Belton

The Library at Grantham will prove useful in your research.

• The parish was in the Grantham sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul.
   
• The church's principal part was built during the reign of Henry VII. Additions and reconstruction have been performed over the centuries.
   
• The church tower was rebuilt in 1637.
   
• The church chancel was rebuilt in 1721.
   
• The church has 130 seatings.
   
• Monuments inside the church can be found for members of the BROWNLOW, HUME, TYCONNEL and CUST families.
   
• Here is a photo of the church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
   

• Anglican parish registers date from 1538.
   
• The Lincolnshire FHS has a Loan Library service which has the parish registers on microfiche for Baptisms from 1539 to 1812 and Marriages from 1539 to 1812.
   
• The I.G.I. Batch numbers are C026981 for baptisms 1770-1855 and C026982 for baptisms 1562-1769.
   
• The LFHS has published several indexes for the Loveden Deanery to make your search easier.
   
• Kelly's 1900 Directory of Lincolnshire reports that the church is in the North Grantham deanery. Use the deanery above to search indexes.
   
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.

• The parish was in the Grantham sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.

This village and parish lies about two and a half miles north of the centre of Grantham in the vale of the River WItham. Welby parish is just to the east, Londonthorpe parish to the south and Syston parish to the north. The parish covers only about 1,725 acres.

The village of Belton sits in the picturesque vale of the River Witham. A stream flows northward along the east edge of the village joining the Witham north of Barkston. If you are planning a visit:

• Take the A607 north from Grantham and turn east at Belton.
   
• Keith EVANS has a photograph of the Milestone on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2013.
   
• Tours of Belton House Manor and grounds are offered for £20, lunch included. Booking is essential. Tele: 01476 566116.
   
• One can stay at the beautiful Belton Woods Hotel & Country Club, Belton, Grantham, NG32 2LN, tele: 01476 593200.
   
• Visit our touring page for more sources.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Belton to another place.

• The first Earl BROWNLOW had many of the houses in Belton rebuilt and kept in good condition to reflect on his standing.
   
• There is short film, 3.75 min, on Belton's public gardens and nearby Belvior available at the Lincolnshire Film Archive. It is 16mm, colour, silent film, taken in 1970.
   
• David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of the Village Cross on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2015. The village cross, dated to 1838 is by Anthony SALVIN for John, the first Earl Brownlow, of Belton House.
   
• And check the Loveden Org website for local history.

• In 1871, the principal landowner was Earl BROWNLOW, the lord of the manor, who owned all but about 30 acres of the parish.
   
• In 1913, the principal landowner was still Earl BROWNLOW.

• An earlier manor house was torn down about 1685.
   
• Belton House is a large mansion, built of stone, home of Sir John BROWNLOW, designed by Sir Christopher WREN and completed in 1689. It is in the form of an "H". King William III was entertained here in October of 1695. In 1775, the house was improved by the architect James WYATT. It has since become a National Trust site and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. In the 1800's, much of the garden area was a wooded deer park.
   
• Andrew ABBOTT has a photograph of the approach to Belton House on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2015.
   
• There was a triumphal arch of some size called the Belmont (alternatively: "Bellmount Tower") built at the east end of the parish in 1750.

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK928391 (Lat/Lon: 52.941279, -0.620527), Belton which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• During World War I in November, 1915, the Alma Park estate was used as "Harrowby Camp" for the training of the Machine Gun Corps. Some 18,000 men trained there, many living in temporary buidings thrown up on the golf course. This facility has often been called "Grantham Camp". The War Office closed this facility in 1920.
   
• The RAF used an 18th century house next to Belton Park as an accomodation depot during World War II, designating it as "Alma Park". It opened in December, 1941.
   
• The Air Ministry quickly realized that Alma Park would be too small and Belton Park was requisitioned as well. The RAF formed the RAF Regiment here in 1942. This unit was formed after the RAF realized that the Army did not have enough resources to defend the airfields and made the decision to form a dedicated RAF defense force.
   
• The RAF closed both "Alma Park" and Belton park in 1946.

