KING'S NORTON
King's Norton lies seven miles east-south-east
of Leicester on a spur of the uplands of eastern
Leicestershire. The civil parish of Little Stretton
is a chapelry of King's Norton. The area of the
ancient parish of King's Norton is about 1,010 a.
The spur on which the village stands projects southwestwards from the upland area and lies between
the River Sence and one of its tributaries. The
ground rises from about 400 ft. near the rivers to
over 500 ft. The soil is clayey, with a clay and gravel
sub-soil. On the east and west the parish boundary
for the most part follows field boundaries; on the
north it is marked by the Sence; and on the south it
follows the Gartree road.
King's Norton lies between two main roads leading from Leicester-those to Uppingham and
Market Harborough-but minor roads lead from
the village to both main roads, as well as to the Gartree road which skirts the southern edge of the parish.
The village lies around the junction of three minor
roads, leading to Galby, Little Stretton, and Illston
on the Hill. The small cluster of houses includes the
manor-house, Vicarage, and church. There are only
two isolated farm-houses: Norton Gorse Farm, near
the large Norton Gorse plantation, in the north-west
of the parish, and a second in the west. There is a
large disused gravel pit to the south-west of the
village.
King's Norton has never been a large village. Its
tax assessment in 1334 was only 10s. (fn. 1) and only 36
people paid the poll tax in 1381. (fn. 2) In 1563 there were
12 households. The figure of 154 communicants in
1603 probably refers to Little Stretton as well as
King's Norton. In 1670 there were 17 households,
and in 1676 38 communicants. (fn. 3) There were 14
families early in the 18th century. (fn. 4) In 1801 the
population was 60; after a very small increase during
the 19th century, it had fallen to 43 by 1951. (fn. 5)
The manor-house, now known as Manor House
Farm, stands close to the east end of the church and
is a large L-shaped brick building of two stories and
attics. Most of the remaining structure was probably
built by William Whalley (d. 1635) or his son Ralph.
The principal arm of the L is a wing running north
and south; a lower wing extends from its east side.
The internal arrangements of the main block indicate
that it was built as a parlour wing of some pretensions
with large southern rooms, a central staircase, and
smaller northern rooms; its division into three bays
is common to all floors including the attics. It is
built of thin red brick with limestone dressings
above a high ironstone plinth; the gables have stone
copings and the present slate roof is modern. Two
stone-mullioned and transomed windows remain in
the west wall. Similar windows have been altered
or blocked elsewhere in the wing and the south
gable-end was re-fenestrated with pairs of sash windows to each floor in the time of Bernard Whalley
(d. 1752). The smaller wing has several blocked stone
windows and has probably been truncated at its
east end where a large chimney stack with ribbed
brick shafts is clearly part of an earlier structure.
A single-story brew-house, added to the north side
of the house c. 1800, is now the kitchen. The old
kitchen was probably the ground floor room in the
smaller wing which has a wide fire-place and exposed
ceiling joists. In the attic rooms above this wing is
an arch-braced collar-beam truss which may antedate the rest of the house. The lower flights of the
mid-17th-century staircase in the parlour wing were
altered to one straight flight late in the last century.
The upper flights have plain chamfered handrails,
heavy turned balusters, and newels with pierced
finials.
Near to the east end of the house is a square brick
dovecote with a hipped roof and a louver similarly
roofed. The walls have a small diaper pattern in
vitrified brick headers. It probably dates from the
later 17th century. Another outbuilding carries a
tablet dated 1726 with the initials of Bernard and
Anne Whalley.
William Fortrey is said to have demolished 'the
old hall-house of Norton' with the intention of
building a new one but to have only completed the
offices before his death. (fn. 6) These last may be identified
with the two brick houses forming a row on the south
side of the churchyard and now known as The
Limes. At their south end are limestone balustrades
and steps, apparently re-used. The entrance gates
in the west wall of the churchyard are said to have
come from the old house and to have been set in
their present position by Fortrey. (fn. 7) The classical
stone gate-piers have pineapple finials and the
wrought-iron gates are work of c. 1720. (fn. 8) The site of
the old hall-house is not known and it is possible
that it was not completely demolished and that the
present Manor House Farm represents part of the
structure. On the other hand the fact that in 1666
William Whalley and Stanhope Whalley were
assessed for 12 and 10 hearths respectively (fn. 9) suggests
that two important houses were standing in the
parish at that time.
Wyggeston Farm is a two-storied brick house
built c. 1700 on the site of an older house of which
a lower ironstone cross-wing survives at the west
end. This in turn seems to encase the remains of an
earlier structure. The house may perhaps be identified with Beamond's Farm, let to Ralph Whalley
in 1637. (fn. 10) To the north-east of the house is the only
surviving timber-framed cottage in the parish,
dating from the 17th century. Lime Cottage in the
same cul-de-sac is of 18th-century brick, and opposite is the former blacksmith's cottage and, behind
it, the small ruined smithy.
The Grange, formerly a private house known as
The Laurels, was built in 1870 by G. C. Heap.
Several cottages, including three with mud walls,
have been demolished within living memory. The
village hall, a wooden hut, was given in 1921 by the
Co-operative Wholesale Society, Ltd. There are
two pairs of Council houses in the village, built
after 1945.
MANOR.
