BELGRAVE
The name Belgrave seems to have been a new one
under William I; (fn. 1) the first syllable is probably of
Norman origin and the name should therefore be
translated as 'fine wood'. (fn. 2) The older name of Merdegrave means 'marten grove'.
Belgrave lies a mile and a half north-east of the
centre of Leicester. The ancient parish of Belgrave
lay in East Goscote hundred and contained the
chapelries of Birstall and South Thurmaston as well
as the township of Belgrave itself. Birstall and South
Thurmaston became separate civil parishes, apparently in the 19th century, and are not dealt with here.
Belgrave civil parish itself covered 1,381 acres in
1881 (fn. 3) and became a local board of health district
under an Act of 1877. (fn. 4) This board was dissolved in
1892, when the greater part of Belgrave was transferred to Leicester. Belgrave ceased to be a civil
parish in 1896 and became part of Leicester civil
parish. The remaining part of the parish was transferred in 1892 to Beaumont Leys and became part of
Leicester in 1935. (fn. 5)
The village of Belgrave stands on a small area of
river gravel, below which lies red marl, which forms
the surface soil in the eastern part of the parish.
Along the banks of the Soar there are deposits of
alluvium. In 1931 the population of the two ecclesiastical parishes of St. Peter and St. Michael and All
Angels, which approximate to the area of the old
township, was 22,738. (fn. 6) The small part of the township which is still available for agricultural purposes
is mainly pasture and Belgrave is largely an urban
area of terrace houses, mostly built in the last century.
There are a few large factories. The British Railways
(Eastern Region) railway line from Leicester to
Nottingham runs through the westernmost part of
the parish, although Belgrave and Birstall Station
lies just outside the area under consideration. The
parish is intersected by the main roads from Leicester
to Melton and Loughborough.
The area around the parish church (St. Peter's)
and along the Thurcaston road retains the atmosphere of earlier days. Here stand the vicarage, a house
in the Georgian style built in 1825, (fn. 7) and the two fine
houses known as Belgrave House and Belgrave Hall.
Belgrave Hall was built for Edmund and Ann Craddock between 1709 and 1713; (fn. 8) the stable building,
which adjoins the house, may be more precisely
dated to 1710. (fn. 9) The house is interesting as a small
country house of the Queen Anne period, severely
plain in style. The only important addition which it
has suffered since its erection is the addition, probably between 1820 and 1840, of a large bay window to
the drawing-room. Much of the interior retains its
original panelling. About 1740 the house came into
the possession of William Vann, later High Sheriff
of Leicestershire. When the Vanns built Belgrave
House they retained the Hall and it was inhabited by
various members of the family until the death of the
last Mrs. Vann in 1844. (fn. 10) In 1845 John Ellis, Chairman of the Midland Counties Railway, bought the
Hall and it was inhabited by his family until the
death of his last daughter, Margaret Ellis, in 1923 (fn. 11) . In
1937 the house was opened as a museum of the 18th
century, having been acquired by Leicester Corporation from the last owner, Mr. T. A. Morley. (fn. 12)
Belgrave House, a Georgian brick building with
stone facings, was built by William Vann in 1776
and remained the property of the Vann family until
the 19th century. (fn. 13) After passing through various
hands it is now (1955) the property of the corporation
and is temporarily used as a day nursery.
In Thurcaston Street are the Talbot Inn, the
present building dating from the late 18th century,
and Cross Corners, an early 18th-century house of
great charm, now also the property of the corporation and used for the schools service department of
Leicester Museum. The old bridge over the Soar
probably dates from the 15th century but has been
much altered in modern times.
In the present building of the Belgrave Constitutional Club in the Loughborough Road are some
remains of the old manor-house of Belgrave, which
is said to have belonged to the Hastings family and
then to the Byerleys. The window of the Roman
Catholic chapel which was established in the manorhouse is still visible on the north side of the house. (fn. 14)
Manors.
In 1086 7 carucates of land in Belgrave
were held by Hugh de Grentemesnil and one other
by his wife Adeliz. (fn. 15) At some date before 1129 Belgrave, like many other Grentemesnil lands, was
acquired by either Robert de Beaumont or his son
Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester. Twelve carucates
of land formed the younger Roberts' Belgrave holding
in 1130. (fn. 16) When the earldom of Leicester was divided
in 1204, Belgrave was divided also, part falling to
Saer de Quency and part to Simon de Montfort. (fn. 17)
This division and the fact that the whole township
was not held by one lord in 1086 strongly implies the
existence of two manors in the 11th and 12th centuries, but definite proof of this cannot be given. The
descent of the lands which appear to have constituted
Simon de Montfort's fee, and which later became
Belgrave's and Davenport's manors, will be traced
first.
