OWSTON
The parish of Owston lies in the uplands of east
Leicestershire, twelve miles east of Leicester. It
includes the townships and former chapelries of
Newbold-formerly known as Newbold Saucey-
and North Marefield, both of them deserted villages. (fn. 1)
The area of the parish is 3,075 a.
Owston is in the heart of the uplands, and rivers
rising in the parish flow both to the east and the
west: to the east the River Gwash, which eventually
joins the Welland, to the west a tributary of the
Wreake. Within Owston a number of small streams
feed these rivers. The territory of Owston itself is
compact, including the uppermost parts of the
valleys of both rivers as well as the high ground
between them; the township of North Marefield
forms a long westward tongue along the south bank
of the tributary of the Wreake, while Newbold forms
a bulge on the north side of that river. Much of the
parish boundary follows streams and field boundaries, but it is formed by stretches of road and
trackway on the south-west and east, and by the
edge of Owston Woods in the south. The ground
rises from between 300 and 500 ft. near the rivers
to over 600 ft. in a large area in the south of the
parish. It is on this highest ridge that much of
Owston Woods lies. The soil is loam overlying clay
but the parish includes a bank of sand and gravel and
there were formerly pits for sand, gravel, and clay.
Owston brickyard, a mile north-east of the village,
was still used about 1900 but was disused by 1928. (fn. 2)
Owston is distant from any major road: the roads
from Leicester to Uppingham and Melton Mowbray
to Uppingham are four miles to the south-west and
north-east. The chief roads in the parish are that
from Somerby in the north to Loddington in the
south, and that from Knossington in the east to
Twyford in the west. There are numerous footpaths,
bridle-roads, and tracks in the parish, at least three
of them running through the sites of the former
villages of Newbold and North Marefield. The railway lines from Melton Mowbray to Leicester and
Market Harborough cross the western extremity
of the parish in North Marefield where a viaduct
carries them over the river.
The village of Owston lies along one street, with
a back lane, called Cox's Lane, on the north. The
old school stands on the north-east side of the street,
the church, former Vicarage, and the manor-house
on the south-west. Just to the south-west of the
village are a pond and earthworks which may represent the fishponds of Owston Abbey. (fn. 3) Mounds and
depressions in the fields to the west and north of the
church may also indicate the site of former buildings
connected with the abbey. Apart from the church,
no large fragments of the abbey survive, although
the old Vicarage contains two 15th-century door
arches which probably came from the conventual
buildings. In 1730 Samuel Buck engraved a view of
the abbey, showing the church and the very fine
gatehouse which then survived, standing to the
south-west of the church with a small house built
at its south-east corner; the gatehouse still stood in
1793, but was demolished shortly afterwards and
the site planted with fruit trees. (fn. 4) In 1794 the archdeacon ordered at his visitation that the boundaries
of the churchyard were to be ascertained and
fenced, (fn. 5) perhaps because the destruction of the gatehouse had caused the temporary loss of the boundaries.
The former Vicarage, now known as The Priory,
stands east of the church and is a much-altered twostoried house of ironstone and limestone, apparently
dating in the main from the mid-17th century. A
few mullioned windows survive and a dormer on the
south side carries a sundial and a weathered inscription. Earlier masonry is visible in the footings below
the east wall and in the service wing. The two 15thcentury moulded doorways, which are thought to
have belonged to the buildings of Owston Abbey,
have been reset in the north and south walls of the
house. Two large bay windows are 19th-century
additions. Part of the boundary wall of the abbey
precincts survives as a retaining wall at the west end
of the garden.
The manor-house faces the village street to the
south-east of the church. It is a two-storied ironstone
house with limestone dressings, dating from the
earlier 18th century and consisting of a central block
and two projecting rear wings. The windows, which
have prominent key-blocks, were altered c. 1800 to
accommodate sashes; at about the same time a threesided projecting bay was inserted between the wings.
The farm buildings, mostly of the late 18th century,
include a small brick dovecot.
Corn Close Farm, Whitehouse Farm, and Hill
Top Farm are at the south-west end of the village.
