Saxby All Saints

In 1885 Kelly's Directory noted Saxby as a "small but very pleasant village", 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Elsham railway station and near the Ancholme navigation. Parish population in 1881 was 337. It describes the 2,322 acres (9.4 km²) parish land as producing chiefly wheat, oats and barley, with "good" pasture, and being half of "fine chalk subsoil and highly fertile" and half, at Saxby Carrs, consisting of "clay subsoil, of rather black nature". The village contained a post office, six farmers, a blacksmith, wheelwright, bricklayer, miller – at Saxby Mill – and a Co-operative society. Carriers from Worlaby to Barton and Brigg passed through the village daily. Noted was a National School for 90 pupils, with an average attendance of 60, which was supported by the trustees of the late John Hope Barton.^[9]

By 1905 a joiner, builder, shoemaker and a carrier were further trades in the village, and a reading room, opened in 1882, was noted, with Henry John Hope Barton esq.

In July 1906 folk song collectors Percy Grainger and Lucy Broadwood collected the song "Died of Love", or "A brisk young Lad he courted me", from a Saxby bailiff, Joseph Taylor. The song was noted in Broadwood's English Traditional Carols and Songs, published in 1908, although the first verse was altered to suit perceived public taste. Grainger later supplied a piano accompaniment to the song, using Taylor's melody, which was published in 1912. "Died of Love" was the base for Grainger's "Rufford Park Poachers" in his Lincolnshire Posy suite.^[14][15][16]

Landmarks

Saxby's parish church is dedicated to All Saints and is a Grade II

The Queen Victoria limestone column monument and drinking trough, with its waterspout a carved lion's head, also commemorates Frederick Horsley "Having been for 42 years the faithful and respected steward of this Estate". The monument is Grade II listed.[19]

Saxby Hall is a brick-built, Grade II listed, 18th-century building remodelled in the early 19th century,^[20] with its west wing remaining from the earlier structure.^[17] It was the home of the Barton family.^[9][10]

Further listed landmarks are the mid- to late 18th-century brick-built Saxby Manor,^[21] the 1853 yellow-brick Old Rectory,^[22] and the 17th-century Lodge Cottage and Ivy House with barn, all on Main Street,^[23][24] and the mid-19th-century Saxby Bridge, on North Carr Lane, which spans the River Ancholme.^[25]

Community

Village population in 1991 was 220 and has changed little since^[3] (currently 237).

The ecclesiastical parish is also Saxby All Saints, part of the Saxby (Plurality) group of the Deanery of Yarborough. The 2013 incumbent is The Revd David Rowett.^[26]

The village lies on the Brigg to Immingham and South Ferriby to Scunthorpe bus routes.

It is home to the SaxbyFlix cinema, a community cinema project set up to provide the Low Wold Villages with a real cinema experience.^[27]

'The Saxby Carol', a Christmas carol, was composed specifically for the village in 2023 by resident musician Lucy Marshall.

Notable residents

• Cherryl Fountain, artist, was born here.^[28]
• Matthew Lawrence (1596-1652), puritan preacher was born here

References