Simon de Montfort probably never obtained possession of his lands at Belgrave (fn. 18) since his English
possessions were seized by King John. (fn. 19) Presumably
Belgrave remained in the hands of the custodians of
Simon's lands until Henry III restored them to his
son, the younger and more famous Simon. After
1265 the overlordship of Belgrave was inherited by
the successive earls and dukes of Lancaster and it
became parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1399.
The history of the tenants in demesne of the Lancaster fee is obscure. On two occasions it was stated
that members of the Ferrers family held land at Belgrave from the Earl or Duke of Lancaster. (fn. 20) These
statements may be due to a confusion of the Lancaster
holding at Belgrave with the manor belonging to the
honour of Winchester. (fn. 21) Some of the land in question seems to have been held by a family bearing the
surname of Belgrave. A William de Belgrave was
among the vassals of the earldom of Leicester whose
lands were allotted to Simon de Montfort after 1204. (fn. 22)
References to lands held by this family throughout
the 14th and 15th centuries are numerous and the
family seem to have remained vassals of the Duchy
of Lancaster throughout the period. There is, however, no evidence that their holding in Belgrave
formed a manor in the Middle Ages.
By the 16th century the descent is clearer for a
short time. In 1512 John Belgrave died possessed of a
manor in Belgrave (fn. 23) and his family continued to hold
it until the beginning of the 17th century, (fn. 24) when
after having been mortgaged several times it was
sold, probably between 1635 and c. 1645, when
William Byerley held it. (fn. 25) After it came into his
possession it seems to have become merged in the
manor which had belonged to the Davenport family.
The manor seems to have been known as the 'manor
of Belgrave and Davenports'. (fn. 26) After its acquisition
by the Byerley family BELGRAVE'S MANOR, as it
was called in the 17th century, descended with Davenport's manor.
The manor afterwards known as DAVENPORT'S
MANOR was in existence by 1521, when it came into
the possession of William and Elizabeth Wigston. (fn. 27)
It seems likely that its possessions were enlarged by
the addition during the century of various monastic
holdings which were among the properties of Roger
Wigston, William's kinsman, when he died in 1609. (fn. 28)
The religious houses of Leicester Abbey, Drax
(Yorks.), Sulby (Northants.), Gracedieu, Kirby Bellars, and Studley (Warws.) had all held land in Belgrave and these properties were acquired by the
Wigstons. In 1589 the manor was granted in reversion to Elizabeth Wigston on her marriage with
William Davenport of Henbury (Ches.) (fn. 29) and remained with their descendants until 1641, when it
was settled upon William Byerley to pay the debts of
the last William Davenport. (fn. 30) It remained in the
possession of the Byerleys and their descendants,
the Beaumonts, until about 1830. (fn. 31) John Beaumont
then sold a considerable part of his property, some
being purchased by Henry Harrison. (fn. 32) In 1831 the
manors in Belgrave were owned by T. B. Oliver and
Henry Harrison (fn. 33) and it seems likely that although
Harrison must have bought considerable quantities
of Beaumont's lands, Oliver had acquired the lordship of his manor. (fn. 34) It descended from him to the
Tempest family (fn. 35) and from them to the Wades, who
moved away from Belgrave at the end of the last
century. (fn. 36)
It is not possible to give a very satisfactory account
of the tenants in demesne of the lands at Belgrave
which were allotted after 1204 to Saer de Quency,
Earl of Winchester. After Saer's death his lands at
Belgrave passed to his son Roger, who died seised of
them in 1264. (fn. 37) He had no male heirs and his lands
were divided among his daughters. The Winchester
fee at Belgrave went to Margaret de Ferrers, (fn. 38) although some of the revenues appear in the hands of
John Comyn, the son of another daughter. (fn. 39) Lands
at Belgrave continued for long to be held by the
Ferrers family of Groby (fn. 40) and by their heirs the
Greys. (fn. 41) Roger de Quency had granted a considerable
part of Belgrave to Garendon Abbey before his
death, surrendering his right to exact suit of court
and foreign services. (fn. 42) Another part of the fee was
held in 1264 by Ernald de Bosco, (fn. 43) from whom it
descended to his son John, who held it in 1279–80. (fn. 44)
Richard Burdet held it under John de Bosco and he
was probably the tenant in demesne as none of his
tenants had more than a few virgates. After the deaths
of John de Bosco (fn. 45) and his brother William (fn. 46) the
property descended to their niece, the wife of William la Zouche of Haringworth, (fn. 47) and was held by
the Zouches until after 1457. (fn. 48) By the 14th century,
however, the Ferrers lands at Belgrave had been
divided between a number of sub-tenants, (fn. 49) including several religious houses, and it seems that by
1468 the Zouche family's possessions in the township consisted only of the right to hold a view of
frankpledge. (fn. 50) In the later 15th century the descent
of this manor is lost.
