AILBY MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record identifies Ailby Manor at Rigsby, Lincolnshire. Independent local historical evidence identifies Ailby as one of the distinct early medieval manors associated with the Alford-Rigsby area, while archaeological records identify the medieval settlement of Ailby within the same Rigsby-with-Ailby locality.
Representative point: 53.2678, 0.1559
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — Approximate centre of the recorded deserted medieval settlement of Ailby, centred at Ordnance Survey grid reference TF 4387 7670. Ailby is documented as a medieval settlement from at least 1086 and is identified in local historical evidence as a separate early medieval manor. No securely documented manor-house site for Ailby Manor was located.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence establishes the location of Ailby and its status as a distinct manor, but does not provide a manor map, survey plan, rental map, or explicit perimeter from which the historical manorial extent can be reconstructed. The modern civil parish of Rigsby with Ailby has therefore not been substituted for the manorial boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Ailby Manor, TNA/MDR record F291974: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F291974 — Registry authority record supplied for the exact manor, identifying the primary name as Ailby Manor and the location as Rigsby, Lincolnshire.
- Ailby or Aleby Deserted Medieval Village, Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer, monument record MLI42435: https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI42435 — Records Ailby/Aleby as a deserted medieval settlement, mentioned in 1086, 1242 and 1334, and gives the centred location TF 4387 7670. This provides the best surviving geographic proxy for the medieval manorial centre.
- Alford Conservation Area Appraisal, East Lindsey District Council: https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/media/29257/Alford-Conservation-Area-Appraisal/pdf/Appendix_1_-_Alford_Conservation_Area_Appraisal_-_FINAL.pdf?m=1780573789647 — States that early medieval documentation divided the area into four manors: Tothby, Ailby, Rigsby and Well, supporting the identification of Ailby as a distinct manor rather than merely a modern settlement name.
- Ailby, Open Domesday: https://opendomesday.org/place/TF4376/ailby/ — Places Ailby in the Domesday landscape and records its 1086 land resources, households and overlordship, corroborating the medieval settlement and estate context.
- History of the Parish and Manors of Alford with Rigsby and Ailby, Reginald Charles Dudding: https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_the_parish_and_manors_of_Alfo.html?id=QzwGAQAAIAAJ — Scholarly local history specifically covering the parish and manors of Alford, Rigsby and Ailby; used as contextual support for the historic manor grouping.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative coordinates locate the documented medieval Ailby settlement/manorial centre, not a confirmed surviving manor house.
- No historically defensible polygon for Ailby Manor was found in the available online evidence.
- The modern Rigsby with Ailby parish boundary must not be treated as the boundary of Ailby Manor.