In the
Domesday Book of 1086, Humby was written as "Humbi". It had 1
villager, 1
smallholder and 15
freemen. In 1086 it was in the
manor of
Old Somerby, the
lord of the manor being
Rainald, and the
Tenant-in-Chief,
Walter of Aincourt. Before 1232 the manor had been in possession of Thomas de Somerby, after which it passed to William de Paris. The lawyer
Richard Brownlow (1553–1638) purchased the manor of Belton, near Humby, with other estates, and Humby passed to his younger son
Sir William Brownlow, 1st Baronet (1595–1666), created a
baronet "of Humby" in 1641, whose grandson
Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet (1659–1697) appears to have deserted it on having inherited
Belton form his great uncle, where he built the surviving grand mansion of
Belton House which survives today.
Earthworks of the manor's
deserted medieval village and hall, with moats and fish ponds, are evident today. The 1885 ''
Kelly's Directory'' recorded that Great Humby was a
chapelry, the chapel consisting of a
nave only. Previous to that date it was a private chapel of the
Brownlow family, the former possessors of the nearby hall; foundations of that hall still existed in 1885. The chapel was restored in 1874 at the expense of J. Murgatroyd, the chief landowner.
English Heritage gives the date of St Anne's chapel restoration, to an
ashlar building with
bellcote, as 1876, following a rebuild in 1682 during the life of Sir William Brownlow. An even earlier chapel at Great Humby was extant in 1470. Next to the chapel stood Great Humby Hall. Built in the 13th century it became a larger hall by the 17th, the probable date it was pulled down. ==Community==