Monument record MLI80706 - Settlement of North Rauceby

Summary

Settlement of North Rauceby is a medieval settlement which survives to the present.

Type and Period (8)

  • (Early Medieval/Dark Age to Modern - 1000 AD? to 2050 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

North and South Rauceby are returned together in the Domesday Book. North Rauceby, then, probably has its origins in the late Anglo-Saxon period. At that time it was known as 'Roscebi' which probably means 'Rauth's farmstead or village' from the Old Norse personal name 'Rauthr' and the Old Danish '-by'. {1}{2} Its name has been variously spelt Rosbi, Roscebi, Rousby, Rouceby, and finally Rauceby. It, together with South Rauceby, is made mention of in five different places in Domesday book, and in some cases it is difficult to determine which Rauceby is referred to. Before the Conquest the land here belonged to Archil, a royal Thane. After the great event it was for the most part given to Robert de Stadford, but a small portion was in the soke of the Bishop of Durham's manor in Evedon, another in that of Robert de Vesci's manor of Caythorpe and a third in Geoffrey Alselin's manor of Ruskington. {3} The Diocesan Return of 1563 states that there were 22 households in the village at this time. {4} In the late seventeenth century there were 60 families. {5} The population in 1801 was 150, peaking at 279 in 1871, then falling to 252 in 1901. {6} Trollope wrote of Rauceby in 1872, describing it as 'An ancient village on a commanding eminence, four miles west of Sleaford, has in its township 277 souls and 3460 acres of land. Its parish also includes South Rauceby, which was formerly a separate parish. The two Raucebys were enclosed under an act passed in the 28th George III, and form one of the highest "table lands" in the county. The Marquis of Bristol is lord of the manor, which was anciently called Rosbi; but a great part of the soil belongs to other freeholders.' {7} A programme of archaeological investigation was coordinated by Heritage Trust for Lincolnshire. The magnetometry survey of the site showed two phases of activity. Clear anomalies showing ditches and walls were shown running on both a north-south and east-west alignment. Three trial trenches were dug in the north west corner of the field. These revealed a wall to a possible dovecote, a possible farm building wall, and a stepped wall lining a hollow way on the northern boundary of the field. Most of the pottery, tile and metal artefacts were 19th and 20th century in date. Five abraded sherds of medieval pottery were excavated and two possible medieval horseshoes were found by metal detectorists in the north field. The lack of medieval pottery and tile suggests that this north western corner was an area of farm buildings, pens and ponds enclosed by a wall, and that the tofts and crofts were situated in the south eastern part of the field. Alternatively it may be that the medieval layers were not reached. {8} The medieval settlement was more extensive than the present village, and the earthwork remains can be seen on aerial photographs. {9} Shrunken Medieval Village remains towards the north of the village, consisting of two or three tofts and crofts. {10} North Rauceby began the 19th century as a closed village, run by the substantial tennant farmers of the Marquis of Bristol, and one hundred years later it was almost completely unchanged. In population changes, North Rauceby showed virtually no evidence of growth while South Rauceby had a boom and then serious decline. {11}

Sources/Archives (11)

  •  Bibliographic Reference: Morris, J. (ed.). 1986. Domesday Book for Lincolnshire. 37,4; 59,12-15; 64,8-9.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Kenneth Cameron. 1998. A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names. p.100.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition. pp.451-2.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Graham Platts. 1985. Land and People in Medieval Lincolnshire. p.190.
  •  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. p.99.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William Page (ed). 1906. The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2. p.362.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Edward Trollope. 1872. Sleaford and the Wapentakes of Flaxwell and Aswardhurn in the County of Lincoln. pp.275-86.
  •  Report: Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire. Mar 2000. North Rauceby Volunteer Excavation and Field Survey. -.
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. National Mapping Programme. TF0146: LI.857.4.1-20.
  •  Index: North Kesteven Records. ROWSTON. NK 45.12.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: 1970. Stability and Change: Some Aspects of North and South Rauceby in the Nineteenth Century. p.80.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 021 466 (827m by 1006m)
Civil Parish NORTH RAUCEBY, NORTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

May 24 2021 9:38AM

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