In 1542 it is probably to be seen again in the manor
which was granted by the Earl of Rutland to Robert
Dalby and Robert Pyne (fn. 51) and which was almost certainly augmented by the lands of Garendon Abbey
which had been granted to the earl in the previous
year. (fn. 52) Dalby and Pyne held the manor together
until 1549, when Dalby died, and it was then held by
Pyne alone until 1606. (fn. 53) It seems to have been sold
before 1617 to Sir John Pultney, who died in that
year, seised of a manor at Belgrave held of the fee of
Winchester. (fn. 54) In about 1645 it was still known as
PULTNEY'S MANOR and the chief rent from it
was payable to William Byerley, the owner of the
other two manors. (fn. 55) It seems very likely that this
manor continued to have a separate existence until
the 19th century and that it was the one held by
Samuel Taylor and Henry Colborne in 1654, (fn. 56) by
their sons in 1662, (fn. 57) and by Francis Holbeach of
Leicester before his death about 1740. (fn. 58) In the lawsuit which followed the probate of his will, (fn. 59) one of
the contestants was a member of the Edwyn family,
who must have been successful, for in Nichols's day
Archdeacon Burnaby, who was descended from the
Edwyns, was the owner of part of this manor jointly
with a Mrs. Allanson. (fn. 60) In 1831 it had passed into
the possession of Henry Harrison, (fn. 61) who probably
acquired it when it was put up for sale in 1826. (fn. 62) It
remained the property of the Harrison family until
at least 1877. (fn. 63)
Economic History.
Although Belgrave is
now included in the city of Leicester, its early history
is rural and agricultural rather than urban and industrial. Nothing is known of Belgrave before the Conquest. Like so many other Anglo-Saxon villages in
east Leicestershire it was built on a small area of
river gravel. (fn. 64) In 1086 there were 3 ploughs with
three servi on the demesne of Hugh de Grentemesnil.
His tenants, free and unfree, had a further 4 ploughs.
The lands held by Hugh's wife were all apparently
in the hands of unfree tenants. Hugh and his wife
held in all 8 carucates at Belgrave and in addition he
had 24 acres of meadow which probably lay along
the river. (fn. 65) Ten houses in Leicester were attached to
the manor and were probably occupied by men whose
function it was to make purchases for Hugh's fee at
Belgrave. (fn. 66) The woodland is described in the Domesday survey as 5 furlongs in length and 3 in breadth,
and probably lay to the west of the village, where the
forest still extended as far as the village fields in the
13th century. (fn. 67) During the 12th and 13th centuries
the amount of arable land at Belgrave increased,
probably through the clearing of the forest, for in the
early 12th century there were 12 carucates of land (fn. 68)
and in 1279 rather more than sixteen. (fn. 69) The lands
adjoining the village fields which Leicester abbey
obtained from Simon de Montfort were apparently
woodland when acquired, (fn. 70) but in 1341 they are
described as an assart. (fn. 71)
Some encroachments were made upon Leicester
Abbey's territory, for at an unknown date a certain
Lawrence de Belgrave was forced to recognize that
he had appropriated some of the abbey's waste where
he had apparently inclosed several plots in severalty. (fn. 72)
In an attempt to end disputes between the abbey
and the village, the abbot and convent granted to the
villagers the right to pasture their animals in one of
their riverside meadows during the winter months,
receiving in return permission to pasture in one of
the village's meadows. (fn. 73) It is interesting to note that
this agreement with the abbey was made by the community of the village as a whole (tota communitas de
Belgrave). (fn. 74) The dispute with the abbey caused
serious disorders in 1357 when the men of Belgrave,
led by John Lawrence, who claimed certain rights
over the abbey lands, threw down the abbot's gallows,
which were in a corner of the field called the 'Stokking', (fn. 75) and obstructed the transit of provisions to the
abbey. They were fined for these outrages and John
was forced to abandon his claims. (fn. 76) It is not known
whether the agreement with the abbey mentioned
above occurred before or after this outbreak.
