Leicestershire county page

Contents

Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Wistow

Description in 1871:
"WISTOW, a parish, with two townships, in Billesdon district, Leicestershire; on the Union canal, near Glen r. station, and 7 SE of Leicester. Post town, Leicester. Acres, 2,100. Real property, £3,488. Pop., 247. Houses, 56. The manor, with W. Hall, belongs to Sir H. Halford, Bart. The Hall received Charles I., after his escape from the battle of Naseby; and contains his saddle and stirrups, and some interesting portraits. The living is a vicarage, with Newton-Harcourt chapelry, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £92. Patron, Sir H. Halford, Bart. The church is early English."
John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72"

Census

• The parish was in the Billesdon subdistrict of the Billesdon 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.
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church was dedicated to St. Winston.
  
  
• The church is in the park near the Hall.
  
  
• The church was built before 1575.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1575.
  
  
• The church was in the rural Gartree deanery (second portion).
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the Billesdon subdistrict of the Billesdon Registration District.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

Wistow is a village and an ancient parish sitting 7 miles southeast of Leicester and 9 miles north of Market Haborough. The parish covered just over 892 acres (in 1881), 905 acres in 1912 and much larger in 1936.

The village has always been a rather small affair. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A6 motorway southeast out of Leicester city past Newton Harcourt.
  
  
• On the web-page author's small scale map (large area) the village of Wistow is not noted.
  
  
• The Union Canal passes through the parish.
  
  

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Manors

• Wistow Hall was the seat of Sir Henry St. John HALFORD, baronet and loard of the manor, in 1881.
  
  
• In the Hall is a glass case containing the saddle and stirrups of King Charles I after his escape from the battle of Naseby.
  
  
• By 1912, Wistow Hall had passed to Thomas Francis FREMANTLE.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SP 6495.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish lies in the Gartree Wapentake (or Hundred) in the southern division of the county.
  
  
• In April, 1936, the parish was enlarged when Newton Harcourt parish was abolished and 1,132 acres added to this parish.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Billesdon Poorlaw Union.
  
  

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Population

Year	Inhabitants
1801	201
1811	225
1821	307
1831	298
1841	296
1851	261
1881	49
1901	61
1911	53
1971	263

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Schools

• No school is noted in the sources used for this web page.
  
  

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