Corn Close Farm dates from the early 18th century
and has an altered ironstone barn of that period. The
farm-house walls, of brick and modern stucco, were
evidently raised one story in the late 18th century or
early nineteenth. Whitehouse Farm, which has a
lower story of ironstone, may be of 17th-century
origin but was largely rebuilt in the early 18th
century. Hill Top Farm is an 18th-century ironstone
building with a later brick wing.
Cox's Lane contains altered brick and ironstone
cottages of the early 18th century. The village hall,
opened in 1950, occupies the site of a demolished
row. Two pairs of cottages at the junction of the lane
and the village street were built by Frederick Palmer
and are dated 1862 and 1867. A pump nearby was
installed in 1907 in memory of Frederick and Mary
Palmer. The only modern houses in the village are
two of timber erected after the Second World War.
There are several scattered farm-houses in Owston, none of which appears to date from before the
late 18th century. They include Owston Grange,
Owston Lodge, and Furze Hill Farm.
There was a recorded population of 22 in Owston
and Newbold in 1086 (fn. 6) but little is known of the size
of the medieval village. There were at least 35 houses
in Owston in 1348 (fn. 7) and there were 31 households
in 1563. (fn. 8) In 1603 there were 152 communicants, in
1676, 131. There were 27 households in 1670. (fn. 9) In
the early 18th century 39 families were recorded. (fn. 10)
The population was 176 in 1801; it rose to a maximum of 216 in 1811 but thereafter gradually fell.
In 1951 there were 110 inhabitants. (fn. 11)
The former chapelry of Newbold was apparently
at one time a substantial hamlet: in 1334 it was
assessed at 19s. 6d. compared with £1 13s. 6d. for
Owston itself. (fn. 12) Separate figures for Newbold are
rarely given, but 9 households were assessed for the
hearth tax in 1670 compared with 38 in Owston,
and in 1841 there were 24 inhabitants. (fn. 13) In 1956
there was a large stone-built farm-house, one smaller
house, and a large 19th-century brick farm-house.
The hamlet of North Marefield has been almost
completely deserted. Only one house remained near
the site in the 20th century and the name is no longer
in use: by the late 18th century it had become 'Old
Marefield' (fn. 14) and by the 20th the name 'Marefield'
was applied, without distinction, to the neighbouring
hamlet which had formerly been South Marefield.
The site of North Marefield was clearly marked in
1940 by mounds and depressions in a field a little
to the west of the minor road from (South) Marefield to Burrough on the Hill. A moated site nearby,
mentioned by Nichols, may have been a fishpond. (fn. 15)
There is no evidence by which the size of the hamlet
might be judged.
Manor.
Before 1066 the manor of OWSTON was
held by Turchil, but by 1086 it had passed to the
Countess Judith, from whom it was held by an
under-tenant named Grimbald. (fn. 16) Like much of
Judith's property the manor descended by the early
12th century to her son-in-law David, King of
Scotland. (fn. 17) In 1161 the manor and the whole village
were granted by the under-tenant, Robert Grimbald,
a descendant of the Domesday tenant, to his newlyfounded abbey at Owston and the abbey remained
the owner of the manor until the Dissolution. (fn. 18) In
1537 the site of the abbey was leased to Roger Ratcliffe, a member of the royal household. (fn. 19) In 1538
the reversion of the site and the manor of Owston
were granted by the king to John Harrington, one of
his esquires, afterwards knighted. (fn. 20) It remained in
his family until 1614 when, on the death of John,
Lord Harrington, the property was inherited first
by his sister Lucy, Countess of Bedford (d. 1627),
and then by his sister Frances, Lady Chichester. (fn. 21)
Her daughter Anne took the manor of Owston into
the Bruce family upon her marriage with Thomas,
Lord Bruce, and it was inherited by their son Robert,
Earl of Ailesbury. Nichols seems to be mistaken in
supposing that there were two manors, for it is this
manor which was sold in 1696 to Matthew Johnson,
from whom it descended before 1775 to the Palmer
family of Withcote, who were still the lords of the
manor at the end of the 19th century. (fn. 22) The Owston
estate was sold in 1926 (fn. 23) and the manorial rights
lapsed.