Much of the land in the parish changed hands
after the Dissolution. (fn. 77) It was not, however, until
more than a century later that a drastic change was
made in the agricultural life of the village by the
inclosure of the open fields. Before the inclosure of
1654 a three-year system of rotation seems to have
been practised. Thomas Brewerne, for example, had
at his death in 1586 8 acres sown with barley and 8
acres of pease, with no doubt a further 8 acres lying
fallow in a third field. (fn. 78) Robert Booth's property,
when he died in 1629, included 7 acres under corn, a
further 4 acres of barley and 3 acres of oats, with
presumably another 7 acres of fallow land. (fn. 79) In 1651
there seem to have been 6 arable fields in the township, Townside Field, Clayland Field, Moor Field,
Breach Field, Hadland Field, and Mill Hill Field. (fn. 80)
Thomas Brewerne, a member of a family who were
yeomen at Belgrave for centuries, may be taken as a
typical example of a fairly prosperous yeoman farmer.
At his death, besides the 24 acres of land already mentioned, he possessed 4 cows, 9 pigs, and 5 draught
animals. His house consisted of a hall, parlour,
chamber, and kitchen, with a stable and barn. The
total value of his personal estate was £194 19s.
The inclosure of Belgrave was made under articles
of 1654, confirmed in Chancery in 1662. (fn. 81) In 1654
there were 23 persons owning land in the open fields
and rights in the commons of Belgrave. (fn. 82) Seven of
these, who only owned cottages to which rights of
common were attached, received 5 acres each under
the inclosure agreement. The extent of the lands obtained by the other landowners is not stated in the
agreement but it seems clear that by 1657 many of the
smaller landowners had disposed of their property. In
John Coffin's map of 1657 the land is grouped under
six estates. (fn. 83) It is not stated whether those named as
holding the lands were owners or tenants, but some
at least were probably tenants, as William Byerley
owned about 1,200 acres of land in the parish before
it was inclosed, and is shown on the map as only holding 323 acres. (fn. 84) The township is shown divided into
fields, mostly between 40 and 80 acres in area, except
for a group of smaller closes round the village itself,
which probably represent old inclosure. The meadows still lay on either bank of the Soar.
Early in the 18th century Belgrave gradually began
to see changes which were to alter its position as a
purely agricultural village. The building of Belgrave
Hall in 1709–13 for Edmund Craddock (fn. 85) marked the
beginning of the village's life as a residential suburb
for the wealthier of the Leicester tradespeople. The
Byerleys, who had come to Belgrave 60 years before,
had also originally been inhabitants of the borough. (fn. 86)
In 1726 the road from Market Harborough to Loughborough which ran through the village was turnpiked. (fn. 87) The turnpike trust undertook the repair of
Belgrave Bridge in 1762, in consideration of £100
from the parish. (fn. 88) The bridge was altered in 1771
and in 1795. (fn. 89) In 1834 the turnpike at Belgrave was
straightened. A new bridge was built to the designs of
William Parsons, the Leicester architect and surveyor
to the turnpike trust, and the new road from Vann's
Corner in Belgrave to the foot of Birstall Hill was
opened in 1835. (fn. 90)
The construction of the Leicester Navigation in
1791 also affected Belgrave, where a canal was dug
to the south of the village and another to the north to
provide a passage for barges at two points where the
Soar was unsuitable for navigation. (fn. 91) Such improvements in the communications between Leicester and
Belgrave probably accelerated the development of
the village as a suburb of Leicester and the home of
several prosperous tradesmen from the borough. (fn. 92)
By 1800, too, industry and trade were becoming
more important than agriculture, with the development of the hosiery industry. In 1801 more than 148
persons out of the population of 601 were engaged in
trade and industry, while only 55 were employed
agriculturally. (fn. 93) Belgrave apparently concentrated on
the making of socks. (fn. 94) In 1844 there were 200 frames
at work in the village (fn. 95) and in 1831 it was said that
most of the population were framework-knitters. (fn. 96)
In 1851 out of a total of 1,398 there were 323 framework-knitters. (fn. 97) A map of the township drawn in
1845 shows only three stockingers' shops, (fn. 98) so that
the industry must have been mostly carried on in
the operatives' own homes.
In 1845 Belgrave, with a population of about
1,200, (fn. 99) was still a village distinct from the expanding
borough of Leicester. Houses were concentrated
around St. Peter's Church and along Bath Street, and
there were a few out along the Loughborough Road,
while the Melton Road still ran through fields where
it passed through Belgrave township. West of the
river there were few buildings except for a number
of scattered houses along Abbey Lane. (fn. 100) The buildingup of the village into a suburb took place between
about 1870 and 1900. (fn. 101) Streets of terrace houses were
built and the population reached 12,000 in 1900. (fn. 102)
The outlines of the old village vanished and Belgrave
became part of the urban mass of Leicester. The
village was lighted with gas in 1864 (fn. 103) and horse trams
were established in 1874. (fn. 104) By 1891 lines of houses
stretched along both sides of Loughborough Road
nearly linking Belgrave and Leicester (fn. 105) and the formal
recognition of their connexion followed in 1892 when
most of Belgrave was absorbed in the borough.
