Irby in the Marsh church

click photo to enlarge
The county of Lincolnshire has more than 200 place-names that end with "by" (pronounced "bi" as in bit). It is thought that these derive from the homesteads of small groups of Frisians, Irish vikings and Norwegians who accompanied the Danes when they settled the area. Irby in the Marsh (one of two Irbys in the county) has a particularly descriptive place-name. The "Ir" probably refers to Norwegian vikings from Ireland, the "by" means farm/s or village, and the remainder of the name describes the location.

The Scandinavians arrived in Eastern England in the 9th century, and the settlements around Irby will date from that time. The place-name itself is first recorded c.1115AD as Irebi. When you visit this part of Lincolnshire you are struck by the position of the church on a low rise in the flat landscape. Did the medieval builders displace farmers who would also have been drawn to this drier eminence? The church of All Saints is a picturesque mixture of greenstone, limestone rubble, limestone ashlar and red brick. The principal medieval remains, from the 13th century to the 15th century, are the foundations and lower parts of the wall, remains of aisle arches, a piscina, and the plain octagonal font. Much of the church was renewed in 1770, including the tower with its obelisk pinnacles and arched doorway with datestone, and the nave. This latter has curious alternating bands of greenstone and bricks pierced by characteristic round-arched windows. The building was further renewed and restored in 1886 by the architect, Ewan Christian, who built the chancel.

I took a number of pictures of the exterior of the church, but chose this one to post because it shows its position on the low hill, and for the fine clouds that acquired added drama by my use of a wide angle lens (22mm @ 35mm equivalence).

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Mavis Enderby and Old Bolingbroke

click photos to enlarge
The place-names of England offer endless fascination and not a little fun. I was raised in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Settle, a place with a name that has the distinction of being a settlement, a verb and a noun. Across the River Ribble from Settle is the unlikely sounding village of Giggleswick, a word that the comedian, Tony Hancock, found humorous enough to use in his act. A couple of miles down the valley is the equally strange Wigglesworth. As a child I was intrigued by the names of some farms not too far from my home-town, one called Israel and another Rome, presumably founded by people of a strong religious persuasion. But how, I wondered, did the adjacent farms of Higher Wham and Farther Wham come to be given such improbable titles?

When I grew older and began to travel around the country I discovered that my corner of Yorkshire wasn't the only place where strange names abound. A journey by train (from Giggleswick) to Morecambe in Lancashire passed through a place called Bare where there existed, so I was told, a branch of the Women's Institute - yes, the Bare Women's Institute! This national organisation, with branches in most towns, is probably also found in the village of Loose in Kent. In Derbyshire it's possible to live in Hope, Dove Holes and Flash (the villages of), whilst Dorset offers Whitchurch Canonicorum, Gussage St Michael and Plush (with the nearby Scratchy Bottom). However, a strong case can be made for the county of Lincolnshire as the area with greatest number of place-name oddities. Here's a selection of them from the top of my head - Anton's Gout, Ashby Puerorum, Bag Enderby (surely an inspiration to Tolkien), Bicker, Boothby Graffoe, Cowbit, Hop Pole, Pode Hole, Quadring Eaudike, Saracen's Head, Spital in the Street, Swallow, Twenty, Wasp's Nest and Wrangle.

I was reflecting on such things as I cycled to the church of St Michael in the Lincolnshire village of Mavis Enderby the other day. I had recalled a story, possibly apocryphal, that a passing wit, noticing the road sign that said, "To Mavis Enderby and Old Bolingbroke", added the words ", the gift of a son." Above is the photograph of this medieval "greenstone" church that was comprehensively restored in the nineteenth century. A couple of days previously I'd been at Old Bolingbroke, the birthplace of Henry IV in 1367, and so here is a view of its old church (also featuring greenstone) as well.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/44mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On