More information : TF 137856. Settlement remains of the shrunken Medieval village of Legsby lie on Boulder Clay/Till at 38m above OD. When first recorded in 1086 Legsby's population was at an unusually low ebb: a minimum of 7 persons occupied William de Perci's manor, while the 4 bovates of sokeland answering to the soke centre of Wragby was waste and a cause of dispute between William and Erneis de Burun, lord of Wragby. The Percy fee of 1.5 carucates was sub-infeudated before 1212 to Robert de Tegney or Tweing, who also held the advowson of St Thomas's church, and both the church and the whole of the vill of Legsby were granted to the neighbouring Gilbertine priory of Sixhills (founded 1148- 54) before 1187 by the said Robert, apparently in the case of the vill reiterating or adding to the grant of Roger Mustel of c.1150.(a) At the Dissolution the manor of Legsby and Legsby grange - apparently the grange that took over the site of the DB settlement of Holtham in Legsby - were granted to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk and in 1541 were sold by him to Matthew St Pol of Snarford. With the failure of the latter family, the Legsby estates were bought by Richard Nelthorpe of Scawby near Brigg, and remained in their hands until the earlier 20th century.
Population levels in the later medieval period are confused by the regular practice of returning Legsby with its members, presumably Bleasby, Holtham and perhaps Coldecotes. The group had 35 and 25 taxpayers in 1327-8 and 1332-3: no relief is
recorded in 1352, the Poll Tax in 1377 was paid by 94 individuals, and there were at least 10 households in the parish at 1428. Reliefs of 22% and 23% were allowed in the mid 15th century, but 18 taxpayers were shared between Legsby and Bleasby in 1524, Legsby produced 14 persons for the Lindsey Musters of 1539, 23 taxpayers are named for Legsby with Bleasby in 1542-3, and in 1563 the group of settlements had 27 or 29 households of which 16 were in Legsby compared with Bleasby's 7.(c)
No depopulation or engrossment was noted by the survey of 1607; indeed Legsby was probably enclosed before 1579.(d) There were 92 communicants returned in 1603 and 90 in 1676: in 1662, 35 persons paid tax on a total of 66 hearths;(e) in the early 18th century the parish (i.e. still excluding East Torrington) had 30 to 40 households. This was the level maintained during the first three decades of the next century, but the leap from 37 houses in 1831 to 62 in 1841 (of which Legsby's share was 35), that apparently owes most to the development of the distinct communities at Bleasby Moor and Little London but also to building by the Nelthorpe estate, has been approximately maintained since. It was this period of growth, rather than the 18th century, that saw the rebuilding of St Thomas's ('new built' in 1847) and construction of a non-conformist chapel. The earthworks survive only in fields immediately N and S of St Thomas's church, while the area to the E between the through road and the stream and closes to the W and SW of the church probably formed part of the settlement area, but now levelled and for the most part returned to grass they bear only faint signs of earlier use. As a result, little useful can be said about the early morphology or depelopment of the settlement. The ditches and scarps S of the road can almost all be equated with boundaries shown on the Tithe Award map of 1846 that stayed in use at least into the early 20th century.(g) In particular, the ditch following a dog-leg course from 'a' S to 'b' and continued by a surviving hedgeline S of the stream marks the E side of the largest block of glebe land in 1846, whose W boundary was the irregular surviving hedgeline to the W. This was presumably created before the end of the 16th century by enclosure. In its NW corner on the street frontage stood the Glebe Farm: a broad L-shaped pond shown on the TA map, but already reduced in size by 1906, can now only barely be recognised (at 'c' on plan) because of infilling and disturbance, and it is now not possible to tell whether it might have been part of a moated enclosure rather than just a pond. Buildings shown on the TA map and now gone stood at 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' and 'h'.
The principal feature NE of the church is a hollow-way leading from the NE up to and around the church yard. (1-2)
The possible settlement remains described by authorities 1-2 werenot visible on available photography. However, a few fragmentary earthwork remains, possibly associated with the village, were mapped from good quality air photographs. They include part of a possible croft at TF 1259 8543, and a possible toft at TF 1377 8556, and a field boundary, centred at TF 1374 8587. Two blocks of ridge and furrow were also recorded to the west of the village, they are considered to be related, located at TF 1400 8564 and TF 1413 8554. (Morph No. LI.1.2.1 - 2.5)
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database.
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