LESSER ESTATES.
Not later than 1166, Ansketil
(de Saucy) granted half of Newbold Saucey to Robert
son of Osmund; Ansketil's overlord was Ives de
Harcourt and his family probably came from La
Saussaye (Eure), a fief of the Norman branch of the
Harcourts. (fn. 24) Robert son of Osmund later granted the
property to Owston Abbey. (fn. 25) In 1279 the 10 virgates
of which Newbold consisted were held by John de
Raveniston, from Richard Harcourt as tenant-inchief, by Owston Abbey, and by Nicholas Braken. (fn. 26)
In 1345 Hugh Newbold held 1/12 knight's fee in Newbold as part of the Harcourt fee. (fn. 27) Several grants of
land in Newbold were made to the abbey on different occasions. (fn. 28) In 1540 part at least of the abbey's
property there was granted to Thomas Horseman
of the royal household, (fn. 29) but the whole of Newbold
seems shortly afterwards to have passed to the heirs
of John Harrington, lord of Owston manor. In 1614
when John, Lord Harrington, died he held Newbold
in chief from the king (fn. 30) and it thenceforth descended
with the manor of Owston. (fn. 31)
In 1086 the 3 carucates of land in North Marefield
belonged to the king as part of his soke of Rothley. (fn. 32)
It was returned as part of the soke in 1129-30 (fn. 33) and
in about 1226 was probably leased by one Llewelyn. (fn. 34)
In 1231, with most of Rothley, it was granted to the
preceptory of Rothley. (fn. 35) In 1313 it passed, with most
of the Templars' property, to the Hospitallers of
Dalby and continued in the possession of Dalby
Preceptory until its dissolution in 1540. In 1545 the
lands in North Marefield which had belonged to the
Hospitallers were granted to John Broxholme and
John Bellowe. (fn. 36) North Marefield seems later to have
passed into the possession of the owners of Owston
manor (fn. 37) and subsequently to have been transferred
to the Earl of Winchilsea, who was the owner in
1830. (fn. 38)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1086 there were 7
carucates of land in Owston, which before the Conquest had supported 12 ploughs. On Grimbald's
demesne there were 2 ploughs in 1086 and 15
villeins and 3 bordars worked a further 6 ploughs.
A Frenchman had one plough and 3 bordars. There
were 30a. of meadow and a stretch of woodland
measuring 5 furlongs by one furlong. The value of
the whole estate had been raised from 50s. before
1066 to £3. (fn. 39)
The abbey of Owston acquired the whole village
in 1161 and it remained the principal demesne manor
of the house up to the Dissolution. In 1279 the
abbey's demesne amounted to about 300 a. of arable,
together with some meadow, and there were 200 a.
in villeinage. (fn. 40) Most of this land seems to have been
intensively cultivated by peasants who were for the
most part paid in money and who did not owe labour
services as well as rent. (fn. 41) In 1348 the sale of produce
brought in 27 per cent. of the total income which
the abbey received from all its estates. Shortly after
this date a survey drawn up after the Black Death
shows that of the 272 a. of arable at Owston, only
120 a. were in cultivation, valued at 2½d. an acre, and
the rest, which were uncultivated, were valued only
for agistment. (fn. 42)
The decay reflected in this survey seems to have
been checked by the end of the century, when the
estate was being farmed by famuli. There were 13
of these in 1363, 22 in 1386, and 23 in 1388-
shepherds, ploughmen, cowherds, carters, and
others, all receiving money wages and probably some
wages in kind. (fn. 43) In 1380 there was only one villein
in Owston and the rest of the occupants who held
land, 11 in all, paid rent in money. In addition, there
were 5 widows, 6 tradesmen and artisans, and 36
wage-workers. The latter included the famuli whose
names appear in the abbey's estate accounts, (fn. 44) as
well as other wage-workers whose work was not
purely agricultural and who lived in the village
rather than at the manor. In 1348 35 houses in the
village were let by the abbey: 10 were described as
messuages and 25 as cottages, the latter perhaps
occupied by the wage-workers. (fn. 45)
The medieval records of Owston Abbey yield little
early evidence of inclosure, except that the abbot had
a park 'from ancient times', mentioned in 1279 (fn. 46) and
again after the Black Death when it was valued only
as a summer pasture. (fn. 47) During the late 15th century,
or in the early 16th, the abbey is known to have inclosed 21.6 per cent., or 137 a., of its land. (fn. 48) The
inclosure was continued later in the 16th century.
