Bilsby

Bilsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A1111 Alford to Sutton-on-Sea road, 1 mi east from the town of Alford. Thurlby and Asserby are hamlets located within the parish of Bilsby.

According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 415.

History
Bilsby is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a settlement of eighteen households. The village name may derive from the Norse goddess Bil. Mumby Road railway station used to be situated here. In 1897, Thurlby would have been an important junction between the Sutton and Willoughby Railway (part of the East Lincolnshire Railway) and a proposed line from a new port at Sutton on Sea to another in Warrington to be built by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway.

A steam tramway ran through Bilsby between 1884 and 1889. The Alford and Sutton Tramway ran from Alford town to Sutton-on-Sea on rails set into the road; it opened in 1884 and closed only 5 years later.

Landmarks
Bilsby church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is a Grade II Listed Building dating from the 15th century. It was extensively repaired in 1841. The church is stuccoed, and has an 18th-century stone tower with brick battlements. The pulpit stem is the bole of a tree, with its steps cut from another. A memorial slab in the chancel commemorates Sir John Byllesby (died 1640), a prominent figure in his day. His descendant, Major H. M. Byllesby (US Air Service), largely aided a restoration of the church in 1918.

Built about 1740, Bilsby House is a mansion in the Georgian style occupying the site of an older moated and castellated house, reputedly the residence of the Bilsby, sometimes spelt Billesby, family. This family appear to have left the original mansion in 1616.

Built in 1861, Bilsby windmill was later extended; it was powered by wind and operated until 1932. Although disused and missing its cap, the tower of the mill still stands and is a Grade II Listed Building.

Thurlby and Asserby
Thurlby is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a settlement of eighteen households. Thurlby today is a hamlet in the parish of Bilsby, but in Medieval times it was a parish in its own right, and had a church dedicated to Saint Mary. No trace of the church remains today.

As indicated by earthworks, the hamlet of Asserby is smaller today than the village it was in Medieval times. Unlike Thurlby, it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book and did not have its own church.