Last Saturday D and I decided on a trip to Bottesford to visit the church and village and then on to Easton Walled Gardens to see the Snowdrops.
After two hours we finally reached Bottesford - it was not the best of journeys early on I somehow missed the M69 turn which cuts across country to the M1 North and I then ended up on the M1 South going towards London as from the M6 exit you can't go north! I eventually at the next exit came off the motorway and rejoined this time going in the right direction towards Leicester. The satnav which has been playing up for ages finally gave up the ghost and the back-up printed directions from Google Maps weren't brilliant and after leaving the M1 we got lost again. Luckily I had a back-up atlas in the car and managed to work out the route to Bottesford! Let us just say it seemed a long journey!
Bottesford is a lovely little village in the Vale of Belvoir - there is a heritage trail you can follow but, as I knew there would be a lot to see in the church, we only did part of it.
Bottesford originated as an Anglo-Saxon settlement close to the ford on the River Devon. It is a Domesday village closely associated with the Counts, Earls and Dukes of Rutland. From 870 - 930AD it was within the area ruled by the Danish Army - the Danelas. Later it became part of the new kingdom of Mercia ruled by King Athelstan. The village was a centre of pastoral farming - pig and cattle breeding, cheese making and market gardening. Industries have included brick and tile manufacturers for example, the "Bottesford Blue" pantile tiles.
The Red Lion (which appeared closed for business at the moment)
14th century remains of the Medieval cross together with stocks and whipping post.
Dr Fleming's Hospital almshouse which, although much altered, does contain some of the original brickwork.
The church of St Mary the Virgin (I will return to the church in the next post. It has some rather superb grotesques and gargoyles on the exterior, some wonderful stone carvings inside and the stunning monuments to the Earls of Rutland including the "Witchcraft Tomb".)
The Old Rectory which has a
memorial plaque to Rector Abel Ligonier who was a Huguenot and uncle of Field Marshall Ligonier who led the British Army in the Seven Year War. The rector in his will of 1710 left £100 for the establishment of a school built in 1730. Sadly, all that remains now is this plaque.
The River Devon with snowdrops in flower on the banks.
Providence Cottage is a timber-framed brick cottage which has the date 1723 picked out in its brickwork.
The Duke of Rutland Almshouses founded by Elizabeth, 4th Countess of Rutland, as a home for elderly village men. The residents called bedes men had to follow strict rules on conduct and had to wear a uniform and attend church services regularly. The almshouses have now been converted to retirement apartments.
18th century footbridge
A view of the church in the distance. The 64 metre tall church tower and spire is the highest in Leicestershire. During the Second World War it had a red warning light for the Lancaster bombers taking off from nearby RAF Bottesford. Bottesford was the last place to be bombed in the war on 20th March 1945. Fortunately there were no casualties.
The Bull In - probably the oldest building in the village. It was once run by Olga Healey sister of Stan Laurel and there are mementos of the visit of Laurel and Hardy in 1955. We did pop in the pub after visiting the church in the hope of having lunch there but sadly they weren't serving food that lunchtime.
*D = Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50 bridge camera.
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.
Reference - Information Board by the Church and Bottesford Local History Trail leaflet
11 comments:
So much history in one small village! Your post (as always) makes me want to visit :)
How unlike you to get lost though................
Pam - Thanks so much. It is amazing what you can find out about the history of villages - I did a bit of research beforehand :)
lol! We are always getting lost :)
We often used to pass through Bottesford when we drove on the A52 between Spalding and Nottingham (via Grantham). After a while they had a bypass so we used to then pass the village by, I've never stopped there for a walk around it looks so interesting. I have ancestors from the Vale of Belvoir so know other villages in the vale like Wymeswold, Hose and Long Clawson quite well. After seeing your photos and hearing about the church it sounds like a visit is needed. Although it was a nuisance getting lost for a while it looks well worth the effort to visit. We gave up on our satnav when once coming off the M1 beyond Sheffield it took us to a dead end and got itself confused let alone us:)
Please petition your local authorities to restore the stocks to their original purpose and then arrange with the United States to have Donald Trump put in them!
Rosie - Thanks so much. If you google the village and its history you should see a link to the History Trail round the village. If you can't find it let me know and I will try and post a link. A wonderful place to have ancestors as it is such a lovely area :)
The church is just superb - when I do a post (soon) will have to split it into two as I have too many photos! and there is so much of interest there! If you can visit it - it is about 20 minutes from Easton Walled Gardens so you could combine the two! Although I found it a bit much fitting so much in!
I tend to use google map directions printed off but the problem is that they sometimes refer to names of roads and not road numbers which always causes us confusion which is when I use satnav to get us out of trouble. But as you say they do have a way of sending you to a dead end or going a very long way round!! I still can't believe I missed the M69 exit as I know vaguely where it is although I have only used it a few times in the past!
David Gascoigne - thank you and lol!!!! :)
I just Googled Bottesford Blue Pantiles and now I have a whole new line of enquiry to investigate - thank you!
You chose a good day, weatherwise, to visit. Shame about no lunch at the Bull though.
I look forward to your post about the Gargoyles and Grotesques, those are what interest me most about churches.
Where was Timothy?
Another great village full of history, the tall slim spire of the church looks stunning in the village photos.
Had a read up on Dr Fleming, and the great work he did. The dated house and Almshouse is interesting.
Almshouse's are on my list to find in my local area, as some have interesting pasts.
Thanks for a great post, finding out the history of places can take some time to research.
Amanda xx
Toffeeapple - Thanks so much and you have just reminded me I need to google those Blue tiles myself!
Probably just as well we couldn't get a pub lunch as they can be time consuming and we ran out of time as it was!!
Just done the first post on the church and there are lot of corbels, grotesques and gargoyles. Thank goodness for the bridge camera so I can now zoom in on them!
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much and glad you enjoyed!
I agree almshouses can be very interesting and I will follow your lead and do some more research into Dr Fleming!
Yes blogging can be time consuming! Uploading the photos is the thing that takes the most time (took 2 hours to do the church ones!!) as I do them individually. The research bit I enjoy because it brings back memories of the day and it is always good to find out more even if it is about bits you have missed! :) When you do look into an area, church or village you realise how lucky we are to live in a country with so much history and so much of interest :)
Toffeeapple - Sorry in previous comment forgot to answer your question about Timothy. He was in my backpack and to be honest that busy trying to photo everything in church I forgot to get him out. He did get to see the Gardens later in the day though :)
The village looks delightful. I am sure it was a welcome site after your stressful journey to get there.
CherryPie - Thank you so much - I was like a child at the time even though driving as my son had the atlas and I kept saying how many miles now? are we nearly there?!!
Post a Comment