In 1563 Sir James Harrington converted 20 a. of
arable to pasture and was cited before the inclosure
commission of 1565 for so doing, (fn. 49) and between 1595
and 1604 5 tenants inclosed more than 59 a. (fn. 50) Thus
nearly 220 a. are known to have been inclosed, nearly
half the extent of the arable land which the abbey
held in the 14th century and which had passed to
the ownership of the Harringtons. The rest of the
arable was probably inclosed without attracting
attention. The inclosure caused no depopulation for
there were still 31 households in 1563 and 38 in
1670. (fn. 51) Apart from the farmland there was apparently
still a considerable amount of woodland in the 16th
century. (fn. 52)
In the 18th century most of the land remained
the property of the lord of the manor. In 1775 Sir
Thomas Palmer had 24 tenants, and although the
number was reduced, partly by some sale of land, to
8 in 1814, there were 18 in 1826. (fn. 53) In 1932 there
were 6 farmers and 11 graziers. (fn. 54) The land was
mostly under pasture in the 19th and 20th centuries,
but there were about 300 a. of arable in 1846 and
about 360 a. in 1863. (fn. 55) Owston has always been a predominantly agricultural village, with a few people
in the usual village crafts and trades. There was also
an inn, known as the 'Dog and Gun' in 1846 and
'Palmer's Arms' in 1863. (fn. 56)
The founder of Owston Abbey is said to have
given half his mill at Owston to Lincoln Cathedral
as a recompense for any damage which the cathedral
might suffer as a result of the establishment of the
abbey. (fn. 57) Nothing further is known of it.
Newbold is mentioned neither in Domesday Book
nor in the Leicestershire Survey, but there was a
chapel there in the late 12th century: it may have
been a 12th-century settlement-a new hamlet as its
name suggests. Nothing certain is known of the
hamlet's medieval agriculture, though there may
have been open-field cultivation as is suggested by
Simon de Saucy's confirmation of the gift of selions,
apparently in Newbold, to Owston Abbey. (fn. 58) By the
end of the 18th century there were only 3 houses in
Newbold; (fn. 59) the land was farmed by 3 men in 1846,
2 in 1861, and one in 1932. (fn. 60)
Owston Abbey had a mill in Newbold in 1252. (fn. 61)
It was stated in a survey made after the Black Death
to be broken down and worth nothing. (fn. 62)
In 1086 North Marefield consisted of 3 carucates
of land and 8 a. of meadow. (fn. 63) Soon after they came
into possession of North Marefield in 1231, the
Templars had 16 holdings there totalling about 4
carucates of land. Their rental was then 56s. 10d.,
but they intended to increase it to 65s. 7d. (fn. 64) In
1275-6 the Templars were stated to have 48s. 9d.
rent in North Marefield. (fn. 65) In 1279 they held ½ carucate and 2½ bovates in demesne and 2 carucates and
5 5/6 bovates on lease. (fn. 66) North Marefield is not
separated from South Marefield in the poll tax
return of 1381 (fn. 67) and it is impossible to tell when the
depopulation of the village took place.
In 1502 the Abbot of Owston was paying 50s. a
year for 'all pastures and lands' in North Marefield, (fn. 68)
leased from Dalby Preceptory. An Owston rental of
the time of Henry VIII states that 'Marefield Close'
was being leased by the abbey for £26 13s. 4d. a
year, or 54.9 per cent. of the total of leased demesne. (fn. 69) In 1463 John Hortop the elder, who may
have been leasing North Marefield from the abbey,
sued 4 husbandmen for chasing 100 of his sheep
there, but the defendants could not be found. Some
if not all of the township had perhaps been converted
to pasture by this time. (fn. 70)
PARISH ADMINISTRATION.
