Teacher sacked for having no qualifications This is the latest in a series of articles written by popular historian Arthur Tomlin more than 25 years ago. Mr Tomlin sadly died a couple of years ago. He was extremely well-known in the area as an artist and
BARLESTONE is a village in the mineral rich area of the north east of Market Bosworth and contains 1,028 acres of land which is generally fertile.
The earliest records of Barlestone’s existence are in the Domesday Book of 1086 compiled by William the Conqueror. Barlestone at the time was named Berulveston and was virtually held by two landowners Hugh de Grentesmaisnel and Robert de Buci and the population would have been around 60 people. Hugh de Grentesmaisnel also owned Market Bosworth and was one of the largest landowners in the country.
The first mention of a church was around 1225. This would have been a small stone building surrounded by about 20 small cottages and a large wood also existed in this area.
The first record of a windmill is in 1221 which was probably situated on a mound along the footpath to Nailstone in the field which was called Mill Hill.
In 1236 a law called the Statute of Mereton was passed by which the lord of the manor was allowed to enclose the common lands of the manor, provided he left sufficient for his tenants’ needs.
The farmhouses and cottages at this time were still built in stone of the kind that was used to build the church. Some houses were roofed with slate form the quarries of Swithland.
Sadly, all the thatched cottages have gone, the last being demolished in 1947. There are still remains of stone built cottages in the village.
In the population returns for 1563 there were 16 households in Barlestone. The enclosure of land continued and by 1780 the fields were as you see them today.
In 1850 a map was drawn up with every field numbered and named. The Bean Hills is probably one of the oldest field names and as the name implies beans were grown there.
Some of the glebe land was known as the Cunnery (which dates back to the earliest settlement and means rabbit warren) and Far Cunnery. These were in the tenancy of Mr Abraham Wright who fought as a Royalist in the civil war against Cromwell.
The field known as the Bull Piece was owned by the church. Apparently, the bull was let out for his service to anyone who required him at a nominal fee, which went to the church funds.
The roads of today were named quite differently in the past although one of the oldest called Washpit Lane was referred to as Windmill Lane, which led to the windmill that stood in the field directly opposite the junction of Bosworth Road and the A447.
Barton Road was called the Little Lane in 1638 but had been renamed Cole Pit Lane in 1674. The sheepwash was situated at the far end of Washpit Lane. This lane still remains. The Round House was the pound or pinfold where stray cattle were kept until they were claimed by their owners.
In 1666 Parliament introduced the Hearth Tax whereby a person owning property worth more than 20 shillings was liable to pay two shillings for each hearth he possessed. Paupers were exempt.
The responsibility for the collection of this tax lay in the hands of the village constable. Owing to widespread evasion and false returns, the tax was formerly abolished in 1689.
The Parish Church at Barlestone is dedicated to St Giles who was one of the most popular saints in England in Mediaeval times. He is the patron saint of cripples, beggars and blacksmiths.
Over 160 churches carry the name St Giles. Originally it was a curacy annexed to the rectory of Market Bosworth and was provided with a resident chaplain. The earliest mention of a priest was in a church visitation in 1229. By the mid-1800s the church had reached a very dilapidated condition and in 1855 it was almost completely rebuilt, with the exception of the chancel at the cost of £1,367.
This was raised by subscriptions principally due to the exertions of the Rev Henry Homer.
The present day church was designed by London’s Mr Benjamin Ferrey and is the only one designed by him in the country. The work was carried out by J. & G. Lilley of Measham and Mr J. Elliot of Ashby.
The material used was Markfield granite and the font was constructed of an exquisite piece of Ancaster stone. The roof is covered with Staffordshire tiles. The porch over the south door is of solid English oak on a base of masonry, surmounted by a cross.
The chancel is still the original 14th century building and the east window still remains in the geometrical style of the mid-1300s. The windows also date from this time. The tower and spire resemble a dovecote and the main structure has been retained as early English.
