Ewerby

Ewerby
Lincolnshire
Church of St Andrew, Ewerby
Location
Grid reference:	TF121472
Location:	53°-0’39"N, 0°19’47"W
Data
Post town:	Sleaford
Postcode:	NG34
Local Government
Council:	North Kesteven
Parliamentary constituency:	Sleaford and North Hykeham

Ewerby is a village in Kesteven, the south-western part of Lincolnshire, standing three miles north-east of Sleaford and two miles south of Anwick. The hamlet of Ewerby Thorpe is half a mile to the east of Ewerby.

History

The name 'Ewerby' is derived from the Old Norse personal name 'Ivarr', with 'by' meaning a farmstead, village or settlement.

Ewerby is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Iwarebi", with 17½ households, 9 smallholders, 9 freemen, a priest, a church, 2 ploughlands, and a meadow of 24 acres, and woodland of 20 acres. Before the Conquest, the Manor of Ewerby was owned by Tonni of Lusby, of Culverthorpe. By 1086 it was held by Gilbert of Ghent, who also became Tenant-in-chief.

At Ewerby are the Haverholme Priory ruins.

In 1885 Kelly's Directory noted that Ewerby was the former market town of "Ywarby". The parish area of 2,607 acres produced crops of wheat, beans, barley, turnips and seeds (seed potatoes) on a soil of clay and loam. Parish population in 1881 was 451. The parish register dates from 1562. There was a National School, built by subscription in 1841, which held 140 children, and had an average attendance of 92. The school was partially supported by Murray Finch-Hatton DL JP, who was also Lord of the Manor and a principal landowner. Parish occupations at the time included seven farmers, three of whom were variously a seed merchant; a proprietor of the Finch Hatton Arms hotel; and a surveyor and brick & tile maker. There was a grocer & draper, wheelwright, grazier, boot & shoe maker, and two butchers, one of whom was also a beer retailer. The post master also traded as a shopkeeper, and as the Monday post carrier to Sleaford.

In 1921, Kelly's reported a parish population of 321 in 1921, within an parish of 2,917 acres, with 6 acres of water.

A Methodist chapel was built in 1879. A 14th-century village cross at the centre of the village, restored in 1908, is now Grade II listed. By 1933 there was established a parish library and reading room, with 300 volumes. A charity, Rothwell's Charity, established in 1875 for the provision of coal and meat for the deserving poor of the parish, had been, by 1933, suspended. An earlier charity, established in 1667, provided for the maintenance of a schoolmaster to teach poor children of Ewerby, Evedon, Howell and Asgarby, with remaining charitable income providing "grey gowns for the widows of the parish". In 1933 parish commercial occupations included nine farmers, one of whom was a poultry farmer, a smallholder, blacksmith, grazier, and the proprietor of the Finch Hatton Arms public house. There were two shopkeepers, one of whom was clerk to the parish council, and a wheelwright, who was now the Monday post carrier to Sleaford. The post office processed money orders, and acted as a telephone call centre for limited distance calls.

Parish church

The parish church, St Andrew, is an example of early 14th century Decorated Gothic style with a 172-foot spire. It is a Grade I listed building.

In the north chancel is the recumbent effigy of Sir Alexander Aunsell (d. 1360), the founder of the church. St Andrew's was restored in 1895. In late 2009 the parishes of Kirkby Laythorpe and Ewerby became part of the benefice of New Sleaford, to be held in plurality.

The village public house is the Finch Hatton Arms on Main Street.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ewerby)

• Ewerby and Evedon Parish Council