Swarby is first mentioned in the Domesday Book. Land there was owned by Odo the Arblaster and Guy de Craon. The minimum population was 18 sokemen and 3 villeins. The third part of a church is also mentioned. {1} The placename 'Swarby' is of Old Norse and Old Danish origin and refers to the farmstead or village of Svarri. {2} The Lay Subsidy of 1334 lists the parish's wealth as £2 11s 6 1/2d, making it one of the poorest parishes in its wapentake (Aswardhurn). {3} The Diocesan Return of 1563 records 21 households in the parish. {4} By the late 17th/early 18th century there were 45 families resident in the parish, falling to c. 20. {5} By 1801 there were 108 people resident in the parish, rising to 208 in 1851 before falling again to 148 by 1901. {6} The landowners of Swaby from medieval times to the 19th century are discussed by Trollope and White. {7}{8}