In 1086 the royal soke of Bowden, which
before the Conquest had been held by Edward the
Confessor, included 3 carucates of land and 5 a. of
meadow in KING'S NORTON. (fn. 11) By 1130 the 3
carucates were held by the Earl of Leicester. (fn. 12)
King's Norton was among the Earl's estates which
in 1204 passed to Saer de Quency as husband of
a co-heir of Robert FitzParnell; Saer was created
Earl of Winchester in 1207. (fn. 13) Roger de Quency,
Earl of Winchester, held King's Norton at his death
in 1264, (fn. 14) and it was assigned to his relict in dower. (fn. 15)
His lands were in 1277 divided among co-heirs and
King's Norton went to his daughter Ellen and her
husband Alan la Zouche. (fn. 16) At a later Alan's death,
in 1314, it passed through his daughter Maud to her
husband Robert de Holand. (fn. 17) He was succeeded by
his son Robert in 1328. (fn. 18) King's Norton passed to
the Lovels in c. 1373 by the marriage of Robert de
Holand's granddaughter to John, Lord Lovel. (fn. 19)
William Lovel held it at his death in 1455, (fn. 20) but the
manor appears to have been subsequently acquired
by the Hastings family (fn. 21) for in 1532 George, Earl of
Huntingdon, settled King's Norton on his son
Francis, Lord Hastings, when he married the
daughter of Henry, Lord Montagu. (fn. 22) No further
descent of the overlordship has been traced.
In 1130 King's Norton was held by Pipard from
the Earl of Leicester. (fn. 23) The Earl of Winchester's
under-tenant in 1264 was William Burdet, (fn. 24) and in
1277 King's Norton was said to be held from the
Earl's heirs by Thomas de Hendeshovere; (fn. 25) Burdet
was probably, however, intermediate between the
heirs and Hendeshovere in 1277 as he was between
them and Thomas de Endis (probably to be identified with Hendeshovere) in 1279. (fn. 26) By 1313 the
manor was held from Alan la Zouche by William de
Bereford, (fn. 27) and a Bereford held it in 1328 and 1454. (fn. 28)
The Burdet and Bereford families were probably
never the demesne tenants. In 1277 and 1279
Robert de Norton held the manor from Thomas de
Hendeshovere (or Endis) (fn. 29) and in 1284 Robert
claimed that his ancestors had held land in King's
Norton since the late 12th century. (fn. 30) The Nortons
held the manor in 1316 and probably later, (fn. 31) but by
1346 it had passed to Henry Mallorie. (fn. 32) William
Levere was lord in 1368. (fn. 33) In 1514 the manor was
acquired by Robert and John Borowe and Henry
Peyll from George and Mary Kyngeston, (fn. 34) and
Robert Borowe's descendants transferred it to
Thomas Whalley in 1582. (fn. 35)
The Whalley family held the manor until Bernard
Whalley's death in 1752 when William Fortrey, husband of Anne Whalley, acquired it. (fn. 36) In 1783 Fortrey
was succeeded by his nephew Henry Green, (fn. 37) who
was still in possession in 1847 when he owned 765 a.
of land. (fn. 38) The estate apparently passed to the Heap
family and later to the Powys-Kecks; as part of
the Powys-Keck estate, it was bought by the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Ltd. in 1919. (fn. 39) The
manorial rights may, however, have been separated
from the estate in the mid-19th century and acquired
by the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. (fn. 40) After
1919 the C.W.S. disposed of part of its estate in
King's Norton: 255 a. was sold to W. H. Heard
in 1927 and other land to Wyggeston's Hospital in
1928. (fn. 41)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1086 there were 3
carucates of land and 5 a. of meadow in King's
Norton. (fn. 42)
One of the largest medieval landowners in King's
Norton was Owston Abbey which by 1360 had built
up an estate of 191 a. around the nucleus of the glebe
lands; the abbey had other land in Little Stretton.
In King's Norton approximately 70 a. lay in West
Field, 51 a. in South Field, and 69 a. in North Field,
and most was in very small scattered parcels; some
consolidation had, however, taken place in North
Field where one parcel was of 28 a. and another of
about 14 a. In 1357-8, with the labour of 9 famuli
as well as hired workers, the abbey grew wheat (30
per cent.), barley (55 per cent.), and peas and beans
(15 per cent.) at King's Norton, and kept 129 sheep
there; corn, malt, and wool were sold. Demesne
cultivation by the abbey had probably been abandoned by 1363, and 92 a. of the estate were leased to
John of Norton. (fn. 43) This leasing-out was perhaps a
consequence of the Black Death, but the village itself
apparently suffered no marked decline. In 1381 the
poll tax was paid by 36 people, among them 5 free
tenants, 4 tenants at will, a merchant, 13 servants,
and 2 labourers; (fn. 44) and King's Norton's tax assessment of 10s. was reduced by only 1s. in 1445. (fn. 45)
Prominent among the land-holding free tenants in
the late 14th and early 15th centuries was John atte
Hall of Little Stretton, whose mowers assisted the
Owston famuli in 1357-8. (fn. 46)
In the early 16th century a large estate in King's
Norton was acquired by Wyggeston Hospital,
Leicester: in 1527 3 messuages and 4½ virgates
(120 a. arable, 20 a. meadow, and 12 a. pasture) were
conveyed to it. (fn. 47) From the late 16th century until
the mid-18th the most important landowning family
was the Whalleys. Ralph Whalley was already one of
the leading taxpayers in 1572, and during the next
two decades he acquired the manor, other houses
and land, and the rectory and advowson; he died in
1601 and was succeeded by his son William (d.