Churchwardens'
accounts survive for 1796, 1803, 1804-9, and 1812-
1902, and overseers' accounts for 1800-31. There
was apparently only one churchwarden and one
overseer. (fn. 71) There was a workhouse in Owston by
1776, when £48 was spent on the relief of the poor. (fn. 72)
In 1802-3 £49 was spent on 4 persons in the workhouse, and 9 adults and 5 children were given outrelief at a cost of £108. (fn. 73) After 1808 the overseers'
expenditure always exceeded £200; in 1813 it
reached £469 and was usually over £300 during the
following 10 years. Annual agreements for the conduct of the workhouse by a master have survived
for 1803-9 and 1815. The inhabitants of Owston
and Newbold met to appoint the master who was to
provide food, board, and employment for the inmates; his salary was £70 in 1803, £60 in 1806, £80
in 1808, and £120 in 1809. (fn. 74) In 1836 Owston was
placed in Billesdon Union. (fn. 75)
CHURCH.
The church of Owston was in existence
by 1161 when it formed part of Robert Grimbald's
foundation endowment of Owston Abbey. (fn. 76) The
two subordinate chapels of Owston-Newbold
Saucey and North Marefield-may also have been
part of that endowment. The chapel at Newbold
was in existence by 1166, when it was confirmed to
Owston Abbey. (fn. 77) A 14th-century inquisition stated
that the erection of the chapel had been a temporary
measure during Stephen's reign when the inhabitants
of the chapelry were unable to get to the church at
Owston. In 1353 the abbot and convent of Owston
complained that the chapel was being kept open to
the prejudice of the rights of the mother church. A
settlement of this dispute was made in 1361: the
village was allowed to celebrate 4 Masses a week
during the lifetime of one John de Coventry as
a recompence for his many services to the abbey, but
the privilege of having a chapel in Newbold was not
to be claimed by his heirs. (fn. 78) The chapel of North
Marefield was also in existence by 1166. It is not,
however, mentioned in the matriculus of Bishop
Hugh of Welles, at least by name. In 1254, after
a dispute with the abbey, the conditions under which
services were to be held at North Marefield were set
out: on the major feast days the inhabitants of the
chapelry were to go to the mother church at Owston
for services and on other fixed days the canons of
Owston were to be responsible for holding services
in the chapel. (fn. 79) The chapel was confirmed to Owston
in 1353. (fn. 80) Nothing further is known of either chapel
and the inhabitants of the townships were later
served by the mother church. The church was
appropriated after its gift to the abbey and a vicarage
was ordained in 1220. (fn. 81) By the 19th century the
living was held together with that of neighbouring
Withcote but the incumbent remained resident at
Owston. (fn. 82) In 1940 the incumbent lived at Pickwell, (fn. 83)
and in 1957 at Knossington.
The patronage was held by the abbey until the
Dissolution when it passed to Roger Ratcliffe and
then to John Harrington; it subsequently descended
with the manor. In 1928 it was in the gift of the
Revd. W. F. Buttle and in 1932 in that of the Revd.
P. E. Warrington. (fn. 84) In 1954 the patronage was
exercised by the Martyrs' Memorial and Church of
England Trust. (fn. 85)
The rectory was valued at £7 6s. 8d. in 1217, £10
in 1254, £22 in 1291, (fn. 86) and £10 in 1535. (fn. 87) The vicar
received no share of the value of the benefice; when
the vicarage was ordained in 1220 it was provided
that he should receive a stipend of £1 a year and that
he should eat at the canons' table and have forage
for his horse. (fn. 88) In 1626 the vicar's stipend, then £20,
was paid by the impropriator, Lord Bruce. (fn. 89) In
1662 the Earl of Elgin, then lord of the manor, added
£34, the whole of the stipend being charged on
certain lands called Banbrowers. (fn. 90) In 1717 the benefice was called a donative, the stipend to be paid by
the lord of the manor. (fn. 91) The living was worth £40
net in 1719. (fn. 92) It was made a perpetual curacy and
augmented in 1770 by £200 from Queen Anne's
Bounty and £200 from the patron, Edward Palmer.
