Kibworth Beauchamp
Description in 1877:
"Kibworth Beauchamp is a large and well-built village, pleasantly situated on an emminence, 6 miles N.N.W. of Market Harborough, and 9 miles S.E. by S. of Leicester on and near the turnpike road between those towns. Its township contains 1238 acres of land and 1015 inhabitants; but its parish which includes Kibworth Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby, comprises 3,220 acres of land, and in 1871 contained 1,975 persons. The two villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Harcourt adjoin each other, and that of Smeeton Westerby is about a mile to the south. The parish is in the Market Harborough Union and County Court District, and Gartree Hundred. Many of the inhabitants are framework-knitters, employed chiefly in weaving worsted stockings for the Leicester manufacturers. The Leicester and London Railway, which was opened in 1856, passes through the parish, and has a station at Kibworth Beauchamp. The Union Canal traverses the western side of the parish, and passes under a hill about 1 1/2 miles S.W. of the village by a tunnel more than half a mile in length."
[White's "History Gazetteer and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland," 3rd Edition (1877)]
- A cemetery of 4 and 3/4 acres was set aside in 1892 and was under the control of a burial board for the parish council.
- The parish was in the Market Harborough sub-district of the Market Harborough Registration District.
- The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2250 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2492 |
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1574.
- The church is in the rural deanery of Gartree (second portion).
- The Wesleyan Methodists and the Wesleyan Reformers each had chapels here prior to 1881.
- The Kibworth and District Chronicle has published articles on The History of Kibworth Harcourt Congregational Chapel and Kibworth Methodist Church on its 150th anniversary in 1996/7.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Market Harborough sub-district of the Market Harborough Registration District.
Kibworth Beauchamp is a parish and a town in Leicestershire. It is 9 miles southeast of Leicester city and 6 miles northwest of Market Harborough. There were two townships in the parish; Kibworth Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby. This second township became a separate parish in 1866. The parish covers about 1,168 acres. The Grand Union Canal passes along the southern edge of the old parish boundary.
The village sits astride the Grand Union Canal. There has been a great deal of new-home construction in the village in recent years. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, it is probably easiest to take the A6 trunk road southeast out of Leicester city for about 9 miles.
- Rail service to the parish ceased in 1968.
- Kibworth was once a market town.
- In 1270 Walter de Merton, the founder of Merton College, Oxford, bought a large part of the parish, and the college remains owner of much of that land today.
- In the 1800s and early 1900s most parish workers were frame-work knitters of worsted stockings.
- Most of the land in the parish was given over to pasturage.
- Kibworth Hall is a large red-brick manor house with excellent views around the county.
- The national grid reference is SP 6893.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The village has an award-winning newsletter that goes out to each household in the village 10 times a year. Copies of the Kibworth and District Chronicle may be available in local libraries. If you live in the UK, you can subscribe to the newsletter and it will be mailed to you.
- The parish is in the ancient Gartree Hundred in the southern division of the county.
- In April, 1935, there were two boundary adjustments with Market Harborough parish that enlarged the parish by about 9 acres overall.
- In 1777 Miss Ann TOZER left a bequest of £195. The interest was used as an annual gift to the poor.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Market Harborough Poorlaw Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
1,232 |
| 1821 |
1,372 |
| 1841 |
1,740 |
| 1871 |
1,015 |
| 1881 |
1,123 |
| 1891 |
1,003 |
| 1901 |
1,157 |
| 1911 |
1,361 |
- A Free Grammar School was rebuilt in 1725. It was run by the Anglican church. New buildings were built in 1887. Girls were admitted as students in 1907.
- A National School (Public Elementary School) was built here in 1842.
- A Council School for infants was built here in 1907.
Follow this link to find help, report problems or contribute information.
This parish page was originally developed by Tim Arguile.
[Last updated: 13-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
