Monument record MLI53780 - Keelby Settlement

Summary

The settlement of Keelby is first mentioned in the Domesday Book and survives to the present.

Type and Period (8)

  • (Early Medieval/Dark Age to Modern - 1000 AD to 2050 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • ? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

Keelby is first mentioned in the Domesday Book, where it is known as Chelebi. The name is thought to derive from the Old Norse and Old Danish words 'kjolr' and 'by', meaning 'the farmstead or village by the ridge'. Land there was divided between 8 landholders, including the King. For the King, '15 bovates of land (assessed) to the geld. There 13 sokemen and 3 bordars have 2 teams.' For the Archbishop of York, 'Elaf had 4.5 bovates of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 1 team and 1 ox. William, the archbishop's man, has half a team there (in demesne), and 2 sokemen and 2 bordars, and half a mill rendering 3 shillings and 4 pence. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 10 shillings; now the like amount.' For the Bishop of Bayeux, 'Sigar had 4.5 bovates of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 9 oxen. Wadard, the bishop's man, has 1 team there (in demesne), and 2 villeins and 3 sokemen ploughing with 2 oxen. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 30 shillings; now the like amount.' For the Bishop of Lincoln, 'Aldene had 5 bovates and the third part of 1 bovate of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 11 oxen. Rabulf, the bishop's man, has 1 team there (in demesne), and 4 villeins and 1 bordar with 2 oxen, and 1 mill rendering 6 shillings and 8 pence, and 6 acres of meadow. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 30 shillings; now the like amount; tallage 10 shillings.' For Ivo Taillebois, 'Alwin had 2 bovates of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 4 oxen. Neal, Ivo's man, has half a team there (in demesne), and 2 villeins and 1 bordar ploughing with 1 ox. There is the site of a mill there, and 27 acres of meadow. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 10 shillings; now 20 shillings.' For Drew de Beurere, 'Rolf had 1 carucate of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 3 teams. Robert, Drew's man, has 1 team there (in demesne), and 10 villeins and 1 boradr with 2 teams, and 1 salt-pan rendering 12 pence, and 40 acres of meadow. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 40 shillings; now 30 shillings; tallage 10 shillings.' For Norman de Arci, 'Grimchel had 5 bovates and the third part of 1 bovate of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 10.5 oxen. Geoffrey, Norman's man, has 1 team there (in demesne), and 4 villeins and 2 bordars with 2 oxen in a team. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) it was worth 40 shillings; now the like amount.' For Walden the Engineer, 'Eiric had 3 bovates and the third part of 1 bovate of land (assessed) to the geld. There is land for 6.5 oxen. William, Waldin's man, has there 1 ox in a team (in demesne), and 1 sokeman on (de) 2 tofts and 2 bordars, and 14 acres of meadow. Tempore Regis Edwardi (before 1066) and now worth 10 shillings.' {1}{2} The Lay Subsidy of 1334 lists the settlement's wealth as £4 0s 0d, about average for its wapentake (Yarborough). {3} The settlement of Keelby was large in the 11th century and, like Ingham, lay in no less than 7 holdings, 6 of them small manors. It had been reduced to a fraction of its earlier size by the early 14th century, and, although the impact of the Black Death was small, only 36 paid poll tax in 1377. It did, however, recover to at least its early size by the 16th century. Only the plots of the north end, forming a sort of closing row to the north to south aligned southern road with abandoned but apparently quite regular early properties the length of its east side, together have a planned appearance. The remainder of the settlement, forms no coherent plan, but is characterised by a network of curving and looping streets and lanes such as might have surrounded individual nuclei. {4} The Diocesan Return of 1563 records 47 households in the parish. {5} There were 50 families in the parish by the late 17th century. This had fallen to 38 by the early 18th century. Four of these families were noted as being Anabaptists, and one is noted as being Quaker. {6} Notable residents of the village in 1856 are listed in White's Directory. 859 souls were recorded as being in the parish at this time. {7} Traces of former settlement activity have been identified on aerial photographs. The remains include earthworks and cropmarks of former enclosures, tofts and crofts, and areas of ridge and furrow located around the village. The possible remains of former buildings were particularly noted at various points in the village (PRN 53780a-e: TA 1638 1008, TA 1660 1008, TA 1600 0992, TA 1622 0980 and TA 1650 0980). {8}{9}{10} Significant remains associated with the medieval settlement activity were recorded during an earthwork survey, conducted in January 2002 to inform proposed development on land adjacent to South Street (PRN 53780f - TA 165 102). The survey recorded the remains of a number of ditched enclosures, hollows and boundary features, and a distinct mound towards the north-eastern corner of the site. Also recorded, and of particular note, were two adjacent, rectangular, ditched platforms, that were thought to possibly represent the remains of a former moated site. {11} Three trial trenches were excavated in August 2003, to investigate several of the smaller ditched enclosures recorded by the previously conducted earthwork survey of land at South Street. No structural remains or substantial indicators of domestic occupation were revealed within the investigated enclosures, suggesting they represented small pastures or paddocks, rather than the building platforms that have been recorded nearby and elsewhere in the village. {12}{13} A further trial trench was excavated in December 2005, to investigate the distinct mound recorded by the previously conducted earthwork survey of land at South Street. The mound was found to have been formed in the 20th century by the banking of topsoil upon a natural ground slope. A small quantity of residual medieval pottery was, however, found in tree throws and root disturbances underlying the mound. The assemblage included 2 sherds of North Lincolnshire Shell-tempered ware, dating from the late 12th to 14th centuries, and 1 sherd of late 13th to 14th century Toynton ware. The small quantity of finds recovered, and the lack of associated archaeological features, would suggest that this area has been used for agriculture rather than settlement in the medieval period. {14}{15} Two redeposited sherds of medieval pottery were recovered from topsoil deposits in March 2015, during archaeological monitoring of new development to the rear of 19 Riby Road (PRN 53780g - TA 1653 0978). Both sherds were of 13th to 14th century date, with the larger sherd being from a Beverley 2 type jug, and the smaller being from a Humberware jug. {16}{17}