1635) and his grandson Ralph. (fn. 48) The younger Ralph
was probably responsible for the inclosure of the
open fields, which took place between 1635 (fn. 49) and
1637 when Whalley's land was stated to have been
lately inclosed and converted to pasture; (fn. 50) in 1637
Whalley held 16½ yardlands (fn. 51) and was also the lessee
of 4½ yardlands from Wyggeston Hospital. (fn. 52) In 1656
the hospital had 3 farms, comprising 4½ yardlands
and 3½ a., in King's Norton, all leased out; it was
said that at the inclosure the hospital's land had been
allotted in the worst part of the lordship. (fn. 53) The
hospital still had 169 a. in 1847 (fn. 54) and bought more
land in 1928. (fn. 55)
Several 17th-century terriers and inventories provide details of pre-inclosure agrarian practice. The
open fields were no longer called West, South, and
North Fields, as they had been in 1360: two terriers
of Wyggeston Hospital property in 1635 give the
names as Brig, Scockerhill, and Middle Fields, (fn. 56) and
a terrier of the glebe lands of Galby in 1638 called
them Marr, Carlton Gate, and Middle Fields. (fn. 57)
Each yardland is said to have had 6 cow gates and
common for 40 sheep. (fn. 58) Two inventories made in
1608 show that peas, barley, and wheat were being
grown. (fn. 59)
Although Ralph Whalley's land was said in 1637
to have been converted to pasture, the parish was
not subsequently completely under grass. In 1847
there were 150 a. of arable out of 993 a. subject to
tithe, (fn. 60) and in 1855, 200 a. of arable. (fn. 61) Pasture farming has, however, remained predominant to the
present day. In the 19th and 20th centuries the land
has been farmed by about 4 farmers and graziers. (fn. 62)
A windmill at King's Norton is first mentioned
in 1514. The latest reference is in 1582 when, with
the manor, it came into the possession of Ralph
Whalley. It is not included in the description of his
property at his death in 1601. (fn. 63)
PARISH ADMINISTRATION.
There was apparently no workhouse at King's Norton, and in
1802-3 2 adults and 2 children received out-relief. (fn. 64)
The parish joined the Billesdon Union in 1836. (fn. 65)
Churchwardens' accounts survive for 1784-1834. (fn. 66)
CHURCH.
King's Norton church was described
about 1220 as the mother church from which the
chapel of Little Stretton was served, (fn. 67) and Little
Stretton has remained a dependent chapelry. In the
1660's the township of Little Stretton was liable to
contribute to the maintenance of the fabric of King's
Norton church, though not to that of its ornaments. (fn. 68)
The incumbent of King's Norton was resident in the
parish in the 1860's (fn. 69) but by at least 1928 the living
was held with Galby and the incumbent lived there. (fn. 70)
The benefices of King's Norton and Galby were
united in 1929. (fn. 71)
The advowson of the church of King's Norton
was confirmed to Owston Abbey by Robert de
Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln, before 1167. (fn. 72) During
Hugh of Avalon's episcopate of Lincoln (1186-1200)
it was ordered that the church should pay the abbey
an annual pension of 2 marks, and half a stone of
wax. (fn. 73) In 1306 the abbey appropriated King's
Norton church, (fn. 74) though royal licence for this was
not obtained until 1340, (fn. 75) and a vicarage was subsequently ordained.
The advowson apparently descended with the
rectory after the Dissolution (see below) and subsequently with the manor. (fn. 76) It was held by J. C. L.
Keck in 1922. (fn. 77) In 1929 it was obtained from the
trustees of the late G. C. Heap by the National
Church League Trust. (fn. 78) The Church Society presented in 1951 and 1956. (fn. 79)
In 1291 the annual value of the rectory was
£15 13s. 4d., including a pension of £1 6s. 8d. paid
to Owston Abbey and £2 6s. 8d. as the Rector of
Galby's portion. (fn. 80) In 1535 the value was £3 6s. 8d.,
with temporalities of £2 17s. at Little Stretton. (fn. 81)
The rectory, tithes, and glebe were in 1528-9 leased by
the abbey to Thomas Brygge, clerk, for £3 6s. 8d. (fn. 82)
After the Dissolution, the rectory was granted in
April 1544 to Edward Elrington and Humphrey
Metcalf. (fn. 83) They soon alienated it to John Beaumont
and Henry Alycock, although a licence for this was
not obtained until 1545. (fn. 84) In May 1544 the rectory
was transferred to John Prior (fn. 85) and in 1556 John's
son Simon (fn. 86) alienated it to George Turpyn. (fn. 87) In
1559 Ralph Whalley acquired it from Turpyn (fn. 88) and
the rectory subsequently descended with the manor.
