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Sproxton

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Description in 1871:
"SPROXTON, a parish, with a village, in Melton-Mowbray district, Leicester; 4½ miles NE of Saxby r. station, and 8 NE by E of Melton-Mowbray. Post town, Melton-Mowbray. Acres, 2,360. Real property, £3,362. Pop., 455. Houses, 85. The manor belongs to the Duke of Rutland. The living is a vicarage, united with Saltby, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £282. Patron, the Duke of Rutland. The church is old. There is a Wesleyan chapel."
John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-1872
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Census

  • The parish was in the Waltham sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District.
     
  • In 1935, the parish was transferred to the new 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.
1841H.O. 107 / 588
1861R.G. 9 / 2304
1871R.G. 10 / 3297
1891R.G. 12 / 2546
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Bartolomew.
     
  • The church construction date is unreported. It appears to be early Norman, 13th century.
     
  • The church was restored in 1882-84.
     
  • In the churchyard is an ancient stone cross, once used as a foot-bridge over a small stream.
     
  • The church seats 220.
     
  • John SUTTON has a photograph of St Bartholomew's Church on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2009.
     
  • J, HANNAH-BRIGGS has a photograph of the church interior on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2012.
     
  • The parish also has a small hermit's cell with a stone inscription dated 1805.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Saxon Cross in the churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2016.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1635.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Framland (first portion).
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here before 1849.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Rest garden, Methodist Chapel site on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2016.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Waltham sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District.
     
  • In 1935, the parish was transfered to the new Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
     
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Description & Travel

Sproxton is a parish, a township and a village in the northeast of the county in the Wold Hills. The parish is about 121 miles north of London and 9 miles north-east of Melton Mobray. The parish covers about 1,500 acres. Lincolnshire forms the eastern border, Saltby parish lies to the north and Stonesby parish to the east.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, from the A607 trunk road, turn east at Waltham to arrive at Sproxton.
     
You can see pictures of Sproxton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • A good portion of the parish was pasture, but most of the rest was farmland.
     
  • J. THOMAS has a photograph of the Crown Inn on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2012.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK855244 (Lat/Lon: 52.810379, -0.732981), Sproxton which are provided by:

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Military History

There is an elegantly carved wooden memorial board on the wall of St Bartholomew's Church honoring the 59 people who served in World War I.

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Politics & Government

  • The parish was in the Framland Hundred (Wapentake) in the northern (or eastern) division of the county.
     
  • This parish was an "ancient parish" of Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • In April, 1936, the parish of Sproxton was enlarged by the abolition of Bescaby, Saltby and Stonesby Civil Parishes.
     
  • In April, 1965, boundary re-alignments gave 3 acres to Skillington Civil Parish in Lincolnshire and 1 acre each to Stoke Rochford and Wyville Civil Parishes, also in Lincolnshire.
     
  • You may contact the local Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to do family history lookups for you.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Melton Mowbray petty session hearings.
     
  • As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Melton Mowbray Poorlaw Union.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
1801260
1821372
1841394
1861455
1871408
1881335
1891336
1901306
1911282
1921316
1931287
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Schools

  • The Public Elementary School (National School) was built in 1871 for 100 students.
     
  • The school closed about 1980, but is now the Village Hall as photographed by Kate JEWELL on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2008.