Sources/Archives (17)

  •  Bibliographic Reference: C.W. Foster and T. Longley. 1924. Lincolnshire Domesday and Lindsey Survey. 1/78, 2/8, 4/28, 7/27, 14/44, 30/9, 32/4, 47/3.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Kenneth Cameron. 1998. A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names. p.72.
  •  Article in Serial: R.E. Glasscock. 1964. 'The Lay Subsidy of 1334 for Lincolnshire' in Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Reports and Papers. vol.10.2, p.132.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: P.L. Everson, C.C. Taylor and C.J. Dunn. 1991. Change and Continuity: Rural Settlement in North-West Lincolnshire. Archive notes.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Gerald A.J. Hodgett. 1975. Tudor Lincolnshire. p.197.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: R.E.G. Cole. 1913. Speculum Dioeceseos Lincolniensis sub Episcopis Gul: Wake et Edm: Gibson A.D.1705-1723. Part 1: Archdeaconries of Lincoln and Stow. pp.72-3.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire (Second Edition). pp.662-3.
  •  Aerial Photograph: 1945-84. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION. FO71-2 (1951).
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. National Mapping Programme. TA1609: LI.306.1.1-21.
  •  Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946-71. RAF POST WAR COLLECTION. CPE:UK 1880, 3020-1 (1946).
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2002. Land at South Street, Keelby. APS site code: KSS01.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2003. Land at South Street, Keelby. APS site code: SSK03.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 2003. Land at South Street, Keelby. LCNCC 2003.295.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2005. Land at South Street, Keelby. APS site code: SSK05.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 2005. Land at South Street, Keelby. LCNCC 2005.264.
  •  Report: Pre-Construct Archaeological Services Ltd. 2016. Land to the Rear of 19 Riby Road, Keelby. PCAS site code: KRRM 15.
  •  Archive: Pre-Construct Archaeological Services Ltd. 2016. Land to the Rear of 19 Riby Road, Keelby. LCNCC 2015.26.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TA 1631 1001 (1046m by 808m) Estimated from sources
Civil Parish KEELBY, WEST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Jul 8 2022 11:15AM

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