By the date of the tithe apportionment in 1847, the
great tithes on 765 a. of land held by Henry Green
had been merged; four other improprietors received
apportionments totalling £7 16s., the largest being
£5 to Wyggeston's Hospital which held 169 a. (fn. 89)
The rectorial estate in Little Stretton, consisting of
tithes and half a yardland, was in 1552 granted to
Thomas Cecyll and Philip Bolde of London; it had
previously been held by Thomas Bewpas and his
son. (fn. 90) When Little Stretton was inclosed in 1771
the improprietor, Lebbeus Humfrey, was allotted
113 a. in lieu of great tithes. (fn. 91)
In 1535 the annual value of King's Norton
vicarage was £7 5s. 6d.; (fn. 92) in 1607 it was £7. (fn. 93) The
living was augmented by gifts of £200 from Mrs.
Jane Hussey in 1718 and £200 from William
Whalley, and in 1798 it was worth £70. (fn. 94) In the
19th century it was valued at £105. (fn. 95) The small
tithes in King's Norton, arising from 993 a. of land,
were commuted for £95 in 1847. (fn. 96) In Little Stretton
the vicar received 20 a. for small tithes and 23 a.
in lieu of his yardland of glebe at the inclosure in
1771. (fn. 97) There were 44 a. of glebe there in 1932. (fn. 98)
The former Vicarage, on the west side of the
churchyard, dates from the early 18th century but
the upper part of the house appears to have been
completely rebuilt.
By will proved in 1930 W. J. R. Pochin left £1,200
to be used at the death of a trustee for the benefit
of the incumbent and of the chapel at Little Stretton.
Half of the sum was to be used to augment the living,
and half invested for the maintenance of the chapel
and the conduct of services there. The annual income from the investment in 1951-3 was £18 and
in 1954 £22. (fn. 99)
The old church, which stood on or near the site of
the later building, seems to have been badly maintained. In 1633 it was reported that the chancel was
full of rubbish and stones, that part of the walls
needed pointing, that the paving was defective, and
that the furnishings were in an unsatisfactory state. (fn. 1)
By January 1634 the chancel had been repaired by
William Whalley, (fn. 2) and there were fewer complaints
in 1639, though the walls needed whitening and the
paving was in parts defective. (fn. 3)
The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST was
built between 1757, when a faculty for rebuilding
it was obtained by the patron William Fortrey, and
1775. The architect was the younger Wing (d. 1794),
of Leicester, whose father had been engaged by
Fortrey in 1741 for the partial rebuilding of the
church in the adjoining parish of Galby. (fn. 4)
The church, which is built of limestone ashlar
brought from Rutland, (fn. 5) consists of an aisleless nave
and chancel forming a simple rectangular plan with
a tower at its west end. There is only one entrance-
that in the west side of the tower approached by a
flight of steps flanked by stone balustrades. The
building has long been acknowledged as a particularly fine example of 18th-century Gothic architecture, both on account of its archaeologically
correct details, especially those of the tower, and the
preservation of its original fittings. A tall crocketted
spire which originally surmounted the tower was
struck by lightning in 1843 and 1850. (fn. 6) After the
last occurrence, when considerable damage was
caused to the body of the church by its fall, the spire
was completely dismantled. The north and south
walls of the church each have seven tall two-light
windows of late-14th-century character, separated
by buttresses which are continued upwards to form
crocketted pinnacles. The east end has three windows
containing late Geometrical tracery, the central
window having five lights with a large circle at its
apex. All the windows have ogival hoodmoulds with
finials. The low-pitched roof is concealed by a continuous parapet pierced by open quatrefoils.
The tower is divided into four stages by three
friezes, each of a different design. The belfry stage
has tall coupled two-light openings with reticulated
tracery, and the top of the tower is completed by a
parapet with tall crocketted angle pinnacles; below
this the angle buttresses are stopped against a corbel
table surmounted by a prominent cornice.
The interior of the church is a remarkably wellpreserved example of the period and has been called
'a perfect expression of 18th-century Anglicanism'. (fn. 7)
It is entered from a vestibule in the base of the tower
and consists of a single lofty room with a gallery
across its west end. Immediately inside the door on
the north side stands the font, enclosed by original
christening pews. The large three-decker pulpit,
the most striking feature of the interior, is centrally
placed at the east end of the nave. Demarcation
between nave and chancel is provided by low gates
flanking the pulpit, while the chancel seats are set
against the side walls, facing inwards. The shallow
sanctuary, containing a small central altar, is raised
on a single step and is divided from the rest of the
chancel by communion rails which stretch across
is church from north to south. The whole interior
is flooded with light from the many large windows
which retain their clear glass set in leadwork of
unusual design. The finely-executed fittings are of
Norwegian oak (fn. 8) and are mostly purely classical in
detail. The gallery is supported on Roman Doric
columns and these are repeated on the highest stage
of the pulpit. The reredos, forming the central
feature of continuous wainscotting round three sides
of the chancel, is surmounted by a classical pediment.
The Gothic character of the exterior, however, is
reflected in the design of the communion rails and
the small gates beside the pulpit. The elaborate
Gothic font dates from after 1850 when the earlier
one was crushed by the fall of the spire. (fn. 9) The
original organ, also destroyed, was probably mounted
in the west gallery; the low-pitched tie-beam roof,
extensively damaged, has evidently been carefully
restored. All the original box pews survive except
on the south side of the nave where they have been
removed to accommodate the present organ. In 1776
the reading pew and the clerk's desk, forming the
two lower stages of the pulpit, were ordered to be
removed (fn. 10) but this was apparently ignored.
