Bigby, Lincolnshire

History

The name Bigby comes from an Old Norse personal name 'Bekki' + Old Norse 'býr', meaning "settlement" or "farmstead". Bigby is recorded in the Domesday account as "Bechebi", with the Lord of the manor as William son of Nigel.

The local Anglican parish church is a Grade I listed building dedicated to All Saints. It dates from the 12th century, with later additions and restorations in 1779 and 1878. On the north side of the chancel is a large alabaster tomb to Sir Robert Tyrwhit of Kettleby hamlet, who died in 1581, and his wife. To the east is a monument to Sir Robert Tyrwhit of Kettleby, who died in 1617, and Lady Bridget Manners his wife who died in 1604. Bigby is one of four Thankful Villages in Lincolnshire, because it lost no men in the First World War. There is a war memorial in the parish churchyard in remembrance of a local man and his comrade shot down during the Second World War.

Pingley Farm, or Camp 81, was the site of a Second World War Prisoner-of-war camp. Purpose-built to house 750 low-risk Italian prisoners, by May 1946 Pingley camp held 984. The camp has been demolished as of January 2009, and the site redeveloped as housing. The area is being developed with ten luxury executive houses. The first was started in July 2010.

Kettleby

The hamlet of Kettleby (sometimes spelled Kettelby) lies about 1.5 mi west of Bigby village. The deserted medieval village (DMV) of Kettleby was first recorded in a will of 1066. Domesday records two manors: Kettleby, whose Lord of the Manor was Ralph, nephew of Geoffrey Alselin, and Kettleby Thorpe, whose Lord was listed only as Gilbert. Kettleby is mentioned in 1334. Today the area is occupied by the earthworks of Kettleby Hall.

References

References

1. "Neighbourhood Statistics". Office for National Statistics.
2. "Civil parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
3. Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN. 0-19-508137-4
4. "Domesday Map". Anna Powell-Smith/University of Hull.
5. "British Listed Buildings". English Heritage.
6. "Thankful Villages". Norman Thorpe, Rod Morris, Tom Morgan.
7. Thereafter Kettleby merged with Kettleby Thorpe, also a deserted settlement.{{cite PastScape|mnumber=78655|mname=Kettleby in Bigby|accessdate=15 June 2011}}
8. Kettleby Hall was reputedly a moated [[Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom#Hunting lodge. hunting lodge]] built in the reign of [[James I of England. James I]] and later the chief seat of the Tyrwhitt family. The last male heir sold-up in 1648 because of debts, and the building was demolished in 1696–97. The present farmhouse on the site dates from the nineteenth century.{{cite PastScape