Category: Local History

On Thursday 8 May 2025, the 80^th anniversary of Victory in Europe, Britain and beyond celebrated.

Our new exhibition at the Hallaton Museum is called ‘Ale Tales’. This tells the story about the many ale houses (pubs) that started and ended  theirlives in Hallaton. It’s become a fascinating story, tracing where and when they originated.  There are many photos and recollections never shown before.

Recently the Kibworth & District Chronicle was handed a number of archived documents including a rather battered issue of F P Woodford’s book ‘History of Kibworth and Personal Reminiscences’,

Wikipedia tells us that Papillon Hall, off Theddingworth Road near Lubenham, was built in about 1620 and demolished in 1950. It was located adjacent to what is now the Bramfield Park Homes site. A French Huguenot architect and military engineer, David Papillon, was the man who built it. It was an octagonal, two-storey, stone house surrounded by a moat.

In those halcyon days during the early part of the last century, when everything moved at much slower pace, village life seemed to remain pretty much unchanged for generations. Farmers worked the land and, in most cases, brought their families up to follow suit. One such place where this pattern appeared to continue is the beautiful village of Carlton Curlieu.

Some readers may not know that during World War II long before the formation of the Kibworth & District Chronicle there existed The Kibworth News and Forces’ Journal. No.1 was published in 1944. In 1945, issue No 2 was sent free to all those serving in His Majesty’s Forces. It is subtitled Vth Birthday and Victory Number.

I was fortunate enough to acquire a copy of this 171 year old railway timetable. It appeared in the Market Harborough Advertiser in both January and October 1854. It charts the journey from Stamford in Lincolnshire through Leicestershire to connecting lines for London and Liverpool. This was issued on behalf of the Rugby and Stamford Branch line.

On the weekend of 15/16 March volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group spent many hours digging exploratory pits in the ground around Kibworth mill. With the assistance of mill volunteers, they sifted the soil looking for items of historical interest. Although the finds were nearly all modern and comprised pottery, brick/tile and animal bone. They used a metal detector on the trenches and spoil. This produced many nails, modern coins and metal fittings (some clearly from parts of the windmill). 

Wikipedia tells us that Papillon Hall, off Theddingworth Road near Lubenham, was built in about 1620 and demolished in 1950. It was located adjacent to what is now the Bramfield Park Homes site and it was built by David Papillon, (1581-1659), a French Huguenot architect and military engineer. It was an octagonal, two-storey stone house surrounded by a moat.

Kibworth Mill will once again be opening for National Mills Weekend giving members of the public an opportunity to visit the oldest mill in Leicestershire on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May. Volunteers will show people around inside and outside the mill, giving visitors the chance to see the inner workings and marks left by the millers over the last 400 years.