There are no mural tablets in the church but
below the gallery hangs a photograph of an 18thcentury painting of the Fortrey family. The largest
and most impressive monument in the churchyard is
a tall obelisk built against the east wall of the church
by William Fortrey in memory of his parents,
William (d. 1722) and Anne (d. 1733). This is
enclosed by contemporary wrought-iron railings.
On the north side of the church a smaller monument
with a pedimented panel between two urns commemorates John Smalley (d. 1763) and his wife
Elizabeth (d. 1772), daughter of Sir Richard Halford
of Wistow. Slabs to various members of the Whalley
family, including that of Stanhope Whalley (d.
1698), have been reset against the same side of the
church.
There are eight bells: (i) and (ii) undated; (iii)
1760, by Thomas Eayre of Kettering; (iv) 1627,
bearing the initials of William and Ralph Whalley;
(v) 1760; (vi) 1761, by Thomas Eayre; (vii) and (viii)
1764, by Joseph Eayre of St. Neots. (fn. 11) The bells,
together with two others subsequently removed to
reduce the strain on the steeple, were hung by
William Fortrey. He was an ardent campanologist
and was patron and director of Thomas Eayre. (fn. 12) The
clock is dated 1765 and inscribed to Joseph Eayre.
The parish registers date from 1749. (fn. 13) The communion plate was given by Ralph Whalley; it consists of a silver chalice with a cover paten, dated
1728, another silver paten of the same date, and a
silver dish, dated 1729.
The site of the church is well raised above that of
the adjacent manor-house to the east and of the
ground to the south and west. The churchyard wall
on the south-west side was built by Fortrey who is
said to have reset and incorporated into it the gateway from the old hall-house of Norton; (fn. 14) the wall
has a built-in water trough.
NONCONFORMITY.
None known.
SCHOOLS.
None known.
CHARITIES.
Thomas Beaumont, by will dated
1791, bequeathed in trust to the Vicar of King's
Norton £50, the interest to be used to purchase
bread and beef for the industrious poor of the
parish. (fn. 15) In 1953 the sum of 2s. 6d. each was paid
to 4 people. (fn. 16)
By will dated 1718 William Whalley devised to
5 trustees a rent-charge of £5, to provide for the
clothing of 4 poor children in King's Norton, Little
Stretton, Galby, and Houghton, and for the purchase of prayer books to be given to poor persons
living in the same places. A fee of 6s. 8d. was to
be paid to the Vicar of King's Norton for entering
the trustees' accounts in the parish books at Easter.
The sum of £5 was paid regularly by William
Whalley's representatives, but the gift was not
secured on land until 1791, when 2 closes at King's
Norton were purchased. (fn. 17) In 1953 the charity consisted of £200 in investments which yielded £3 a
year. This was spent in giving a bible, a prayer book,
and £1 pocket money to each of 2 children. (fn. 18)
LITTLE STRETTON
The township of Little Stretton, 704 a. in area, lies
immediately to the west of King's Norton, of which
it has always been a dependent chapelry. Little
Stretton lies on both sides of the River Sence which
flows south-westwards through the township, and
the ground rises from about 350 ft. near the river to
about 450 ft. on the eastern side of the valley. The
soil is clayey over a clay and gravel sub-soil. For
the greater part of its length the township boundary
follows field boundaries; for short distances it is
formed by the Sence and by roads.
Two roughly parallel roads cross the township
from north-west to south-east: the Gartree road,
and, further north, the Stoughton to Illston on the
Hill road. A minor road links these two on the east
side of the Sence and forms the village street. The
Gartree road crosses the Sence by a bridge on the
township boundary, the bridge itself lying in Great
Stretton. A road runs southwards from near the
bridge towards Great Glen on the road from
Leicester to Market Harborough. The village is a
small cluster of houses and farms on and near the
village street; there is one isolated farm, Dob Hall,
in the north of the township. A small disused gravel
pit is situated immediately to the south-east of the
village.
As far as the available statistics enable a comparison to be made, Little Stretton has always been
larger than King's Norton. Its tax assessment in
1334 was nearly four times as large as that of the
mother parish, (fn. 19) and there were 53 payers of the poll
tax in 1381. (fn. 20) There were 19 families in 1563, and
32 households in 1670. (fn. 21) In 1676 96 communicants
were returned, (fn. 22) and in the early 18th century there
were at least 15 families. (fn. 23) The population in 1801
was 97; it reached its maximum of 128 in 1821 and
subsequently varied between about 70 and 110; in
1951 it was 105. (fn. 24)
The Manor House, in the south-west corner of
the village, is a red-brick building of two and three
stories, square in plan. The earliest external work is
on the eastern side of the house where there is a projecting stack and a tall round-headed stair window,
all built c. 1720; the west wall of this portion now
forms the central spine wall of the southern half of
the house, but cellar lights at its base indicate that
it was formerly external. The northern half of the
building contains a central chimney stack which may
well have survived from a former 17th-century
house, possibly that occupied by Thomas Andrews
and assessed for 7 hearths in 1664. (fn. 25) The range,
which is of three stories, was presumably rebuilt in
1774, a date which, together with the initials D.M.,
is cut in brick at the north-west angle. It has pedimented gables to east and west and the eaves cornice,
carried across the base of the west pediment, is
interrupted by a round-headed garret window. The
central door on the north side may have served at
one time as the main entrance.
