Kirkby Underwood

This village stands serenely in the byways, five miles north of Bourne, and lives up to its name for there are woods all around. It is one of six Kirkbys in Lincolnshire and is spelt Cherchebi in the Domesday Book of 1086 but the name appears to have developed from the Old Norse kirkuibyr meaning a village with a church. Kirkby Underwood, as its name implies, also possessed considerable woodlands when William the Conqueror was on the throne.

Some 220 acres were recorded in 1086, and today as you stand in the elevated churchyard of St Mary and All Saints you can see Row Wood and Dunsby Wood to the south east, Callans Lane Wood and Pasture Wood to the south west and Temple Wood and Grange Wood to the north west with the steel lattice masts of a futuristic telecommunication tower and its dish aerials towering over the fields on its southern edge. On the far side of Callans Lane Wood, now managed by the Forestry Commission, is the line of the Roman road that cuts across this higher ground from King Street in the south. 

The village church and the old rectory nearby, now a private house

The church of St Mary and All Saints can be found on the very edge of the village and is reached by a long path between tall hedgerows and is guarded by an ancient door with three foot hinges and a huge lock and key. It has an embattled western tower five centuries old, a 13th century arcade with foliated capitals and a Jacobean panelled pulpit. The church was restored in 1893 by the rector, the Rev Robert Hurman, at a cost of £800. The parish registers date from 1569 and there are some interesting records of the ministers and the ornaments of the church that were destroyed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I whilst a large stone memorial in the churchyard remembers the Rev Frederick Septimus Emly who died on 4th March 1875 at the age of 72, after serving as rector for 38 years. 

The churchyard is exactly one acre in area and is practically circular, a shape that usually indicates that this was a pagan site before the arrival of Christianity. Its isolated position in the middle of farmland is also a reminder that the old village of Kirkby Underwood was originally clustered around the church but after purchasing the land in 1712, Sir Gilbert Heathcote set about the task of developing the area as a shoot and to protect the woods, he moved the village itself over a quarter of a mile to the east where it stands today. By way of compensation, the villagers were allowed to collect firewood from a part of the Callans Lane Wood and this small area of forest can still be found today surrounded by a small ditch. 

The new bell  was eventually hung in the tower and dedicated at a special service on Sunday 9th March 2003 by the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev Dr John Saxbee, joining the three others already in the tower: a 4 cwt tenor dating from 1694 but recast in 1938, a second weighing 3 cwt from 1774 and a 3 cwt treble which is undated but is also believed to have been installed in 1694. They are rung regularly although the church has no team of ringers.

The task therefore falls to churchwarden Frank Wyer, aged 72, who has been tolling alone every Sunday for more than half a century, continuing a 126-year family tradition that began in 1875 when his grandfather Thomas Wyer began ringing the bells at the age of 22. He continued for 50 years until retiring in 1932 when he handed over the ropes to Herbert Hunt, uncle of Frank's wife Shirley, who continued until 1946 when Frank took his place in the belfry at the age of 16. Three bells are a challenge for any campanologist but Frank is continuing the job even now the new and fourth bell is in place. Mr Wyer is also one of the few bellringers in the country ringing a church bell bearing the name of an ancestor because the tenor treble cast in 1694 has the inscription "Wier". 

An aerial photograph of the church was taken by Anthony Andrews, a specialist agricultural consultant who lives in the village. He chartered a helicopter in the summer of 2000 and photographed most of the properties in the locality and the resulting pictures were sold to raise money to pay for the installation of a new millennium bell which was added to the existing peal of three in March 2003. The photograph of the church below was taken in September 2006.

A NEW ROOF FOR THE CHURCH

The village church has been a frequent target for thieves because of its isolated position and lead has been taken from the roof on several occasions. One of the worst thefts occurred in July 2011 when night time intruders stripped 36 square metres from the roof of the south and north nave causing damage estimated at £20,000. This was a major blow for the church and a temporary roof was installed immediately to protect the building from the weather while a fund was launched to pay for permanent repairs, including a novel sponsorship scheme which sought donations to finance each square foot of replacement and attracted gifts from New Zealand, Australia and the United States. The new roof made from a special coated stainless steel was completed in 2012 and in Deember that year, a dedication service was held by the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev Christopher Lowson, who made special mention of the generosity of those who had contributed and the unusual sponsorship scheme which had made a considerable reduction in the financial burden on the parochial church council. NOTE: On 13th December 2012, five men were jailed at Lincoln Crown Court for the theft of lead from the church at Kirkby Underwood and 19 other churches across the East Midlands. The court was told that they were members of a gang of six Lithuanian nationals who had caused £1 million worth of damage. It is estimated that the gang stole 70 tonnes of lead which they sold for £70,000. Passing sentence, Judge Michael Heath, told them: "These thefts caused serious financial consequences and we should not underestimate the distress felt by Christians at the desecration of their sacred places of divine worship." The five men were given jail sentences varying from six months to seven years, a total of 20 years. IN THE PICTURE: From left, church warden Gillian Andrews, the Rev Dr Lynda Pugh, the Rt. Revd Christopher Lowson and churchwarden Frank S Wyer.

