Category: Local History

The Hallaton Museum is getting a new permanent display for 2026. It's at Hallaton Castle, thanks to a grant from the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society’s Public Heritage Fund.

After a record dry summer, we had a record wet winter. So the reservoirs are full again and canal levels well up - sometimes too well up. However, that was the case this time last year, so we hope that the same scenario does not play out. It is good to see boats through the locks again and activity that has been sadly lacking since they closed due to water shortage last August. Some unseasonably warm weather also brought the visitors out now that there is something for them to see. Unfortunately the wet weather has not been kind to the towpaths and footpaths. The all-encompassing mud is a bit of a hazard. 

After a brief spell on the sidelines the Stonton Wyville church bell is reinvigorated and back in action.

On Thursday 12 February 2026, the planning committee of Harborough District Council unanimously refused the application (25/00793/OUT) to build an estate of 28 houses in the field just to the south of Kibworth Medical Centre.

On 3rd May 1926, Britain’s miners went on strike, and workers from other industries joined them in solidarity. This was the first general strike in Britain, with 1.5 million strikers by 4th May.

Following on from my recent article concerning Skeffington Hall and some of its residents. I was surprised to learn that in the Fox & Hounds public house that once stood on the side of the A47 in Skeffington, the licensee had two very interesting pictures that adorned one of the walls in the bar area. They record the extraordinary images of the racehorse who won the Grand National at Aintree. He won on two separate occasions during 1935 and 1936. It belonged to Major Noel Charles Bell Furlong of Skeffington Hall.

Tom Ingall will be talking about his involvement in the Great Central Railway

Our plea for Kibworth & District Chronicle deliverers for East Langton has been successful with three people stepping forward. Thank you to those who have volunteered.

I have in my possession an interesting newspaper article from the 1960s that shows a picture of Skeffington Hall, which is situated in the village of Skeffington, Leics., adjacent to the Church of St. Thomas A Beckett. According to my records the hall was originally constructed in 1450 and was the birthplace of Thomas Skeffington, Bishop of Bangor and Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland. It was later owned by a William Farrell whose son, Sir William Farrell-Skeffington 1^st Bt., adopted the Skeffington surname and later sold the hall to the Tailby family in 1815. William Ward Tailby (1825-1914) was a keen huntsman and formed the Fernie Hunt in 1856 and Sir Richard Sutton 2^nd Bt., who was Master of the Quorn Hunt also resided at Skeffington Hall at one time.

Join us in shaping the future of Foxton Canal Museum! Help us engage communities and keep canal history alive for future generations.

On Wednesday 26 November, the Kibworth Harcourt Post Mill volunteers assisted SPAB employee, Chi Wei Clifford-Frith to install lights on the Mill in preparation for the Christmas season. The lights were installed last year in the customary + formation and could be seen from as far away as Gumley. The Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) are the legal owners of the Mill.

Carole Craig has handed the Kibworth & District Chronicle another item of Kibworth memorabilia - a copy of the Kibworth Carnival programme for August 1978 - the year the Chronicle commenced publication.

Dr Miriam A Wohl

Analysis of the 2021 census data that is available on the city population website, reveals that some of the Kibworth and District Chronicle village populations have decreased since the 2011 census, whilst others have, of course, increased; sometimes substantially.

Othorpe House is situated on the outskirts of the village of Slawston and has been the home to many families over the years. I discovered that one resident in particular, by the name of Edward Crawshay, had an interesting past with links to South Wales and beyond. Edward was born in 1821 at his father’s Rofant Estate in the parish of Worth in Sussex. He was the tenth of twelve children born to Richard Crawshay (1786-1859) and Mary Homfray (1779-1863) of Ottershaw Park, Chertsey in Surrey.