Little Dalby
Description in 1871:
"DALBY (Little), or Dalby Parva, a parish in Melton-Mowbray district, Leicester; 3½ miles SSE of Melton-Mowbray r. station. Post town, Melton-Mowbray. Acres, 1, 848. Real property, £2, 861. Pop., 183. Houses, 35. The property is divided among a few. Dalby House is the seat of E. B. Hartopp, Esq. The parish is a meet for the Cottesmore hounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £263. Patron, E. B. Hartopp, Esq. The church is modern and very good; and has monuments of the Hartopps."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]
- The parish was in the Somerby sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1935.
- In 1935, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir 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 / 2299 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2543 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint James.
- The church is of Norman origin, built in the 11th century.
- The church was extensively repaired in 1843.
- The church was restored in 1851-52.
- The church seats 200.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1579.
- The church is in the rural deanery of Framland (third portion) and, by 1912, the rural deanery of Goscote (first portion).
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Somerby sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1935.
- In 1935, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
Little Dalby was a village and a parish 4.5 miles south-south-east of Melton Mowbray and 108 miles north of London. The parish covered 1,885 acres before it was amalgamated into the Burton and Dalby Civil Parish.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A606 trunk road south-east out of Melton Mobray. Turn off (to the right) onto Stygate Lane for Little Dalby about 5 miles down the road.
- Several streams in the parish feed into the River Eye.
- The parish has a chalybeate spring.
- It is reported that Mrs. ORTON made the first Stilton cheese here in 1730, but neighboring communities dispute this.
- Much of the parish land was used for grazing.
- Dalby Hall was first built in the reign of Elizabeth I. The centre of the Hall was rebuilt in 1838.
- Additional restoration work was done on the Hall in 1851.
- The national grid reference is SK 7714.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- Although officially "Little Dalby", indexes may carry the name as "Dalby Little" or the Latin form of "Dalby Parva".
- This place was an ancient parish in Leicestershire and was a Civil Parish until 1936.
- The parish was in the ancient Framland Hundred in the northern (or eastern) division of the county.
- In April, 1936, this parish was abolished and the area made part of the Burton and Dalby Civil Parish.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
184 |
| 1861 |
183 |
| 1871 |
210 |
| 1881 |
154 |
| 1891 |
184 |
| 1901 |
144 |
| 1911 |
151 |
| 1921 |
118 |
| 1931 |
118 |
- A Parochial School (later termed a "Public Elementary School") was built by 1881 to hold 30 students.
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[Last updated: 20-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