It was a village tradition at weddings in past times to hang posies and coloured ribbons on the gateposts at the entrance to the churchyard while the porch was decorated with seasonal wild flowers woven into a garland around the door such as here at Kirkby Underwood, a charming country custom that has been mainly replaced today by confetti.

The church organ also has an interesting history having been built between 1850 and 1860 for the church at Rippingale, the next village, before being moved to Kirby Underwood in 1910. Mrs Shirley Wyer, aged 73, has played it for more than half a century, celebrating 55 years at the keyboard on Easter Sunday 2003. She started playing in 1947 as a girl of 18 and before the instrument was converted to electricity, husband Frank used to pump the bellows.

The Old Rectory was home to a succession of village priests for 100 years but in recent times its upkeep has become financially unviable for the current level of stipend paid to the incumbent. In short, although he enjoyed the use of such a large house paid for by the church, he could not afford the housekeeping bills. The stone property dates back to 1840 and stands in its own grounds surrounded by an attractive white picket fence along the lane leading to the church. During the 19th century, when the Rev Frederick Septimus Emly, who had graduated from Wadham College, Oxford, in 1823, was rector, the benefice, which was in the gift of the Bishop of Lincoln, was worth £210 a year with the rectory and 200 acres of land in lieu of tithes and glebes. He died there on Thursday 4th March 1875 after serving almost 50 years in holy orders.

The house ceased to be a rectory in 1936 when the imposing property that once gave the priest his status in the community was sold off by the Church of England for use as a private home. Among the first owners was an old soldier, Colonel Hardwicke Holderness, DSO, whose son Captain John Holderness, was killed during the Second World War, the only fatal casualty from the village, and is remembered today on the parish war memorial. The living at Kirkby Underwood was a rectory with the vicarage at nearby Aslackby annexed and so the priest went to live in that village while today, the rectory continues in private residential use. It is preserved as a Grade II listed building and therefore remains part of the history and heritage in this part of South Lincolnshire.

Kirkby Underwood contains a number of red brick buildings, the finest of which is the Manor House in the main street with a range of contemporary stables and outbuildings. We normally expect the village manor house to be thatched and built of stone, now mellowed and covered with ivy, but the Earl of Ancaster who built this substantial property in the late 19th century had Victorian preferences and used local materials. Although the windows have ashlar surrounds with stone lintels and sills, the roof tiles are made of blue Collyweston slate while red bricks have been used for the walls and these were most probably manufactured in the vicinity because Bourne, five miles away, had a thriving brick industry at that time. The manor house stands on a slight rise in a commanding position overlooking the main street, with a range of contemporary stables and outbuildings, all beautifully maintained, and firmly holding its own against similar properties of the same status in other Lincolnshire villages.

Nearby is the Ye Olde Three Tuns, once a public house but now a private dwelling although its past history is reflected in the name. It is reckoned to be the oldest secular building in the village and dates back to the 18th century, perhaps even earlier, but it closed as a hostelry in 1969. The roof was thatched until then but a fire around the middle brick chimney prompted the new owners to switch to the pantiles we see today and there have been other extensions and improvements at the rear. 

Over the road on The Green stands the old school with room for 70 boys and girls, also built by the Earl of Ancaster in 1903 to replace the former National School, but closed for lessons in December 1971 and recently refurbished for use as the village hall with an attractive coat of arms designed and carved by the Rev Kenneth Street when he was rector, and bearing a Latin description of Kirkby Underwood: Semper in campis silvae floreat. In the spring of 2003, the hall was extended and improved at a cost of £36,000, most of which came from local authority grants, and included the addition of modern toilets and a storeroom. The extensions were officially opened on Saturday 17th May.

But the village is not dying, only changing. New houses are springing up between the older ones. There is abundant evidence that Kirkby Underwood is also a busy centre for the servicing of agricultural equipment as well as being an expanding community of commuters.

See also The Kirkby Underwood almshouses

See also Aslackby for more information about Kenneth Street

REVISED JULY 2015

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