Its value in 1831 was £80, and in 1928, £65. (fn. 93)
All the tithes belonged to Owston Abbey from the
reign of Henry II until the Dissolution when they
were granted away with the abbey's land. (fn. 94) Throughout the 19th century Owston had 16 a. of glebe in
the parish of Wymondham, (fn. 95) 8 miles to the northeast; it had been purchased in 1774 and was let for
£25 in 1776 and £50 in 1816. (fn. 96)
The church of ST. ANDREW consists of nave
and chancel with no structural division between
them, north aisle, and north-west tower. The walls
are of ironstone with some limestone facings and
have been patched with a mixture of ironstone and
limestone squared rubble. Post-Reformation changes
as well as 18th- and 19th-century restorations have
so obscured the history of the fabric that it is hard
to determine the relationship between the former
abbey church and the present one. It has been suggested that the existing building represents only the
chancel and north chapel of the abbey church. (fn. 97)
On the other hand the sharp fall in ground level
at the west end of the present nave would seem to
preclude an extension in this direction. It is possible
that there was formerly a chancel extending to the
east of the present church; in 1556 the chancel was
said to be 'ruined' (fn. 98) and it may have been subsequently demolished. This suggestion is supported
by the fact that there is no medieval work in the
upper part of the existing east wall which was
apparently without a window until the 19th century. (fn. 99) The lower courses of the wall, which appear
to be original, may have formed a screen only. The
15th-century gatehouse to the abbey precincts,
demolished before the end of the 18th century,
adjoined the present church at its south-west
angle. (fn. 1)
The round-arched south doorway and a considerable part of the internal masonry of the south
wall appear to date from the late 12th century.
Towards the middle of the 13th century the north
aisle, lower than at present, was built, together with
the arcade of two wide arches separating it from the
nave. This arcade has circular piers, semi-circular
responds, 'water-holding' bases, and broach stops
to the two chamfered orders of the pointed arches.
The 13th-century roof line can be seen at the west
end of the aisle. A north doorway, placed near the
west end of the north wall and leading into a porch
formed by the base of the tower, is of mid-13thcentury date. It has a pointed arch of two orders and
a single shaft with a foliated capital to each of the
two external jambs. There is a tall lancet window in
the west wall of the aisle and the masonry of this
wall forms a straight joint with that of the nave. Also
in the 13th century the south wall of the nave was
heightened and rebuilt at its west end. The east
wall of the church, behind the present altar, appears
to have lower courses which are contemporary with
the north arcade. Near its south end is a defaced
piscina and near its north end a blocked doorway;
before the 19th century this doorway had a Tudor
arch externally. (fn. 2)
Alterations to the north aisle and the addition of
the tower appear to date from the 14th century. The
tower rises in two stages to an embattled parapet
behind which is a small octagonal spire. The diagonal buttresses are clearly later additions and the
parapet and spire may be of the 15th century or later.
The entrance arch to the tower, originally without
a door, is of three chamfered orders springing from
moulded capitals. The south wall of the tower is
carried by an arch and not by the aisle wall which it
abuts. The floor level of the clock chamber has been
altered and an access stair with a doorway from the
aisle has been blocked. The dates of the many
alterations to the aisle are difficult to determine. A
square-headed window appears to be of the later
14th century and it may have been at the same period
that the aisle was heightened and given a roof of
flatter pitch. A tomb recess in the north wall, surmounted by a crocketted and pinnacled arch, is also
apparently of the 14th century; a stone effigy recorded here in 1793 has disappeared. (fn. 3) The east end
of the aisle, now a vestry, has been rebuilt above its
lower rubble courses with masonry which includes
re-used 15th-century fragments. The east doorway,
of Tudor character, was inserted in the 19th century
and may have come from the east wall of the nave
(see above).
The church was heightened again in the late
15th or early 16th century. The nave roof of five
bays dates from c. 1500; it has arch-braced tie beams
on which stand king posts with raked struts to the
heavy side purlins. The two eastern bays are modern,
as is the roof above the north aisle. Also in about
1500 was built the large gatehouse block which
formerly adjoined the south-west corner of the nave.