Michael PECK provides us with: "The war memorials at Belton (near Grantham) have now been recorded. There are three; one is a memorial proper while the second is a Roll of Honour and the third is to a named individual. There are no numbers, ranks or arms of service mentioned except for the individual:"

From the Belton War Memorial, all by Eric WALTERS (with additional notations):

In memory of our glorious dead 1914 - 1918

MAPPING should probably be NAPPING, KISINGSTON should probably be KOSSINGTON.

Key to Notes:

1. Also on the Branston memorial
2. Believed to be Lawrence Edlin Mears of 6/ Lincs
3. Not found on CWGC site under this name
4. Son of Walter and Sarah EMERTON of Belton

Their glory shall not be blotted out. Their name liveth for evermore.

Roll of Honour - Roll Call of men from Belton who served in the Great war 1914 - 1919

1. Asher Herbert
2. Baxter Thomas
3. Beacon Alfred
4. Bowns William
5. Catt Harold
6. Cheetham Charles
7. Cheetham Wilfred
8. Clarke Harvey
9. Clarke Percy
10. Craddock Francis
11. Craddock Theodore
12. Darby Walter
13. Davison Armine +
14. Dove Frank +
15. Emerton Walter +
16. Exton Ernest
17. Flowers Herbert
18. Flowers Rupert
19. Fowler Matt
20. Ghent Nevell
21. Greenbury John
22. Hickman Frederick +
23. Holland Joseph
24. Hollingworth Robert
25. Hollingworth Ernest
26. Hurd Albert
27. Hurd Arthur
28. Imber Alywyne
29. Imber Henry
30. Imber Alfred
31. Jacobs Herbert
32. Johnson Philip
33. Kissington Mark +
34. Maxey Harry
35. Mears Lawerence
36. Mee Charles
37. Moore Ernest
38. Napping William +
39. Pearson Arthur
40. Powell William
41. Porter Harold
42. Rhodes Arthur
43. Rhodes John
44. Saxelby Charles +
45. Saxelby Walter +
46. Silver Frederick
47. Thornley William
48. Wainwright Wilfred
49. Waltham Horace +

Individual

1. To the glory of God and in undying memory of Arthur John Purey-Cust Sub-Lieut Royal Navy and of his gallant comrades of HMS Strongbow killed in action 17 October 1917 in defence of a convoy in the North Sea fighting against overwhelming odds until their vessel sank with colours flying.

John EMERSON, who retains the copyright, provides these photographs of the war memorial at Belton:

• The origin of the name Belton is uncertain. It most likely comes from the Old English bel+tun or "farmstead in a glade or on dry ground". The village is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Beltone.

• White's 1871 Directory contains: BROWNLOW, DINGLEY, HATFIELD, LAWDER, LORT, LOWE, LUPTON, MOORE, RICHARDSON, WILLCOCK and WOODWARD.
   
• Kelly's 1913 Directory contains: BROWNLOW, BURNETT, CLARKE, CRADDOCK, EMERTON, GHENT, HHOLLINGWORTH, LYNN, PAWLETT, PEACOCK, WATSON and WOOLWARD.

• This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient Loveden Wapentake in the South Kesteven district in the parts of Kesteven.
   
• The parish is also in the "soke" of Grantham.
   
• For today's district governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.

• Care of the poor dates back to at least 1659 when Alice, wife of Sir John BROWNLOW, baronet, dedicated a bedehouse for six poor women. Each inmate was to receive £10 annually.
   
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of the Bede Houses on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2010.
   
• Jonathan THACKER also has a photograph of the Bede Houses on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2018.
   
• Charitable trusts were left by Henry HEWITT in 1769 (£100), Joseph SAVAGE in 1829 (£5) and Reverend Richard CUST in 1864 (£10).
   
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Grantham Poor Law Union.
   
• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Spittlegate (Grantham) petty session hearings.

Year	Inhabitants
1801	147
1841	176
1851	182
1861	142
1871	176
1881	183
1891	193
1911	181

• A Public Elementary School was built in 1826 to seat 60 children, but in 1913 the average attendance was only 12.
   
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.