Category: Local History

A replica of the Hallaton Helmet was officially unveiled at Hallaton Museum last Wednesday 19 June. This amazing, high quality replica of the original helmet was researched by Leicestershire Museums, and made by Rajesh Gogna, Silversmith. He produced two copies: one that is on display at Harborough Museum, the other at its home in Hallaton.

Edward Kennard (left) was Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire and a justice of the peace. He lived at ‘The Barn’ (below). This was a large property situated on the hill off Shrewsbury Avenue in Little Bowden, Market Harborough. He had travelled in America during the Civil War (1861 – 1865) and entered Richmond, Virginia with the Northern troops. He won the second prize in the 1,000 miles motor competition in 1900 and was an ardent motor cyclist. Edward Kennard’s paintings in watercolours and oils were regarded as treasures in leading art circles, especially those done on china. Of which he had a unique collection. He also won several prizes for photography and was a well- known sporting novelist.

Over 70 people enjoyed a rare opportunity to visit the oldest mill in Leicestershire when it opened in glorious sunshine on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May as part of National Mills Weekend. Volunteers explained the history of the mill before showing visitors around, demonstrating the inner workings and highlighting the various marks left by the millers over the last 400 years.

At an invitation-only reception, held on the evening of Wednesday 15 May in Market Harborough Theatre, Kibworth resident David Holmes presented a short talk about the latest Market Harborough History Society publication, which he has recently edited.

Recent Kibworth & District Chronicles have included news items and photos referring to the Kibworth Community Hub. This being the transition towards a new community hub on the Grammar School Hall site. It presents many welcome opportunities as listed by Kibworth Beauchamp Parish Council Chair Andrew Munro in the first Chronicle of this year:

Benchmarking is a global practice, but in the UK at least, these symbols were made by officials from the Ordnance Survey and were often carved onto public buildings or structures that were expected to stand the test of time and be around for many years to come, enabling future surveyors to use them as a reference point for elevation. You’ll most often find them on town halls, railway bridges, churches or stone gateposts. However, like many other things, benchmarking eventually became an outdated practice, superseded by GPS and other digital technologies.

On Tuesday 26 March volunteers from  the Hallaton Fieldwork Group (it’s this group who previously discovered the Hallaton Hoard (which currently has pride of place in Harborough Museum) visited with their specialist equipment.

Soon after Kibworth railway station opened in 1857, discussions started to consider establishing a gas company in the village. A company was formed with the Rev F. Islip as chairman. Kibworth Gas Light & Coke Company started to supply customers on Thursday 23 October 1862 at a site on New Road, next to the railway bridge. £1,240 of the initial capital invested of £2,000 was subscribed by parishioners.

Chronicle reader, George Keeping, has been sent photographs of St Helen’s church at Gumley showing some of the protruding faces (fourteenth century, it is believed) that decorate the lucarnes (little dormer windows) of the spire. George writes that these carving stick out on long ‘stalks’ are very unusual and may even be unique in Leicestershire and Rutland – they must be prone to erosion.

Gumley Hall, demolished in 1962, employed many people during its heyday. The Hall used to stand to the east of the church with a lake behind, which is still there but is private property. There was no electricity in the village until 1931, but the owners of Gumley Hall made good this deficiency by generating their own supplies. In the small factory-like building with a large chimney-stack south of the church, Captain Whitmore produced gas in the late-19th century, and Mr Murray Smith in the early 20th century converted the installation to produce electricity.