44595 The settlement of Ludford is first documented in the Domesday Book.{1} The name probably means 'Luda's ford' from the Old English personal name Luda and Old English ford. The same personal name also occurs in Ludborough and Luddington. The site of the ford is not known, but it has recently been suggested that a north to south ford must be presumed and that the ford probably carried a Roman road, for there was an extensive Romano-British settlement here.{2} A fair is documented to have been held in 1252, lasting two days (31st July to 1st August) and sited at the manor of the prior of Sixhills. Some Medieval lords enjoyed the right of utfangthef, permitting them to detain and dispense justice on felons captured anywhere. The prior of Sixhills was entitled to take suspects wherever they were found and, if necessary, bring them back to be hanged on his manor at Ludford. The poll tax returns of 1377 show the population of Ludford to be 66.{4} The Diocesan Return of 1563, shows the population of Ludford magna to have been 19 households and Ludford parva to have been 11 households.{3} The population of Ludford was 314 in 1801, peaking at 818 in 1861, then falling to 539 in 1901.{5} The remains of medieval settlement have been noted around the present settlement, including crofts, hollow way and boundaries. As depicted on the NMP.{6} Ludford consists of Ludford Magna to the east and Ludford Parva to the west, the two now indistinguishable. Ludford Magna grew up near to the site of a Roman settlement at the crossing of the two roads. A corn-drying oven was excavated here in 1978.{7}