Mills.
At the time of the Domesday survey there
was only one mill in Belgrave, belonging to Hugh de
Grentemesnil and rendering 12s. yearly. (fn. 106) Not later
than 1162 the mill was granted by Hugh's successor,
Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester, to Leicester
Abbey. (fn. 107) Later references to the mill pool show that
the abbey's mill was a water-mill on the Soar. (fn. 108) 'The
new mill between Leicester and Belgrave' mentioned
in 1274 was probably the abbey mill. (fn. 109) There were
other mills in Belgrave during the Middle Ages. In
1333 Laurence de Belgrave obtained a mill there by
fine from Adam de la Wolde and Thomas Davy. (fn. 110)
Laurence's son John held the mill at his death in
1398 or 1399. (fn. 111) In the 16th century another mill in
Belgrave was held by Grace Dieu Priory. (fn. 112)
The subsequent fate of these mills is obscure.
Roger Wigston died possessed of a mill in 1609,
which was probably the one formerly belonging to
Leicester Abbey, and probably also the one which
descended with Davenport's manor to the Tempest
and Wade family. (fn. 113) Four mills are mentioned in the
17th century as belonging to this manor. (fn. 114) In 1657
only one was shown on the map of Belgrave, (fn. 115) and it
seems likely that from that time it remained the sole
water-mill in the village. (fn. 116) At the end of the 18th
century it was leased to a Henry Swain but in 1828
the corn miller was Robert Spence, and in 1835 John
Biggs. (fn. 117) By 1846 John Tempest, the mill-owner, had
taken over. (fn. 118) Before 1863 William Evans leased the
mill from the Tempests (fn. 119) and until about 1870
worked it as part of his corn-milling business. (fn. 120) It
was purchased by the corporation in 1872 from John
Tempest's executors, for use in connexion with
flood prevention works, (fn. 121) although it seems to have
continued to be leased to a miller. (fn. 122) It last appears in
the corporation's accounts in 1895 (fn. 123) and was probably demolished very shortly afterwards. This mill
stood on the river near the point at which it is now
crossed by a foot-bridge at the west end of Holden
Street. (fn. 124)
The Grace Dieu mill was granted in 1545 to
William Sheldon and John Draper with other pieces
of monastic property, (fn. 125) and may have been one of
the other water-mills which were attached to Davenport's manor in the 17th century but which do not
appear after that. (fn. 126) This manor also had a windmill
at the same date. (fn. 127) In 1558 George Belgrave had
eight windmills in Belgrave and elsewhere, (fn. 128) and in
1568 his son Ambrose acquired a horse-mill in the
village. (fn. 129) Nothing more is known of these.
Parish Administration.
Belgrave was
governed by the usual parish officers until the 19th
century, when the growth of the village necessitated
the establishment of a local board of health and later
a burial board. Belgrave certainly had a workhouse
before 1776, although the first known mention of
one is in that year. (fn. 130) The parish expended a considerable amount of money on poor relief in the late
18th and early 19th centuries. (fn. 131) Lack of records
makes it impossible to give details of parish administration in the 19th century. (fn. 132) The workhouse was
converted into private houses about 1880. (fn. 133)
In 1878, when the turnpike trust was wound up,
the local board received £53 12s. 2d. of its surplus
revenues and was thereafter charged with the care of
15/8 miles of the former turnpike road. (fn. 134) The last toll
gate, at the end of the tram terminus in the Loughborough road, was abolished in 1878. (fn. 135)
Belgrave Local Board petitioned unsuccessfully
against the bill to include the township in the borough
of Leicester in 1890, though the burial and school
boards and the ratepayers were all in favour of the
scheme. (fn. 136) The school board, the board of health, and
the burial board were dissolved by the Act. (fn. 137)
Birstall and South Thurmaston appear to have
been administered along with Belgrave until after
1861, but by 1881 they were separate civil parishes. (fn. 138)
Churches.
The church of Belgrave with its tithes
and eleven virgates was granted to the Norman abbey
of St. Evroul (Orne), by Hugh de Grentemesnil at
some date before 1081. (fn. 139) About 1220 it was stated
that the patron of the church was the Abbot of St.
Evroul, and that the two chapels of Birstall and
South Thurmaston, which Hugh had also given to
the abbey, were still attached to the church. (fn. 140) During
the 13th century the rights of patronage remained the
property of the abbey, but presentations were made
by the Prior of Ware (Herts.), a cell of the French
abbey. (fn. 141) A pension of 10 marks was being paid in
1220 by the Rector of Belgrave to the Abbot of St.
