 A village with a most unusual and attractive name that comes from the combination of two Manors, Silkby and Willoughby. Silkby is now lost, it remained a separate hamlet until 1337 but its exact whereabouts, except that they were west of the village, are not certain.
There was a chapel of Silkby, standing until 1820 on the north side of School Lane. Adjacent to this, a field called Butts Lees has within it a prehistoric mound. School Lane was formally called Shuttlecocks Lane in association with this field name. Silkby may come for the old Norse name Selki meaning young seal, and Willoughby from Wilgebi, meaning the willows.
Being just south of Sleaford, the village has expanded a little in recent times, notably along School Lane and Gorse Lane. It is along the main London Road, formerly a main trunk road, now thankfully bypassed, that the old core of the village can be found.
At the north end of the village stands the beautiful medieval church, just tucked behind the road down Church Lane and the nearby old stone rectory. At the other end is a further fine house, the Old Manor with a lovely paddock in front of it. Between these two is a range of village buildings from the 18th and 19th-centuries in both red brick and stone, with some modern infill between. Houses are generally set behind small front gardens and although they are fairly tightly knit in the centre, the more spacious and green ends of the village give it an open character.
The Earls of Dysart owned the land until 1920 and many of the village dwellings are dated and crested. The red brick and stone public house is dated 1831, the rock faced ashlar cottages on the opposite side are of 1892, and the old School, now a village hall, is 1858.
At the entrance to the village from Sleaford is a most charming village pond with water lilies, bull rushes and a rustic bench with good views of the church tower and spire. |
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