Billesdon Church St John the Baptist
Just situated off the A47 Billesdon has a population of around 800 people and is nine miles east of Leicester. Originally the main road from Leicester to Peterborough ran through the village but thankfully this was bypassed to the north by the busy new road. It is an attractive village set in pretty countryside with the ground rising to 700ft to the north of the village and Billesdon Coplow which has a large country house sited near there. The village was granted a market in the 16th century which used to be on the village green and there is...
read moreHorninghold Church St Peter
This village is 15 miles south-east of Leicester and some five miles north of Market Harborough. It was mentioned in the Domesday book and a link to the British History site is below where you can read more on the early years of this community. The village today is very pretty, in fact it is too pretty and looks ‘false’ in an odd type of way. This is probably because in the early part of the 20th century almost all the village was rebuilt by the Hardcastles of Blaston Hall. All the houses in the village are the result of complete...
read moreStanton under Bardon St Mary & All Saints
Some 8 miles north-west of Leicester and a couple of miles north-west of Thornton lies the village of Stanton under Bardon. It is tucked away off the main roads and seems rather a secluded village. The village is in the Domesday book and recorded as Stantone at the time, the ‘ploughlands’ in Stantone were ‘held of the king’ by a Goisfrid de Wirce. Of course the village lies to the south of Bardon Hill, and in 1285 the name of the village had changed to Stanton subtus Berdon. Earlier in 1148 a William de Harecourt gave...
read morePeatling Magna All Saints
Peatling Church has real characterThe village of Peatling Magna lies some 8 miles south of Leicester in the district of Harborough, it is a rural village surrounded by farmland and is close to the villages of Willoughby Waterleys and Arnesby. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the church and manor came under the control of the Normandy Abbey at Saint-Evroult. Eventually it passed to the English Crown probably in 1414 and then passed to an English abbey at Shene in Surrey before a rich local yeoman named William Jervis bought the manor in 1564....
read moreNarborough Church All Saints
Narborough and its smaller attachment Littlethorpe lie a few miles south of Leicester with the River Soar lying between them. Both villages have seen large housing developments which in some respects has spoilt the villages, in fact Narborough for all intents and purposes is just one large housing estate on the north-west side of the B4114 which splits the village in two. Littlethorpe now lies in the Parish of Narborough but originally was part of Cosby parish and had a small chapel of its own, the location of which is now unknown but it...
read moreWing Church St Peter & St Paul
Some three miles north-east of Uppingham is the pretty little village of Wing with its fine stone buildings and location just south of Rutland Water. The church of St Peter and St Paul had a major rebuild by the Victorians but there is still much to admire in this church. The village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book but may have been one of the outlying berewicks (or hamlets) of nearby Ridlington. However the name may be derived from the Old Norse word Vengi meaning ‘field’ which means it would have been occupied long before...
read moreBelton in Rutland Church St Peters
My first foray into Rutland and I have started off with St Peter’s in the village of Belton in Rutland. Some 15 miles east from Leicester (and yes I will continue to use this as a reference point) and 3.5 miles north-west from Uppingham this village lies just off the A47. With a population of around 350, Belton with its grand houses and warm golden stone is very picturesque. Apart from the church there is also the Old Hall, Godfrey’s House, Belton House, Westbourne House and the old Rectory as well as many quaint ironstone...
read moreBeeby Church All Saints
Beeby lies 5 miles northeast of Leicester, it now consists of a only few houses, manor house and farms. The village was originally larger and perhaps filled the fields that now surround the church. The old rectory is sited behind the church. The stump of a spire on the church can be seen from the approach to the church, it was started but never completed. The tower dates from the 15 century with ashlar and then ironstone, the brick chancel was added in 1819. The Perpendicular church consists of west tower, nave, chancel and north and south...
read moreWistow Church St Wistans
In 849 it was reported that human hair was seen growing through the grass in Wistow Churchyard on the 1st June. This is the legend of Saint Wistan who as a Wigstan, Prince of Mercia (Christian) was murdered by his cousin who wanted his throne and cared nothing for Christian religion. A church was built on the site of the murder and then replaced with the current Norman church with a later 13th century tower. The original Norman door can still be clearly seen in the south wall to the right of the present porch. The church consists of a west...
read moreAyston Church St Mary the Virgin
Ayston is just a mile north-west of Uppingham but some 17 miles east of Leicester just off the A47 in the county of Rutland. In the 2001 census the population was 46. The village does not appear in the Domesday book, but like other villages in the area was part of the seven hamlets of Riddington (Belton-in-Rutland which is on this site was another such hamlet). Ayston Hall was built in the early 19th century and sits by the church (although not in view but hidden by some awful Leylandii). There was an earlier Hall as Henry I is reported to...
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