Evroul. (fn. 142) Owing to the seizure by the Crown of the
possessions of alien monasteries the patronage of
Belgrave came repeatedly into the king's hands under
Edward II and Edward III. (fn. 143) The king continued to
act as patron until in 1414 Henry V granted the
advowson to the new Carthusian priory of Sheen
(Surr.), (fn. 144) which retained possession until the Dissolution; in 1535 a pension of 5 marks was being
paid by the incumbent to the Prior of Sheen. (fn. 145) At
the Dissolution the advowson came into the king's
hands, and he presented when a vacancy occurred in
1541. (fn. 146) In 1547 the advowson of the rectory was
granted to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield,
and it was provided that the rectory should be appropriated to the bishop when it next fell vacant. The
bishop was to pay the Crown £9 14s. 3¾d. a year in
satisfaction of first fruits and tenths, and to appoint
a vicar, paying him a stipend of £13 6s. 8d. (fn. 147) The
rectory was duly appropriated, but in 1603 it was
stated that Belgrave was not endowed with a vicarage
but was served by a curate with a stipend of £120. (fn. 148)
The rectory was evidently leased in 1633 when Laud
made his metropolitical visitation, and the previously
satisfactory state of affairs had ended. An unknown
Lady Morrison held the rectory and provided only
£50 a year for the upkeep of the services and for the
payment of the various unlicensed preachers who
served Belgrave church and its two chapels. (fn. 149) In
1651, however, Belgrave was again being served by a
vicar. (fn. 150)
Belgrave was one of the wealthier livings in Leicestershire in the Middle Ages. In 1217 it was valued
at 16 marks, at 30 in 1254 and at 60 in 1291. (fn. 151) In 1535
it was valued at £43 16s. 3½d. (fn. 152) In 1651 the incumbent's stipend was increased. (fn. 153) Between 1790 and
1825 the living was augmented by £1,200, contributed from Parliament and Queen Anne's Bounty,
and by a gift of £100 and a yearly payment of £8
from the patron. In 1831 the stipend was valued at
£154, and it was increased to £300 by the gift of the
commuted tithes in 1847. (fn. 154)
In 1227 Stephen de Lucy and Robert and Gilbert
de Birstall were parties in a dispute whether certain
lands in Belgrave were free alms of the church of
Belgrave. (fn. 155) At the inclosure in 1654 44 acres of the
parish were allotted as glebe, although the agreement
was made when episcopacy had been abolished in
England, and the patron was not a party to the settlement. (fn. 156) In 1846 there were 50 acres of glebe, of which
only 20 remained in 1955. (fn. 157)
At the confirmation of the inclosure agreement in
1662 it was agreed that in commutation of tithes an
annual rent of £100 should be paid to the bishop or
his representatives. Each acre of inclosed ground was
to contribute 20d. a year, except for the Poor's Plot
which was only to pay 16d. an acre. (fn. 158) In 1845 a new
arrangement was made whereby the tithes were
again commuted for a rent charge of £456 7s. (fn. 159) The
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield continued to present to the church of Belgrave until the advowson
was transferred to the Bishop of Peterborough, probably in 1855 when the rectory was handed over to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. (fn. 160) They sold the
whole of the rectorial lands in 1860 to Sir Cornwallis
Ricketts, Bart., who was already leasing the rectory
from the Bishop of Lichfield in 1846. (fn. 161) The tithe
charges had been made over to the vicars of Belgrave
and Thurmaston in 1847 in augmentation of their
stipends. The rectorial lands were sold by Sir Cornwallis Ricketts to Isaac Harrison and Thomas Allen. (fn. 162)
After the establishment of the see of Leicester in
1926 the advowson was transferred to the bishop of
the new diocese. (fn. 163)
The chapelry of South Thurmaston was separated
from Belgrave in 1841, and made into a new ecclesiastical parish. (fn. 164) The chapelry of Birstall was separated
from Belgrave in 1928, when it became an independent district chapelry. (fn. 165)
In 1887 part of Belgrave parish was transferred to
the new parish of West Humberstone, and in the
following year the parish of St. Michael and All
Angels was formed out of the eastern part of Belgrave parish. (fn. 166) The new church had been erected in
1887 on a site given by Isaac Harrison of Newfoundpool. It replaced an iron church erected in
1878. (fn. 167) The architect of the new church was George
Vialls of Ealing. (fn. 168) Part of St. Michael's parish was
detached to form the new parish of St. Alban in
1906. (fn. 169) In 1933 the conventional district of St.
