Ashwell Church St Mary
Situated 3 miles north of Oakham this village of approximately 300 people has a category C prison nearby which during World War II housed part of the US 82nd Airborne Division. Before the Norman Conquest the manor was held by Earl Harold. In 1086 a Gozeline held it for Hugh Earl of Chester who held the manor as a third part of a knight’s fee. The Tuchet family came into possession of the manor at some point in the 12th century and they held this until the mid 15th century. A chantry to Sir John Tuchet was founded at the church in 1420,...
read moreAshby Magna Church St Marys
Ashby Magna is recorded in the Domesday book as Asseby or Essebi, in medieval times this was a large village and the population has stayed static at a round 300-400. It is 9 miles south of Leicester and its nearest neighbour is Dunton Bassett which the M1 motorway lies between. The church lies on the high ground in the village and was built about 1220 by a Robert Esseby, a descendant of William Peveril who held the manor after the Norman Conquest. There was probably an earlier church on the site before but none remains in the present fabric....
read moreAshby de la Zouch St Helen
With a population over 12,000 Ashby is a small market town in the northwest of the county of Leicestershire. It was once the largest town in the area but nearby Coalville became its larger rival in the 19th century. It is famous for its fine castle ruins (under the care of English Heritage) and was once a Victorian Spa town. The name ‘Ashby’ means ‘Ash tree farm’ or ‘Ash tree settlement’ and derives from the Danes who settled in the area from the mid 8th century. The rest of the town’s name is derived from...
read moreAsfordby Church All Saints
Three miles to the west of Melton Mowbray is the large village of Asfordby of around 3,000 people. It is thirteen miles from Leicester and sited in the Wreak valley by the Eye river. The village was known for its large scale coal mining operation which started in 1984 but closed in 1997 due to the low price of coal and geological difficulties. The village has been known as Osseberie, Osferdebie and Offerdebie, it is recorded in the Domesday Book and was given by Robert Earl of Mellent & Leicester to St Mary de Castro in Leicester and then...
read moreArnesby Church St Peter
Arnesby is 8 miles south-east of Leicester and 8 miles north-east of Market Harborough. The population in 2001 was recorded at 343 and its nearest neighbours are Shearsby and Peatling Magna. St Peter’s comprises a west tower with an external turret, nave, north porch, north & south aisles, chancel and vestry. The fine tower dates from the 13th century and is an impressive structure with its grand west door and arch mouldings. The shafts have been renewed and the west window dates from the Perpendicular period (circa 15th century)....
read moreWithcote Chapel
Withcote lies some 13 miles east from Leicester by the crow and is 4 miles south-west of Oakham very near to the county line with Rutland. The name probably derives from the Old English meaning of ‘clump of willows’, it lies in a valley with small hills either side and a small lake lies to the south east. The chapel is Early Tudor probably finished around the 1530’s by Catherine and her second husband Roger Ratcliffe, her first husband William Smith had started the chapel but died in 1506. It was built to the side of their...
read moreWymondham Church St Peter
The small village of Wymondham is a few miles from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. The village has a close association with Stilton cheese, Mrs Francis Pawlett a resident of the village in the 18th century did much to establish the cheese. She supplied her brother-in-law who was landlord at the Bell Inn at Stilton on the A1. She died a wealthy woman aged 88 in 1808. The cheese was made in the village but during the war in the 1940’s production stopped and did not reappear in the village. Today the population is around 600 and it also has a...
read moreKirby Bellars St Peter
The small village of Kirby Bellows is a couple of miles southeast of Melton Mowbray on the A607 towards Leicester near to the river Wreake. Most of the village lies to the north of the busy road along Main Street. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book with the name ‘Chirchebi’ the ‘Bellars’ was added later. During Edward II’s reign a Roger Bellar founded a college with a warden and twelve priests, in 1359 it was made conventual, for a prior and Canons of the order of St Augustine which lasted until the...
read moreKings Norton St John the Baptist
Perhaps the most beautiful church in the midlands region and one of the finest parish churches in the whole of the England. This Gothic Revival Church started in 1760 was completed in 1761 by John Wing the Younger of Leicester and it is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. But let us start as I always do with some background information. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the manor of Kings Norton passed to the Earls of Leicester, then through various families until in 1600 the Whalley family acquired the large estate at Kings Norton and...
read moreKimcote Church All Saints
Kimcote and Walcote have a combined population of around 550 according to the 2001 census. These two villages although separate have very close links and are 12 miles south of Leicester and 9 miles west of Harborough. The nearest town is Lutterworth which is just a few miles away. Walton once had a chapel dedicated to St James but this probably fell into disuse and was no longer used after 1630, as far as I am aware there are no visible remains of the old church at Walton. It is recorded in 1219 that a priest names Adam held mass three times...
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