
Neville
Peter Mullins said,
April 30, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
Why, yes. A simple google uncovers a research article from New Zealand which includes:
“The village of Aylesby seems to have decayed during the seventeenth century, and Aylesby of the nineteenth century was a close parish, drawing much of its labour from the nearby village of Laceby, situated on the eastern edge of the wolds, on the banks of the Freshney, a stream flowing down from the wolds and meandering to reach the sea at Grimsby. At the beginning of the 1870s almost all the land of Aylesby parish was owned by the lord of the manor, the Revd T. T. Drake, and leased by three farmers, Theophilas Clark, Francis Sowerby and William Torr. William Torr, who rented the manor farm which extended onto the wolds, also rented wold land in other parishes, farming nearly 3,000 acres, as one of the leading agriculturists of his day. He was famous as a stock breeder, and everything on his land had to be pure-bred, from the Shorthorn cattle and Leicester sheep down to the ducks and cats. Following his death in 1875 his herd was auctioned in a famous Shorthorn sale… The 1871 Census returns show Francis Sowerby as a 67-year-old widower living in Aylesby village, and farming 982 acres (almost half the parish), with twenty-six men and nine boys in his employment. Francis Sowerby was born in 1803, into a farming family in the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1817 the family migrated to north Lincolnshire, where in the 1820s Francis married, and took up the tenancy of Pyewipe Farm, Aylesby, which he was to hold for over sixty years. After ‘pursuing worldly pleasures’ during his earlier years, Sowerby and his wife were deeply influenced by a religious revival in Laceby and the neighbourhood in 1836, and became staunch Methodists, joining the Laceby Wesleyan congregation. Sowerby’s brother-in-law, William Coates of Laceby Manor, was converted during the same religious awakening, and the two men were thereafter close associates in many philanthropic and religious activities…. At the time of his death in 1886 he was head partner in the Grimsby firm of Messrs Sowerby and Co. Ltd., seed crushers.”
History Hunter said,
May 1, 2010 @ 4:14 am
To add a little snippet, Sowerby is the surname of the farmer who owns/farms a lot of land around Humberside Airport. He currently lives in Kirmington. Could it be worth asking about family history?
Rod said,
May 1, 2010 @ 7:43 am
HH,
nice addition, there’s every chance it’s the same family I should have thought - they may know something
Best
Rod
History Hunter said,
May 1, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
Farming seems to have a long tradition to keep it in the family. There is every chance that they may have documents/maps/photos of those who have now passed. Could be worth a letter enquiring whether there is any association!
Rod said,
July 17, 2010 @ 7:03 pm
From English heritage:
TA 227082. Surface finds after ploughing south of the former Wyber’s
Farm in 1971 comprised Medieval and post Medieval pottery, including
green-glazed, Staffs slipware, Frechen bellarmine, Midland purple and
Westerwald and Raeren stoneware sherds. Finds in Scunthorpe Museum,
acc. code: AY AB. (1-2)
stan said,
August 31, 2010 @ 12:33 pm
Well seeing as i live in the area thats just been discussed i,d better get my spade in the garden and dig a bit deeper see what i can find.
Some interesting information by the way.
Stan
Rod said,
August 31, 2010 @ 5:47 pm
Stan,
dig a 1m x 1m test pit - you never know
Hopefully more will turn up information wise for this article either from me or others - if anybody out there knows anything then please do leave a comment - many thanks
All the best
Rod
PHIL said,
September 12, 2010 @ 9:02 pm
Hi,this is all very interesting.I have read through the comments and i can`t find any mention of the moat that is sited at the Great Coates end of Aylesby Road just near the brick wall to the big house.Phil
Rod said,
September 13, 2010 @ 8:36 am
Hi Phil,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site
I know the moat you speak of, it’s not been written up separately but is mentioned on the Great Coates page - link below
Hope this helps and hope you return
All the best
Rod
http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/great-coates-church-pictures-history-of-st-nicholas-church#comment-15227
Rod said,
September 26, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
HH,
the street names you mentioned here are/were of interest.
I’ve not found anything out and with them being pretty modern I supposed they were likely just a theme chosen by the developers.
It could also be a chicken and egg situation - everybody say that Wybers is built on an old religious building but is that vecause of the names or do the names follow an older legend ?
Tunstall and Chapel Field House are two names which really grab me
Best
Rod
Rod said,
June 7, 2011 @ 8:28 am
Important Wybers-Great Coates Update:
A very interesting ‘development’ in the hunt for the origins of the name Wybers Wood
Wylegby
Not a name I’ve come across before, obviously not exactly Wybers but as those familiar with the etymology of place names will be aware it’s very close !
The Barnardistons were a very well known and important family in Great Coates.
The actually acquired the Great Coates estate by marriage, to a woman called . . .