Gabriel was formed and was created a statutory
district in 1953; the church in Edgehill Road was
built in 1898. (fn. 170) The mission church of the Good
Shepherd is now also attached to St. Peter's. (fn. 171)
The church of ST. PETER (fn. 172) consists of nave and
chancel, north and south aisles, and porches, west
tower, and vestry. It is built of rubble, in some places
roughly coursed, of a mixture of local stone and waterworn boulders. The main part of the present church
dates from the 13th century, although some features
from the 12th-century church have been preserved,
including the south doorway and the two lower
stages of the tower. The nave and aisles and the present tower arch and lancet date from the 13th century.
The chancel was entirely rebuilt in the 14th century,
when the 13th-century piscina and sedilia were probably moved to their present position in the south
aisle to make way for the more elaborate 14th-century
ones at present in the chancel. The clerestory and
the upper stage of the tower date from the 16th
century.
In 1518, when Belgrave was visited by the Bishop
of Lincoln, it was found that the windows of 'St.
Mary's chapel', about which nothing else is known,
needed repair. (fn. 173) In 1556 the chancel was much
dilapidated, (fn. 174) but had evidently been repaired by
1636, when no serious structural defects were noted. (fn. 175)
Belgrave church seems to have been reasonably well
cared for throughout the rest of the 17th and for
most of the 18th century, (fn. 176) although in common with
many other Leicestershire churches it was criticized
by Archdeacon Burnaby in 1793 as needing considerable minor repairs. (fn. 177) In 1826 the south porch,
which hides the old 12th-century doorway, was built
by William Bradley in a style different from that of
the rest of the building. (fn. 178) In 1832 and 1837 the
chancel, which should have been maintained by the
lessee of the tithes, was in need of repair. At this
time the church had a lead roof throughout and the
tower had a low leaden spire. (fn. 179) New pews were fitted
in 1857 (fn. 180) and the church was extensively repaired in
1862. (fn. 181) The choir vestry was built in 1877, when the
organ and organ chamber were installed, (fn. 182) and enlarged in 1908 when the clergy vestry was built. (fn. 183)
The north porch was added in 1912 and the church
was again reseated in 1938. (fn. 184)
The tower is in three stages, the two lower ones
dating from the 12th, the upper from the 16th
century. Each stage is diminished by weathered
offsets, and the tower is finished with a battlemented
parapet, now much restored. On the west side is a
modern doorway, with a 13th-century lancet window
above. There is no interior staircase.
The nave is of four bays with a good early-16thcentury timber roof. The arcades are of pointed
arches, which are supported on pillars with moulded
capitals and bases except for the central pillar on the
south side which has a floriated capital. The tower
and chancel arches are in a similar style, but the
capital on the north side of the tower is carved with
three heads with ivy leaves issuing from their mouths,
and that on the south is decorated with vine stems
and leaves. The pulpit dates from 1882 and the lectern from 1863. The 13th-century font stands in the
west end of the nave. It has a circular bowl, supported
in six engaged columns separated by dog-tooth
ornament.
The south aisle contains a 13th-century trefoil
piscina and triple sedilia with graduated seats. Both
aisles have similar roofs to that in the nave. The rear
arches of the east and west windows in the south
aisle have round heads and are probably retained
from the 12th-century church, as is the west window
in the north aisle. The parish chest stands in the
south aisle. It has a small division at one end with a
separate lid slotted for alms. The south doorway is
from the 12th-century church. The inner order of
carving is a plain modern replacement but the outer
one is decorated with interlaced ribbed strapwork
and the middle one with interlaced ribbed semicircles. The same decoration appears on the capitals.
The chancel is lighted by an east window of five
cinquefoil lights. There are three windows on the
south side and a small doorway in the centre. The
vestry on the north side has been built using one of
the north windows and the doorway, leaving a window
on each side. In the south wall is a piscina with a
trefoiled ogee head, crocketed hood and floriated
finial. The triple sedilia which adjoin it have cinquefoil ogee heads to the seats and the decoration in
general resembles that of the piscina. The priest's
stall is of late-15th-century work, and evidently comes
from a row of stalls.
The plate consists of a chalice of c. 1680, a silver
paten presented c. 1850, a silver flagon given by the
parishioners in 1782, and a pewter plate, probably
obtained between 1761 and 1763. (fn. 185)
There are six bells, dated 1630, 1631, 1871, and
the remaining three 1888. (fn. 186) The registers date from
1653. (fn. 187)
Roman Catholicism.