There are two bells in the tower. A cross appears on one of them which was the mark used by Austin Bracher who was a London founder in the 15th century. This was probably cast around 1520 and is one of the oldest bells in the country. The second bell is dated 1755 and w a s founded by Thomas Hedderley. The stained glass in the east window is dedicated to the wife of Tom Curtis of Osbaston Tollgate and was placed there in 1928.
The chancel dates back to the 14th century. The window in the south side of the chancel was placed there by the wife and family of William Sills in 1886 in his memory. The war memorial was erected in the church in 1920 to the seven men of the parish who had given their lives in the First World War.
On the north wall is a tablet in memory of Trooper Frederick John Pegg of the 7th Company of the Imperial Leicestershire Yeomanry who lost his life in the South African War on November 21 1900 at the age of 27 and was buried at Slangsfontein.
This sad new was reported in The Hinckley Times on December 1 1900. This was the first recorded of a Barlestone soldier being killed in action.
Under the carpets in the nave and chancel are some gravestones which date back to the 1750s and were removed from the graveyard.
The new church organ was dedicated on November 20 1907. It was built in Brixton by Lowe and Co of Brixton at a cost of £200. Miss Pegg was the organist and was paid £10 per annum and Arthur Chapman received £1 per annum for blowing the organ. In 1945 an electric blower was installed at a cost of £67.
Electric light was installed in the church and vicarage in 1929. The church gates which were of wrought iron were erected as a memorial to the Rev Henry Homer BA. H was one of the last curates of Barlestone, as the village became an ecclesiastical parish in its own right on March 10 1914.
The Rev William Bell was the first vicar of the parish. A religious census in 1676 revealed that there were 93 conformists and 14 non-conformists.
In 1745 in the reign of George II a general Baptist Chapel was built in Barton-in-the-Beans, but it was not until 1798 that a Baptists Chapel was built in Barlestone. Previous to this, services were held in residences in the village.
In 1833 the Primitive Methodists built a chapel in Barlestone. It is believed that Joseph Smith, one of the founders of Mormonism at Salt Lake City in America, also had associations with Barlestone, as a number of gravestones seem to bear this out.
Prior to 1843 there was not a school in Barlestone. In 1564 Nicholas Harding of Barlestone gave a grant of land to support a teacher to instruct the boys and small children of Bosworth. It was out of this school that the Dixie Grammar School evolved. A school was built in Barlestone in 1848 at a cost of £200.
Miss Godfrey was the schoolmistress until 1877 when she was dismissed because she did not hold a teaching certificate, although she had completed 30 years service at the school.
The family originated in Newbold Verdon and moved the business to Barlestone and have been funeral directors for two centuries. George Gilliver in his younger years was regarded as one of the finest cricketers in the county. He was a magistrate for 15 years and was on the County Council for nine.
Two other families have long standing connections with Bar- lestone. First were the members of the Powers families who made such an outstanding contribution to the history of Barwell. The second is the Hextall families who have contributed for centuries to the well being of Barlestone.
In the census of 1841 only two miners were mentioned and they would have worked at either Ibstock mine, which was sunk by a farmer named Thurlby in 1825, or at Bagworth Colliery which opened in 1826.
In 1872 the population was 602 with an increasing number working in the mines. It was a tradition with the mining community to own a good dog, which was capable of catching a rabbit and also for the sport of racing.
Knitting frames were first introduced to Barlestone around 1700.
Most of the frames in the village were engaged in the making of traditional wrought-hose or fully fashioned stockings which was an additional occupation which they used to combine with agriculture.
In 1804 Nathanial Corah of Bagworth opened a knitting frame business in Barlestone which is believed to have been situated in Main Street.
This business was moved in 1814 to St Nicholas Street in Leicester. Consequently Barlestone was virtually the cradle of one of the largest firms in Leicester.
As the footwear industry grew in Barwell and Earl Shilton and hosiery rapidly expanded in Hinckley, many were detracted from the mines and stocking frames into new industries.
In the past there were four public houses in the village. The Three Tuns which is probably the oldest, The Jolly Toper, The Old Red Lion and The Crown.