Mary Wylegby
This was during the reign of Edward II (late 1200s early 1300s)
It’s a rare name !
I’ve found few mentions of the family name but those so far include:
Robert de Wylegby is mentioned as a witness in a 13th century will involving land in Somercotes Lincolnshire
A 1295 Notifcation of Surrender:
William son of William son of Hugh de Wylegby of Askeby to John Bek
1295 “Letter of attorney to deliver seizin”
William son of William son of Hugh de Wylegby appoints Simon rector of Foletby and John de Wylegby his brother
1290 “Notification of a grant in free marriage.”
John Bek of Eresby to William son of Robert de Wylegby with Alice his daughter.
Property: 1. 16½ acres of land in demesne in Ingoldemel (Ingoldmells):
10 in le saltland, the sewer called Saltlandflet on one side.
Then an obscure reference:
“Reginald de Colewic holds twenty-five bovates in Wylegby which they value at ^6 yearly”
1275 sees mention of a Philip de Wylegby described as “escheator beyond Trent” in a Calendar of Close Rolls
This feels like quite a breakthrough to me and something that needs further research
Smilingly yours,
Rod
Rod said,
June 7, 2011 @ 11:27 am
Margery Wyleghby.
I’ve found mention of ‘Margery’, as opposed to ‘Mary’, and the alternate spelling ‘Wyleghby’ as the owner of the Manor of Great Cotes who brought the estate into the Barnardiston by marriage to, I believe, Thomas de Barnardiston to whom she was later widow.
There’s also a mention of a Johannes Malet de Wylegby in the medieval Parliament Rolls 1275-1504
Here’s something which looks to the uninitiated, i.e. me, like some sort of Latin / German . . .
Prior de Asseby per attornatum suum optulit se quarto die versus Godefridum filium Radulfi de placito dimidie virgate terre cum pertinenciis in Wylegby
It’s from the Curia Regis Rolls of Henry III
Rod said,
June 7, 2011 @ 11:43 am
John Bek, mentioned above is connected to Robert de Willoughby, date around 1300.
Willoughbt held land in Lincolnshire and was called on by by King Edward I to perform miltiary service against the Scots. He was at the Siege of Carlaverock and was wounded in the chest by ‘a stone’ during the assault
Because of his service he was granted ‘free warren in his manors’
The manors mentioned were Eresby (Spilsby I believe) and . . . the Manor of Wyleghby !!!
Is Wyleghby a corruption of Willoughby ?
There is a definite connection between Great Coates and the family name of Wylegby / Wyleghby
Kate said,
June 7, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Hi Rod
sorry ’bout this, have you considered that Wyleghby might be Willoughby?
It might be an idea to look back further, if you can, and find out how the de Wylegbys came by the rights to Great Coates in the first place…
Medieval inheritances, gifted lands and dowries meant that land was rarely held in one contiguous block or area and thus arguments often arose to who owned or had the rights to where. Lands where the owner died with no inheritors or was declared a felon were taken (seized very rapidly is probably a better term!) by Escheators into the Crown possessions for a set period of time: rather a useful revenue stream to enforce when your predecessors had recently spent most of the country’s money on their own wars, wives and lawsuits!
The Medieval Latin text (the names are Germanic/Danish) apparently refers to a case brought at the Quarter Day assize by the representative of the Prior of Assenby against Godfrey, son of Radulf, over (the division of?) a virgate of land - abt 30 acres - and its benefits, in Wyleghby (prob. Willoughby).
Best wishes, Kate
(now scuttling off to hide before I get shouted at!)
Kate said,
June 7, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
Whoops, I can see you added the last while I was writing - sorry, bit slow! The blush btw is mine, not yours!
Kate
Rod said,
June 8, 2011 @ 7:16 am
Hi Kate,
the important thing here is,as I see it, a possibility of a connection.
Thus far it looks like the most promising posssibility for a contender for an origin of the name of the Wood.
The search continues in all areas though - just hope there’s a provable and discoverable answer out there somewhere.
King regards,
Rod
Scott said,
January 10, 2012 @ 3:11 pm
Interesting stuff people!
I have lived on the estate all my life (now 30) and have just bought a house on the back of st nicks overlooking the field. Went for a walk from the field towards laceby and saw two metal detectorists there just last week.
I’m actually an archaeologist by trade, so if anyone needs any help, then please ask.
I once showed an interest in the area when volunteering for the councils archaeologist. The street names bear no relevance to its history (wybers wood), but the moat next to St nicholas church always facinated me as i could see it from the school field. What evidence do we have of an old manor house there?
Rod said,
January 10, 2012 @ 6:15 pm
Hi Scott,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - I was on that walk myself today, very nice spot and we’re lucky to have such an area so readily accessible
Cheers
Rod