Ratcliffe on the Wreake St Botolphs
Nearly seven miles north-east of Leicester is the small village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake which takes the second part of its name from the River Wreake that lies to the south. It has a small population of a few hundred and is just off the Fosse Way. The pretty church of St Botolph’s consists of a nave, chancel and tower with a tall crocketed spire. There was originally a north aisle but this was removed between 1791 and 1795,...
Medbourne Church St Giles
The small village of Medbourne is some 15 miles south-east of Leicester and 5 miles north-east of its nearest town at Market Harborough. It is tucked away in the rolling hills in the far corner of Leicestershire near to the county line of Northamptonshire & Rutland. The name is probably Anglo-Saxon and means ‘meadow stream’, but the Saxons were not the first in the area and there have been Roman finds which indicate a...
Blaston Church St Michael (ruin)
Blaston is small village south-east of Leicester near to Rutland county. Its largest neighbour is Medbourne. With only 30 people living here it should perhaps be described as a hamlet and consists of one main pretty street with some imposing houses along its length. This very small village was originally two parishes, and the two chapels were no more than 500yards apart. St. Michael’s was a donative chapel and although it is not...
Blaston Church St Giles
Blaston is small village south-east of Leicester near to Rutland county. Its largest neighbour is Medbourne. With only 30 people living here it should perhaps be described as a hamlet and consists of one main pretty street with some imposing houses along its length. Blaston is mentioned in the Domesday book when Robert de Tosny owned land there. In the past it has been known as Bladestone and Blachestonei and has had many owners....
Breedon on the Hill St Mary & St Hardulph
This has to be one of the most important churches in the two counties if not in the whole of the UK because of its unique Saxon carvings – but more on that later. This church is dramatically sited on a limestone hill being cut-away by the quarry below and can be seen for many miles. The hill has been occupied for thousands of years and the present church is not the first. In 675 a monastery was founded on the hill with Hedda as...
Frisby on the Wreake St Thomas of Canterbury
Back to Leicestershire and the Wreake Valley which we have been slowly progressing through the last few months. There is another Frisby 8 miles away but this is distinguished by the ‘Wreake’. The name of the village may have derived from the Danes who settled in the area in the 9th and 10th centuries. It may refer to a settlement of Frisians, this ethnic group from Northern Europe settled in England during this period and...
Fleckney Church St Nicholas
The large village of Fleckney about 8 miles south-east of Leicester and 7 miles north of Market Harborough has a population of around 4,700 according to the 2001 census. It has grown rapidly during the last century and although most of the village is modern there are structures dating to the 18th-19th centuries. Fleckney was in fact a far smaller village during most of its history. In the Domesday Book it is recorded that the...
Shackerstone Church St Peter
Fourteen miles west of Leicester and some 3 miles north-west of Market Bosworth is the pretty village of Shackerstone. The village is renowned for its Battlefield Line Railway which runs trains from here to Bosworth Field where in 1485 Richard III was killed. The village also has the Ashby Canal running around the village to the north. In the first week of September the village hosts the Shackerstone Festival which brings the canal,...
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