Belgrave may be regarded as the cradle of the Roman Catholic revival
in Leicester. From at least the last quarter of the
17th century until the early years of the 18th, the
Byerley family at Belgrave Hall had a Franciscan
chaplain, and the Franciscans were probably succeeded by Jesuits. The Dominican mission to Leicester was revived at Belgrave in 1746 and moved
into the town in 1777. (fn. 188) There were said to be five
Roman Catholics at Belgrave in 1676, and 18 Catholic
families out of a total of 60 in 1709, but no figures
are available for the later 18th century and there
were apparently no Roman Catholics in 1829, although it is possible that they might have been
included in the figure then given for Leicester. (fn. 189) The
Roman Catholic chapel at Belgrave Hall was still in
existence about 1800 although unused. (fn. 190)
After the establishment of the Causeway Lane
mission in Leicester in 1777 (fn. 191) there was no permanent Roman Catholic chapel at Belgrave until
1920 when the chapel of Our Lady between Moira
Street and Canon Street was begun. The building
was completed in 1922, and was a chapel of ease to
St. Patrick's, Royal East Street. When St. Patrick's
was closed in 1940 the church centre was moved to
Our Lady's, which is now the parish church of Our
Lady and St. Patrick. The Roman Catholic school
in Harrison Road was opened in 1937 when the
Royal East Street School was closed. (fn. 192)
Protestant Nonconformity.
There has
always been a considerable body of dissenters in
Belgrave since at least 1676, when it was reported
that there were six 'schismatical recusants'. (fn. 193) In 1709
out of 60 families in the township, 7 were Anabaptist. (fn. 194) In 1807 William Agar's house was used as a
meeting-place for Protestant dissenters (fn. 195) and in 1829
it was estimated that there were 20 Methodists and
60 Primitive Methodists, with two chapels. (fn. 196) A
Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in Bath Street
in 1834 but about 1880 seems to have become only a
church room and lecture hall. (fn. 197) The small Primitive
Methodist chapel erected in Claremont Street in
1838 was rebuilt in 1880. (fn. 198) The Baptist chapel in
Loughborough Road was built in 1842. (fn. 199) To serve
the new residential district in the eastern part of the
parish a United Methodist chapel was built in Harrison Road in 1905. (fn. 200) Belgrave Hall, the chapel of the
Wesleyan Methodists in Belgrave Road, was built in
1901. (fn. 201) To the west, Beaumont Hall, in Beaumanor
Road, was built by the Primitive Methodists as a
mission hall about 1894. (fn. 202)
Schools.
In 1832 there were two Anglican Sunday schools at Belgrave. One, which had been opened
in 1787, was maintained by Mrs. Vann and was
attended by 30 boys and 30 girls. The other was
attended by 92 pupils. (fn. 203) The Wesleyan and Baptist
chapels also had Sunday schools in 1846. (fn. 204) The
National school was built at the bottom of Mill Hill
in 1836, (fn. 205) and was enlarged about 1848 by the addition of an infants' school which was largely supported
by the Ellis family of Belgrave Hall. The infants'
school existed until after 1871. (fn. 206) In 1861 this National
school was replaced by a new building in Loughborough Road. (fn. 207) In 1877 it was attended by about
350 pupils. It was still in existence in 1956. (fn. 208) The
first of the Belgrave board schools was that in Mellor
Street, built in 1879. (fn. 209) Belper Street Board School
was built in 1888. (fn. 210) The Belgrave board schools were
taken over by the Leicester School Board in 1891.
Charities.
Under the inclosure agreement of
1654, 1 acre for each yardland in the township
except 2 was set aside to form a pasture for cottagers
whose houses had no rights of common. The pasture
was known as the Poor's Land (fn. 211) and in 1787 amounted to 53 acres. (fn. 212) In 1837 any of the poor could use it
for 4s. a year. Those who did not exercise their rights
were paid 12s. a year. A road had been made over the
land and the sides of it were used as gardens by the
poor. (fn. 213) In 1889 11 acres of the remaining 45 were set
aside as a recreation ground; the rest is now used as
allotments. (fn. 214)
Before the inclosure there existed three cottages,
called the Town Houses. At the inclosure (fn. 215) 11 acres
were added to the cottages in compensation for the
loss of common rights attached to them. In 1837
they comprised 21 acres and the rent was set aside
for church purposes, with the rent from the Talbot
Inn and a cottage. The Church Lands, just over 2
acres allotted to Belgrave at the inclosures of St.
Margaret's, Leicester, and Humberstone, were also let
and the rent was used for church purposes. (fn. 216) The
land belonging to the three charities comprised 40
acres in 1947. It has since been reduced by sale to
20½ acres, which with the exception of the recreation
ground are let partly as grassland, partly as allotments. (fn. 217)
There are three smaller charities. (fn. 218) William Vann
bequeathed stock which would produce £5 yearly to
be spent on bread for the poor. James Vann by will
proved 1812 left stock producing 10 guineas a year
for coals for the poor. William Bradley by will dated
1830 left £500, of which only £250 could be paid, in
trust for the provision of bread, coals, and blankets.
No distribution had been made by 1837.