The name
Ashby is quite a common village name in the Lincolnshire area. The origin of the name is probably Danish. In the Domesday Book the village is referred to as "Aschebi"; later variants include Askebi and Ashby does not really appear until the early 19th century. The Danish origin of the name suggests it may mean "the farm settlement at the spring waters". Alternative suggestions include " the farmstead where the ash trees grow" or possibly "Aski's farmstead".
More detailed information can be found in:
Emminson, T. B. F. The Place and River Names of the West Riding of Lindsey Lincolnshire. 1934.
Cameron, Keith The Place-Names of Lincolnshire
(Available in North Lincolnshire Local Studies Library).
The place
Ashby is one of the five villages which were later incorporated to form the town of Scunthorpe in 1936 and was originally within the parish of Bottesford. Ashby still retains much of its character and is today a thriving community.
The church of St Paul was opened in 1899 and was largely built from local ironstone. By the late 19th century Ashby also had its own school, Methodist chapels and constitutional club and in 1902 Ashby library was opened with the support of funds from the Carnegie foundation.
One area of Ashby was known as the Screeds - referring to the narrow strips of land on which the houses in the Screeds were built.
To the west of Ashby lay the famous duck decoy which was in use until just after the First World War.