The present principal front faces west. This part
of the house appears to have been built soon after
the north range and the classical entrance door has
a decorative fan-light. Many of the internal fittings
date from the late 18th century and the Regency
period when numerous minor alterations took place.
An Adam-style marble fire-place in the present
drawing-room is a modern addition. The stone
staircase is an early-19th-century improvement which
involved an alteration at the first floor landing. All
three portions of the house have different floor levels.
A room in the north range has exposed ceiling
joists and a wide open hearth with a side oven,
forming part of the central stack.
North of the house and on the west side of the
quadrangular lay-out of the farm buildings is a long
brick barn with a hipped slate roof. The side walls
have large blank recessed ovals and two segmentalheaded doorways between them; these are blocked
and converted to windows. The range was probably
built c. 1800. A stable block on the south side of the
yard is of the same date.
The majority of the houses and farms in the
village date from the 18th century; they are twostoried and built of red brick with slate roofs. The
Elms, a farm-house on the east side of the village,
is a good example of early-18th-century building,
L-shaped in plan with a symmetrical frontage and
central entrance facing north. The front portion has
brick key-blocks to the windows; the rear wing,
formerly the kitchen, is slightly later in date and has
a moulded brick eaves cornice and stone window
key-blocks. This wing is presumably on the site of
an earlier house which remained until the present
front block was built. A projection in the angle of the
L contains the original staircase with turned balusters and moulded handrail. Several panelled rooms,
little altered from the 18th century, remain. An
altered brick barn in the yard to the east is of the
same date. A cottage known as Easoms Buildings,
opposite the smithy, may date originally from before
1800, and Top Farm Cottage is a modernized house
of the 18th century.
The Elms Cottage is a 19th-century farm-house of
polychrome brickwork with a low hipped slate roof,
brick angle pilasters, and windows with prominent
stone key-blocks. The house was probably built
c. 1830-40 by Sir George Robinson. Church Row,
a gabled range of four tenements with a communal
yard, was built by H. L. Powys-Keck in 1866,
presumably for his tenants. (fn. 26) Dob Hall is a brick
building, apparently of the 19th century. The former
smithy, with open shoeing bay, is of comparatively
recent date, possibly rebuilt c. 1920 by the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Ltd. Two pairs of
Council houses on the west side of the village street
near the church were erected after the Second World
War on the site of two old cottages.
MANOR.
In the Domesday Survey Stretton is listed
as belonging to the royal soke of Great Bowden, but
no distinction is made between Great and Little
Stretton. (fn. 27) It is difficult to distinguish, in later
references, between land in the two Strettons and
it seems likely that Little Stretton was not always
regarded as a separate manor. Some land in Little
Stretton also belonged to King's Norton manor. It
is probable, however, that the 16 librates of land
granted to Richard de Camville before Michaelmas
1156 (fn. 28) constituted LITTLE STRETTON. Before
Michaelmas 1191 this land had been acquired by
Robert de Harcourt in right of his wife, (fn. 29) who is said
to have been de Camville's daughter. (fn. 30)
The first reference to the Harcourts' lands as a
manor is in 1228, though it was simply styled 'the
manor of Stretton', with its soke. (fn. 31) Part of the soke
of Great Bowden had become known as the soke of
Stretton and was coupled with the manor on several
occasions. The Harcourt family remained as landowners until the early 15th century, Thomas Harcourt dying possessed of the manor of Stretton in
1420-1. (fn. 32) Parts of the Harcourts' holding were held
by under-tenants. (fn. 33) It seems likely that in the 14th
and early 15th centuries the Harcourts held Little
Stretton jointly with land in Great Stretton and that
it was not a distinct manor; in 1391, for example,
Thomas Harcourt's court at Stretton was held
'according to the customs of the court of Great and
Little Stretton', (fn. 34) and in 1330 and 1417 the land was
said to be held from the Ferrers family of Groby, (fn. 35)
who were the overlords of Great Stretton. (fn. 36)
The Harcourts were apparently succeeded as
tenants-in-chief by the Astley family, perhaps as
a result of the marriage of Thomas Astley about
1350 to Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Richard de
Harcourt. (fn. 37) In the early 16th century Richard Astley
was holding the courts of Stretton soke at Little
Stretton; estates in Foxton, Smeeton Westerby,
Cranoe, Carlton Curlieu, Galby, King's Norton,
Great Stretton, and Little Stretton all owed suit to
the court. (fn. 38) In 1500 land in Little Stretton was held
from William Astley by Thomas Kebell of Humberstone, (fn. 39) who at the same time held land in Great
Stretton. (fn. 40) In 1571, at the death of Henry Kebell,
his two daughters took the Stretton property into
other families, and much, if not all, of it was sold. (fn. 41)
In 1613 the so-called manor of Little Stretton was
sold by Kebell's grandson John Bowes to Edward
Andrews. (fn. 42) This was perhaps not the whole of the
Little Stretton property for in 1654 Richard and
Andrew Halford sold half of Little Stretton manor
to George Faunt; (fn. 43) it had perhaps been part of the
lands in Great and Little Stretton and Great Glen
bought by Richard Halford in 1621. (fn. 44)
Little Stretton, like Great Stretton, may have been
acquired later in the 17th century by the Hewetts
and from them have passed to Sir George Robinson
in 1766. (fn. 45) Certainly Robinson was one of the larger
landowners in Little Stretton at its inclosure in
1771, though the award does not mention a lord of
the manor. (fn. 46) In 1831, however, a later Sir George
Robinson was styled lord of the manor. (fn. 47) By 1870
the manor had been acquired by G. Heap (fn. 48) and
before 1880 by H. L. Powys-Keck; (fn. 49) the later family
apparently still possessed the manorial rights in
1928. (fn. 50) The land had been acquired by the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Ltd., in 1919 by its
purchase of the Powys-Keck estate. (fn. 51)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
The Domesday entry
does not distinguish between Great and Little
Stretton, (fn. 52) but by the late 12th century Little Stretton had certainly become a separate township.
