Smisby
| Smisby | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 St James, Smisby | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK348190 |
| Location: | 52°46’6"N, 1°29’7"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 270 (2011) |
| Post town: | Ashby-De-La-Zouch |
| Postcode: | LE65 |
| Dialling code: | 01530 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Derbyshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Derbyshire |
Smisby is a small village in southern Derbyshire, four miles from Melbourne and close by the Leicestershire border, [1] across which stands the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
The village including the outlying farms and houses has a population just over 200 that occupies some 110 properties. The population at the 2011 Census had increased to 260.
Early history
The name of Smisby is from the Old Norse for 'Smith's farm or settlement'.[2]) It appears as Smidesbi in the Domesday Book of 1086 which states under the title of "The lands of Nigel of Stafford":
In Smisby, Edwin had two carucates of land to the geld. There is land for 2 ploughs. There is now one plough in demesne and three villeins have one plough. There is woodland pasture half a league long and six leagues broad. In the time of King Edward worth 40 shillings now twenty shillings.
Ivanhoe
Within 200 yards of the village is a spot which Sir Walter Scott chose as the scene of a tournament in his mediæval romance novel Ivanhoe set a tournament. In chapter seven the text reads
The scene was singularly romantic. On the verge of a wood, which approached to within a mile of the town of Ashby, was an extensive meadow, of the finest and most beautiful green turf, surrounded on one side by the forest, and fringed on the other by straggling oak-trees, some of which had grown to an immense size.
This quotation is attributed to a visit Scott made to Coleorton Hall to visit Sir George Beaumont. They visited Smisby and climbed a now-demolished watchtower. Scott noted that a flat area towards Ashby Castle, but within Derbyshire, was reputed to be the place where ancient jousting tournaments had taken place.[4]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Smisby) |
References
- ↑ Information on Smisby from GENUKI
- ↑ Smisby: Key to English Place-names (English Place Name Society)
- ↑ Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott accessed 27 December 2007
- ↑ Smisby