Old Somerby

The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 224.{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127240&c=Old+Somerby&d=16&e=62&g=6447437&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1464268849300&enc=1 |title=Civil Parish population 2011 |accessdate=26 May 2016 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}} Adjacent villages are Ropsley and Boothby Pagnell. The village divides into Old Somerby, High Somerby and Low Somerby.

The church parish is part of The North Beltisloe Group of Beltisloe Deanery in the Diocese of Lincoln.{{Cite web |url=http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/search_parishes.php?14023060 |title=Ecclesiastical Parish details |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716073319/http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/search_parishes.php?14023060 |archivedate=16 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}} Its church in High Somerby is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene,{{Cite web |url=http://www.northbeltisloeparishes.co.uk/somerby.htm |title=Parish details on North Beltisloe web site |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305121134/http://www.northbeltisloeparishes.co.uk/somerby.htm |archivedate=5 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}}{{NHLE|num=1261872|desc=Church of St Mary Magdalene |grade=II*|access-date=21 February 2025}} the same dedication as at nearby Bitchfield.

There is bed-and-breakfast accommodation in School Lane. The village public house is the Fox and Hounds in Grantham Road (B1176). Schools, shops and other amenities are available in Grantham ({{convert|4|mi|km}}, to which there are occasional daytime, weekday buses.[https://bustimes.org/localities/old-somerby Bus times. Retrieved 23 September 2019.]

File:St.Mary Magdalen's church, Old Somerby, Lincs. - geograph.org.uk - 130303.jpg]]

Somerby was a colony of the Danes who ruled Lincolnshire after peace was made with King Alfred in 878. The village is listed in the Domesday Book,[https://opendomesday.org/place/SK9533/old-somerby/ Open Domesday. Retrieved 23 September 2019.] where the King's tenant-in-chief is given as Walter of Aincourt.[https://opendomesday.org/name/walter-of-aincourt/ Page in Open Domesday. Retrieved 23 September 2019.]

The village belonged to the historical wapentake of Winnibriggs and Threo. The population of the 51 houses in 1870–1872 was given as 234.[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/13586 Vision of Britain. Retrieved 23 September 2019.]

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The Church of St Mary Magdalene is Grade II* listed. Initially from the 12th–15th centuries, it underwent alterations and additions in the 18th century and in 1876.[https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101261872-church-of-st-mary-magdalene-old-somerby#.XYiwLPAzZwo Listing. Retrieved 23 September 2019.]

The Old Rectory in School Lane is Grade II listed and dates from about 1700, with alterations and additions in the late 18th, the 19th and the 20th centuries.[https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101253283-the-old-rectory-old-somerby#.XYiv2fAzZwp Listing. Retrieved 23 September 2019.] The other Grade II listed buildings in the village are a barn at the Manor House, the Manor House itself, the stable block at Cold Harbour Farm, and the Old Farm House.[https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/old-somerby-south-kesteven-lincolnshire#.XYixefAzZwo Listed buildings. Retrieved 23 September 2019.]

Near the church is the site of a moated manor house.{{PastScape|mnumber=325692|mname=Manor Farm|accessdate=2 April 2010}}

• Edward Weston (1703–1770), didactic writer and politician, purchased the parish of Somerby and lived at Somerby Hall, as did his descendants into the 1930s. His monument remains in the churchyard.
• William Henry Brookfield (1809–1874), formerly inspector of schools and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria, became Rector of Somerby-cum-Humby in 1865. Lord Tennyson, a friend, wrote a sonnet in his memory.

The hamlet of Cold Harbour stands to the north-west of the village.{{cite book | chapter=Cold Harbour |title=Old Somerby Neighbourhood Development Plan 2018-2036 |url=https://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/Old_Somerby_Neighbourhood_Plan_-_Adopted_Version.pdf |publisher=South Kesteven Council |access-date=20 February 2025 |pages=16-17 }}{{Cite web |date=2021-11-24 |title=Travellers pitch approved on High Dike after appeal |url=https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/grantham/news/travellers-pitch-approved-on-high-dike-after-appeal-9227354/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=LincsOnline |language=en |quote= land between the High Dike and B6403, in Cold Harbour, Grantham}} It is on the road named High Dyke, also spelled High Dike, which follows the line of the Roman road Ermine Street, at the junction where the A52 road between Grantham and Donington joins it. A house at Cold Harbour named Blue Harbour was previously a pub, and the stable block of Cold Harbour Farm is a grade II listed building, dating from the mid 18th century with later additions.{{NHLE |num=1109941 |desc=Stable block at Cold Harbour Farm | access-date=20 February 2025}}

There are several theories on the origin of the settlement name Cold Harbour, which occurs in several places: it may mean a "cold", or no longer inhabited, "harbour" or refuge.{{Cite web |title=Coldharbour: origin of name #2 (G.B. Barham) < Watkins, Cuttings Book |url=https://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/aw_cuttings/ocr/p_117a.html#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20Saxon%20place,-British%20dwellings,%20or%20settlements. |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=www.cantab.net}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Old Somerby}}
• [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/old-somerby-st-mary-magdalene/ "St Mary Magdalene, Old Somerby"], Achurchnearyou.com

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Category:Villages in Lincolnshire

Category:Civil parishes in Lincolnshire

Category:South Kesteven District

Category:Areas of Grantham