Though separated for ecclesiastical purposes, the
two Strettons may, however, have continued to
share the same open fields. (fn. 53)
In 1279 Richard de Harcourt had in the township
18¾ virgates which were held in villeinage, (fn. 54) but the
early existence of free tenants too is indicated by
John Doseville's possession in 1335 of 10 marks rent
at Little Stretton, held of William de Harcourt in
free socage. (fn. 55) In 1381 the poll tax was paid by 17
free tenants, a land-holder, 2 cottagers, and 15
servants. (fn. 56) As tenants on ancient demesne of the
Crown, inhabitants of Little Stretton had special
privileges; an instance of the way in which they
exercised them is seen in the action brought by the
little writ of right in Thomas de Harcourt's court
in 1392. (fn. 57)
The village fields remained uninclosed until the
18th century, though part of the lands of Owston
Abbey in 1360 was held in severalty and perhaps
inclosed. (fn. 58) Several 16th-century testamentary inventories suggest that a three-course system of
cultivation was then employed: Robert Freer, for
example, who died in 1591, had 9 a. under peas, and
9 a. of wheat, rye, and barley, with presumably other
parcels lying fallow. (fn. 59) Glebe terriers of King's Norton, describing land in the fields of Little Stretton
in the 17th century, mention Nether, Bandaile, and
Mingled Fields. (fn. 60)
The open fields were inclosed in 1771. (fn. 61) There
were then about 626 a., (fn. 62) owned by 16 proprietors. (fn. 63)
The largest landowner, Sir Robert Kite, received
an allotment of 115 a. Only 2 people were allotted
fewer than 10 a., while 4 received between 10 a.
and 20 a. Much of the open-field land had been held
by several substantial freeholders, each with about
2 or 3 yardlands before the inclosure, who were
allotted 30 a. to 60 a. each. Twenty acres were
allotted to the Vicar of King's Norton in commutation of the small tithes, and about 113 a. were
awarded to the impropriator for the great tithes.
The land has been worked by a small number of
farmers and graziers in the 19th and 20th centuries:
4 in 1846 and 1861, 6 in 1863, and only one-in
addition to the farm manager of the C.W.S.-in
1932. (fn. 64) There have been few inhabitants in nonagricultural employment, but some frameworkknitting was carried on in the 18th century. (fn. 65) There
was an inn-the 'Red Lion'-in the 19th century. (fn. 66)
A windmill in Little Stretton is first mentioned in
1314 when Margery, relict of Walter de Bereford,
claimed a third part of it as dower. (fn. 67) Its connexion
with this family suggests that the mill was attached
to King's Norton manor. (fn. 68) The mill still existed in
1446. (fn. 69)
PARISH ADMINISTRATION.
In the late 18th
century there were separate overseers of the poor for
Little Stretton, and there was a workhouse. (fn. 70) In
1802-3 18 adults and 8 children received out-relief,
but there was no mention of the workhouse. (fn. 71)
CHURCH.
Since about 1220, when Little Stretton
chapel was said to be served 3 days a week from the
mother church of King's Norton, (fn. 72) and probably
from the beginning of the chapel's existence, the
advowson of the chapel has been in the hands of the
patron of King's Norton. A service was held in
the chapel each Sunday in 1607, (fn. 73) but by the end of
the 18th century the chapel was served only 4 times
a year. (fn. 74)
In 1344 John atte Hall of Little Stretton was
licensed to alienate 40s. rent there and in Cossington to Owston Abbey for the maintenance of a chantry in the chapel. (fn. 75)
The chapel of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST is
situated on the west side of the village. It is built of
ironstone with limestone dressings and consists of
an aisleless nave and chancel under one roof with
a west tower and south porch. It dates from the late
12th century to which period belong the west and
side walls of the nave, including the north and south
doorways. These both have round arches, simple
abaci, and plain jambs, all of limestone. The south
door has an outer order decorated with round-billet
ornament; the north door is blocked, the result of an
order made in 1832 and fulfilled by 1835. (fn. 76) There
are no Norman windows surviving and the whole of
the north wall of the church is now without windows
of any period. In the south wall there are five windows, the earliest of which, though restored, has
forking tracery of c. 1300, at which time the church
was enlarged by rebuilding the chancel so that its
side walls were aligned with those of the nave. The
remaining windows on this side are of two lights, two
with reticulated tracery under pointed arches and
two with cusped lights under square heads, all work
of the later 14th century. The east window, of three
lights with restored trefoil heads, was inserted late
in the 15th century; the coping at this end retains
stones in situ from an earlier more steeply-pitched
roof.
