recently a school district has been formed for the parishes of Moorby, Wood Enderby, Claxby, and Wilksby; the school, which was built in 1855, being enlarged in 1872, to provide the accommodation required by this union.
Moorby was one of the "thousand four hundred and forty-two manors" which William the Conqueror took as his own portion, when he divided the lands of England among his Norman followers. Being in the Soke of Horncastle, it was doubtless granted, along with that manor, and those of West Ashby, High Toynton, and several others, to Adelias or Alice de Cundi, daughter of William de Cheney, Lord of Caenby ann Glentham, and wife of Roger de Cundi. As she took part against King Stephen, in favour of the Empress Maud, he took the property from her; but eventually restored it to her, on condition that she should demolish her castle at Horncastle; this however was only for life, the estates again reverting to the crown. Henry II. made a grant of them to Gerbald le Escald, a Fleming noble, who was succeeded by his grandson and heir, Gerard de Rhodes. His son, Ralph de Rhodes, in the reign of Henry III., sold the manors to Walter Mauclerke, Bishop of Carlisle, and until recently the patronage of Moorby benefice belonged to the Bishops of Carlisle. After the creation of the See of Manchester, the patronage, with that of High Toynton, Mareham-le-Fen, &c., was transferred to the Bishops of Manchester.
Domesday Book, describing the soke of the Manor of Horncastle, says "In Morebi there are 3 carucates of land (or about 360 acres). There are 6 soc-men, and 10 bordars, who have 4 carucates (or 480 acres). There is a church and a priest (evidently a resident; of whom, according to Sir Henry Ellis, there were only 130 in the country), and 240 acres of meadow and 6 acres of underwood." In the old record, Testa de Nevill (circa 1326-1328), the benefice of "Morby" is said to be "of the gift of the lord the king," i.e. Edward II. or III. The original charters of Henry III., granting these manors to the Bishops of Carlisle, were confirmed by Henry VI.; but in course of time they passed to the Brandons, and to various other proprietors, until the ancestor of Sir Joseph Banks became lessee of the Manor of Horncastle, and also acquired the Manor of Moorby: to which James Banks Stanhope, Esq., and the late Right Hon. Edward Stanhope succeeded; although T. Elsey, the Artindale family, and the trustees of Bardney school, own portions of the parish.
In the year 1554 (Aug. 6th) Thomas Bewley, Clerk, was admitted to this benefice by Robert, Bishop of Carlisle, it being "vacant by deprivation." This was the 2nd year of the reign of Queen Mary, of ill memory. Doubtless the offence of the ejected predecessor was that he was married, which was contrary to the papistic ideas, revived in that brief reign. Numbers of beneficed clergy were deprived at that time for this offence.
A few old records of some interest are preserved connected with Moorby, of which we give two or three samples here. First we have a family of the name of Moreby, of whom more than one mention is made. Roger Moreby, by will dated Saturday after the Feast of St. Botolph, 1394, commends his soul to St. Mary and all the saints; he requests that his body may be buried in Croyland parish church; he leaves 40s. to be given to the poor on the day of his burial, and money to provide torches and wax for the church, and the altars of St. Katharine, St. John the Baptist, and Holy Trinity; he bequeaths £10 of silver to his wife, and other items. Again, by will dated the Feast of St. Thomas the apostle, 1368, Gervase de Wylleford bequeaths 100s. to John Moreby his cousin.
