Dowsby
| Dowsby | |
| Lincolnshire | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Andrew, Dowsby | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TF113294 |
| Location: | 52°51’5"N, 0°20’54"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 204 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bourne |
| Postcode: | PE10 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Kesteven |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Grantham and Stamford |
Dowsby is a village in Kesteven, the south-western part of Lincolnshire. It is on the western edge of the Great Fen, at the junction of the east-west B1397 road and the north-south B1177, a mile north-east of Rippingale and just south of Pointon. The wider civil parish includes the hamlet of Graby.
Nearby to the east, along the B1397 at Dowsby Fen, is Car Dyke. The parish population (including Graby) at the 2011 census was 204.
The name 'Dowsby' is from the Old Norse 'Dusi+by', for "farmstead of Dusi", appearing in the Domesday Book as "Dusebi".[1]
Parish church
St Andrew's Church originates in the 12th century,[2] but it was mostly rebuilt and enlarged in 1864, although Norman fragments remain as part of the fabric. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[2]
A recumbent effigy of Etheldreda Rigdon, and six brasses to the Burrell family from 1682 lie in the vestry. Built into the outer wall of the south aisle are parts of a Saxon cross.[3][4]
The parish is part of the Billingborough Group in the Diocese of Lincoln.
About the village
Hoe Hills (52°51’32"N, 0°20’37"W) was a group of round barrows dating back to the Bronze Age and where Roman and Mediæval finds have been made also.[5]
On the edge of the fen was a decoy used to trap ducks commercially in the 19th century.
Dowsby Fen falls within the drainage area of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board.[6]
The former rectory is now a care home for the elderly, providing some employment. The nearest shops are in Billingborough, three miles to the north; the nearest public house in Aslackby, two miles to the west.
Graby
Graby (52°51’13"N, 0°21’59"W is a hamlet a mile to the west of Dowsby, and on the line of Mareham Lane Roman road. Graby incorporates the site of a deserted mediæval village, with cropmark and earthwork evidence of sunken lanes, crofts, ponds and ridge and furrow field systems.[7]
Outside links
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References
- ↑ Mills, Anthony David: 'A Dictionary of British Place-Names' (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Heritage List 1164977: Church of St Andrew (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ Cox, J. Charles (1916) Lincolnshire p. 118; Methuen & Co. Ltd
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 350583 – St Andrews Church
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 350993 – Hoe Hills
- ↑ Black Sluice IDB
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 350651 – Graby deserted mediæval village