The west tower is small, unbuttressed, and rises
in three stages defined by limestone strings to a lowpitched pyramidal roof. It was added late in the 13th
century but work of this period is confined to the
lowest stage which was encased about a hundred
years later when the upper stages were rebuilt. The
tower arch and altered lancets in the east and west
walls are the remains of the earlier tower; the tower
arch has a two-centred rear arch which is rebated
as if to carry a door. The former lancet opening in
the west wall now contains a cross-shaped loophole.
Above this in the central stage is a quatrefoil opening. The belfry stage has tall Perpendicular two-light
transomed openings except on the north side where
there is a single-light opening with a mutilated
cinquefoiled head. These window openings are a
curious mixture of ironstone and limestone and the
tracery appears to be badly fitted. On the east face
of the tower is preserved the weathering of an earlier
nave roof.
The south porch has a brick front and segmental
entrance arch of the early 18th century; the white
wooden gate may date from 1795 when a gate was
ordered to be placed in the porch to keep out children
and cattle. (fn. 77) A tablet in the nave records the reopening of the church in 1899 after its restoration
through the generosity of Miss Louisa King, Mr.
and Mrs. Powys-Keck, and others. The architect
for the restoration was Henry L. Goddard of
Leicester. This work included the roof which had
last undergone a major alteration in 1796 when it
was covered in Swithland slates in place of lead and
a ceiling was inserted. (fn. 78) The east window and many
of the south side windows appear to have been partly
renewed at this time by Goddard. The large brick
buttresses against the north wall were probably built
shortly after the blocking of the north doorway in
1832-5. Extensive traces of slate hanging on the
external walls of the eastern half of the church may
represent an economical means of protecting the
masonry early in the 19th century.
Internally there are a few early fittings preserved
of which the oldest is the octagonal stone font of c.
1300 which has side panels decorated with two plain
blank pointed arches; the intermediate panels are
slightly more elaborate with cusped arches. A side
bench nearby has a bench-end with a poppy head.
Other plainer bench-ends, also re-used, of late
medieval appearance are preserved at the west end
of the nave. A small locker in the north wall of the
chancel has a frame and door of 17th-century date.
The communion rail has heavy turned balusters
and finials and dates from the early 17th century;
a similar rail with balusters now serves as the front
of the choir stalls on the south side of the chancel.
It may have originated from the screen that separated the chancel from the nave in 1776, when it
was reported, together with other fittings, to be
dilapidated. The hexagonal pulpit with fielded
panels, cornice, and decorative book-rest dates from
1776-7. (fn. 79)
There are no memorials earlier than the 18th
century. Mural tablets include those to John Perkins (d. 1760) and his wife Susanna (d. 1749), together with their son Bartholomew (d. 1762) and
his wife Mary (d. 1763). Near to the south door are
tablets to Charles Seamark (d. 1755) and his wife
Dorothy (d. 1776), and Jane (d. 1798), wife of the
Revd. Dr. John Walker.
There is one bell, made by Edward Arnold of St.
Neots in 1781. (fn. 80) The church plate consists of a silver
cup, bearing the date 1782 but purchased by subscription about 1875, and two pewter plates. No
early registers survive. (fn. 81)
NONCONFORMITY.
Stephen Bent's house was
used as a meeting-place for dissenters in 1716. (fn. 82)
Another house was licensed in 1818. (fn. 83)
The former Congregational chapel bears an inscription stating that it was built at the expense of
George Hudson in 1811. The Leicestershire and
Rutland Congregational Union was in 1929 authorized to sell the property and apply the proceeds to
support the chapel at Burton Overy. Little Stretton
chapel had then been disused for some time. (fn. 84) It is
a small red-brick building, slate-roofed and with
square-framed windows, in use in 1960 as a Young
Farmers' Club.
SCHOOLS.
In 1818 there were 2 dames' schools
and a Sunday school in Stretton, all un-endowed,
the latter supported by the dowager Countess of
Rosse. (fn. 85) An infants' school was started in 1824 and
in 1833 6 children were instructed there at their
parents' expense. (fn. 86) Described as an 'adventure'
school, it had an average attendance of 18 in 1871. (fn. 87)
Nothing else is known of it.
CHARITIES.
By the inclosure award of 1771 18 a.
were allotted to the overseers of the poor at Little
Stretton in lieu of ¾ yardland which they had held
in the open fields. (fn. 88) In 1786 the Poor's Land was let
for £18 and a workhouse was built on part of it.
The workhouse was used as a dwelling house by
1862 and the rent of land and house was then £42;
in 1881 the rent was £35. (fn. 89) In 1837 it was arranged
that part of the income should be used for educational purposes and part for poor relief and apprenticing. (fn. 90) This was apparently never carried out and the
income was added to the poor rates. In 1932 the rent
was said to have been paid to the Billesdon Rural
District Council for the relief of rates for many
years. In 1939 the rent was £30. (fn. 91)