If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

The settlement of Digby is first documented in the Domesday Book and survives to the present.

Full description

Digby is first documented in the Domesday Book, and was known at that time as 'Dicbi'. It had a minimum population of 35 sokemen. The name is derived from Old English and Old Norse, the first element is probably a reference to a drainage channel. It may be that Digby is on the site of an old (pre-Viking) settlement, and the fact that the first element is Old English supports this assumption. It is possible, however, that Digby is a secondary settlement established by the English or the Vikings on the outfields of the old English settlement of Billinghay. {1}{2}{3}

There were 53 households recorded in the Diocesan Returns of 1563. {4}

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century there were 60 families, falling to around 40. {5}

The population in 1801 was 242, rising to 351 in 1901, peaking at 364 in 1841. {6}

Enclosure occurred during and after 1724. A survey was carried out in Digby in 1801, which recorded all the property, their function, construction materials and condition, which existed at that time. There were 28 houses, most of which were stone and thatch, and there was also one of stone, brick and thatch, one of 'stone, cobb and thatch', and one of 'cobb and thatch', which may be a mud and stud cottage known as Brown's Cottage, which was demolished around 1958. {7}{8}{9}{10}

A pit cut into the natural limestone was identified during a watching brief at Church Street (PRN 63827a - TF 0810 5485). Pottery sherds recovered from this pit are of 16th to 17th century date, this indicates that the pit is possibly 16th century. {11}{12}

Several sherds of redeposited medieval pottery were recovered during an informal watching brief at 59 Church Street, Digby (PRN 63827b - TF 0811 5479). The assemblage included sherds of Potterhanworth ware, Lincoln Glazed ware and Stamford ware, and are thought to be typical of 13th century pottery in this region. {13}

<1> C.W. Foster and T. Longley, 1924, Lincolnshire Domesday and Lindsey Survey, xii,xv,lxxviii,64/4 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI893.

<2> Kenneth Cameron, 1998, A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names, page 38 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI5432.

<3> Gillian Fellows Jensen, 1978, Scandinavian Settlement Remains in the East Midlands, page 313 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI9510.

<4> Gerald A.J. Hodgett, 1975, Tudor Lincolnshire, page 190 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI6089.

<5> 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, ppxiv,xxiii,5,17,41,88 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI6090.

<6> William Page (ed), 1906, The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2, - (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1104.

<7> Rodney Cousins, 2000, Lincolnshire Buildings in the Mud and Stud Tradition, page 44 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI8383.

<8> Edward Trollope, 1872, Sleaford and the Wapentakes of Flaxwell and Aswardhurn in the County of Lincoln, pp.223-225 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI920.

<9> Ordnance Survey, 1824-1825, 1 Inch Map - First Edition, Sheet 36 (Map). SLI3685.

<10> Hosford, W. H., 1955-56, The Lincolnshire Historian, Vol 2, number 3, pp.26/33 (Article in Serial). SLI10299.

<11> Archaeological Project Services, 2001, Land at Church Street, Digby, DCS01 (Report). SLI7200.

<12> Archaeological Project Services, 2001, Land at Church Street, Digby., LCNCC:2001.32 (Archive). SLI7201.

<13> Midland Archaeological Services, 2014, Pottery from 59 Church Street, Digby, - (Unpublished Document). SLI14596.

Monument Types

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

Associated Finds

• SHERD (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1299 AD)
• SHERD (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1699 AD)

Associated Events

• Land at Church Street, Digby.
• 59 Church Street, Digby

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

Related records

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.