Staunton Harold

Description in 1871:
"STAUNTON-HARROLD, a township in Breedon-on-the-Hill parish, Leicester; 3½ miles NN E of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Acres, 182. Real property, £2,695. Pop., 352. Houses, 68. The manor, with S.-H. Hall, belongs to Earl Ferrers. There are a church, a school, a monastery, pottery-works, lime-kilns, and a colliery."
[John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]

Census

• The parish was in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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:
   

Church History

• The Monastery of Saint Bernard is in this parish in Charwood Forest.
   
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
   
• The church was built in 1653 and was set in attractive parkland.
   
• The church is one of the few churches built between the outbreak of the English Civil War and the restoration of the monarchy, representing an open act of defiance to Cromwell's Puritan regime by its creator, Sir Robert Shirley, a noted Royalist.
   
• The church is part of the National Trust of historic buildings.
   
• There is a photo of the church on FLICKR.
   
• David STOWELL has a photograph of Staunton Harold church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2009.
   

Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1653.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of West Akeley.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here built in 1820.
   

Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
   
• Reminder: This place did not become a Civil Parish until late 1866. Records before that would be under Breedon on the Hill.
   

Description and Travel.

Staunton Harold is a Civil Parish, a township and a village. It lies near the border with Derbyshire, 4 miles north-east of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 16 miles north-west of Leicester and 120 miles north of London. The parish covers just under 1,700 acres and includes the hamlet of Lount.

The village sits in a valley encompassed by low hills. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A50 west out of Leicester city to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Staunton Harold is just two miles beyond.
   

History

• Limestone, ironstone, coal and lead were mined in this parish.
   
• Pottery was made at Lount in the 1800s. Lount also had a large colliery.
   

Manors

• Staunton Harold Hall was rebuilt about 1780 in red brick with stone facings. It had a 10-acre lake in front of the mansion.
   
• Staunton Harold House was the residence of the Earl FERRERS.
   
• Staunton Harold Hall stands just north of Lount, off the A42.
   
• Colin SMITH has a photograph of Staunton Harold Hall on Geo-graph, taken in August 2003.
   

Maps

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

Military History

• There is a carved wooden plaque War Memorial for World War I inside Staunton Harold Church.
   

Military Records

The names listed on the War Memorial for World War I are:

Politics and Governance

• For centuries, this place was a chapelry and a township in Breedon on the Hill parish.
   
• Staunton Harold became a modern Civil Parish in December, 1866, during a drive to extend civil government to all people.
   
• The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the Northern division of the county.
   
• The citizens of this parish have elected to forgo a formal parish council and will discuss civic and political issues at periodic Parish Meetings.
   

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Staunton Harold became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union when the parish was formed in 1866.
   
• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch petty session hearings.
   

Population

Year	Inhabitants
1841	389
1861	352
1871	288
1881	237
1891	227
1901	218
1911	206
1921	197
1931	182
1951	150

Schools

• The parish built the Earl Ferrers' School to hold 40 children.