Part of a limestone jamb, carved with traceried
panels, is incorporated in a buttress at this angle; if
in situ it may have belonged to the gatehouse.
Several windows in the church are of 15th-century
type, but in general the windows have been so much
altered and restored that their original date must
remain doubtful. The octagonal font has carved
panels and is probably 15th-century work.
The church seems to have been in good repair
when the archdeacon made his visitation in 1776, (fn. 4)
but for some reason the parishioners went to
'extraordinary expenses' in 1791-3 to repair and
almost rebuild the church. (fn. 5) Lead rainwater heads
and pipes have survived from the 18th-century
restoration. In 1832 the building was said to be in
a good state (fn. 6) but had deteriorated by 1842 when
there was a tree growing from the top of the tower,
which was also cracked at its south-west angle. (fn. 7) The
large east window and most of the east wall of
the church date from the late 19th century and the
Perpendicular west window was probably restored
c. 1864 when its memorial stained glass to Henry
and Elizabeth Palmer was inserted. Most of the
fittings date from 1860-1 when the church was
restored under the direction of Henry Goddard of
Leicester at a cost of £1,205. At this restoration the
floor was relaid, the north aisle was re-roofed, windows were altered, and the pulpit, pews, screens,
and a gallery were cleared away. Work on the tower
included repairs to the bells, alterations of floor
levels, and the completion of the spire. (fn. 8)
There are wall tablets in the aisle to the Revd.
Charles Dickinson (d. 1786), Edward Barnard of
Kibworth Harcourt (d. 1816), and Thomas Cole
(d. 1813). On the external face of the north wall are
tablets to the Revd. Everard Breton (d. 1755) and
the Revd. Joseph Cragg (d. 1827). Slabs in the aisle
are to members of the Green, Barnard, and Cole
families. Tablets in the nave include those to John
Heycock (d. 1823) and his wife and to Richard
Raworth (d. 1795). A portion of a slab with an indent
for a brass is reset in a small stone building immediately west of the church.
There are 3 bells: (i) 1754, by Thomas Hedderly;
(ii) 1699, by John Fawkes and Toby Norris; (iii)
1860, by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. (fn. 9)
In 1860-1 the bells were recast and re-hung by
John Taylor and Co. (fn. 10) There is no ancient plate.
The early parish registers cover the years 1753-73
for baptisms and burials and 1753-1810 for marriages. (fn. 11)
NONCONFORMITY.
In 1817 the house of Anne
Collett of Owston was licensed as a meeting-house
for dissenters. (fn. 12) Other houses were licensed in 1818
and 1825, (fn. 13) and there were said to be 10 Wesleyans
in the parish in 1829. (fn. 14) There has never been a
permanent chapel in Owston.
SCHOOLS.
At an unknown date in the 18th century Matthew Johnson bequeathed a yearly sum of
£3 for the payment of a schoolmaster to teach poor
children. (fn. 15) This was a voluntary payment which was
continued by successive lords of the manor until
the 1830's. (fn. 16) By 1838 it had been discontinued and
was not revived. (fn. 17) In 1833 two day schools were
attended by 10 boys and 10 girls, and a Sunday
school by 20 girls and 15 boys; both were supported
by subscription. (fn. 18) The National school was built by
Frederick Palmer of Withcote in 1856. (fn. 19) In 1906 the
school was closed and the children attended the
schools first of Somerby and from 1908 of Knossington. (fn. 20) In 1912 the county education committee
announced that it was prepared to re-open the
school if the parish was prepared to use it. (fn. 21) This
was done. The school was purchased by the diocesan
education committee in 1926 after the sale of the
Owston estate, (fn. 22) and in 1929 it was converted to
a junior school. (fn. 23) The attendance was 17 in 1933. (fn. 24)
It was decided in 1947 to amalgamate the school with
that at Knossington, (fn. 25) and by 1961 the building,
a small rectangular ironstone structure, was partly
converted into a garage.
CHARITIES.
None known.