Bottesford, Leicestershire

This article is about the English village of Bottesford near Grantham. For the Bottesford near Scunthorpe, see Bottesford, Lincolnshire.
Bottesford

Bottesford Market Cross
Bottesford
 Bottesford shown within Leicestershire
Population 3,587 (2011)
OS grid referenceSK8038
DistrictMelton
Shire countyLeicestershire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town NOTTINGHAM
Postcode district NG13
Dialling code 01949
Police Leicestershire
Fire Leicestershire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentRutland and Melton
List of places
UK
England
Leicestershire

Coordinates: 52°56′15″N 0°48′07″W / 52.9375°N 0.8020°W / 52.9375; -0.8020

Bottesford is a village and civil parish. It lies in the Vale of Belvoir and forms part of the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire, England.

Location

Bottesford is about 20 miles (32 km) east of Nottingham and 16 miles (26 km) north of Melton Mowbray. The village is the largest in the Vale of Belvoir and is near to Belvoir Castle, home to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland. It had a population of 3587 at the time of the 2011 census.[1] It borders parishes in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, such as Redmile, Sedgebrook and Elton respectively.

The local amenities include a post office, railway station, library, church and convenience store, and also three restaurants and four pubs.

Name

Bottesford derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon "Ford belonging to the botl" (house) and appears in the 1086 Domesday book as Botesford.[2]) The ford was over the River Devon. Historically, Bottesford was closely associated with the Counts, Earls and Dukes of Rutland.

History

St Mary's church

The village was built around the river Devon (pronounced Dee-von) and was named because of the ford at the centre of the village. St Mary the Virgin's Church, Bottesford, sometimes known as the "Lady of the Vale", is a large medieval church at the centre of the village. As with many churches this is a building with a mixture of architecture added over the centuries. The lower part of the chancel dates from the 12th century with the remainder added during the next three hundred years. The nave roof was finally completed in 1740. The octagonal crocketed spire is considered to be the tallest in the County at 210 feet and there are two gargoyles on the south transept. A headstone to Thomas Parker and a table tomb are both grade II listed within the grounds along with the gate piers and gates to the churchyard to the north. The Church is also the burial place of several earls of Rutland, one of the Rutland tombs is famous for its inscription, which attributes a death to witchcraft by the Witches of Belvoir. Most of the church is 15th century, but the chancel was rebuilt in the 17th century to accommodate the Rutland monuments. These completely fill the chancel and offer a view of changing aristocratic taste in the 16th and 17th centuries.[3] After the Manners family were elevated to the dukedom of Rutland in 1703, they built a mausoleum in the grounds of Belvoir Castle, the family home.[4] All the dukes have been buried there.[5]

There is a local website that covers many sides of Bottesford's local history,[6] including mounting evidence of occupation in Roman times and earlier.[7] Bottesford was the venue of one of the country's early friendly societies, thought to have been founded in the 1750s. It provided members with sickness and funeral benefits for over 200 years.[8] Eleven contributors from the history group produced in 2009 a book on the local history since 1850.[9]

During World War II, from December 1941, there was an RAF Bomber Command airfield located to the north near Long Bennington called RAF Bottesford. Initially it hosted No. 3 Group RAF, then after being used by USAAF's IX Troop Carrier Command for D-Day, was used by No. 5 Group from late 1944. It is no longer used as an airfield, but the runways can be seen.

Entertainers Laurel and Hardy stayed for Christmas 1952 at the Bull Inn, where the landlady was Stan Laurel's sister Olga. They were appearing at the Empire Theatre in Nottingham. There is a plaque to this effect on the building.[10]

There were two brickyards at Beckinthorpe in the 19th century, one of them also producing the unique Bottesford Blue pantiles to be seen on some local buildings.[11] Local employment declined in the 20th century. The four pubs, six restaurants, at least 16 retailers, and 20 odd small producers and service providers today are one-person or family concerns, whereas the building firm of William Roberts Ltd, founded by Joseph William Roberts (1898–2010) in Sutton-cum-Granby and moved to Bottesford in 1937, employed over 500 people at one time.[12]

Character and appearance

The village is somewhat unusual in Leicestershire. Its buildings reflect the traditions of neighbouring Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, as well as local influences, as local materials, initially locally quarried ironstone, but latterly local bricks and distinctive roofing tiles.

There are several open areas within the village, most notably, an area to the north east of the churchyard, the churchyard itself and an area of trees to the south of Devon Lane. Trees play a significant part in the street scene in most of Bottesford.

The River Devon flows through the village, almost circling the church. Along its banks in the centre of the village, the soil is a pebbly sand known locally as running sand. Views within the village tend to be intimate and enclosed, though the wider Grantham Road provides a slightly extended view out of the village towards Grantham.

Bottesford has many listed buildings including the grade I listed 13th-century Church of St Mary the Virgin. There are two Scheduled Monuments within the village – Fleming's Bridge and the stone cross in the Market Place. The stocks and whipping post are grade II listed. One of the grade II listed buildings, Providence Cottage in Rectory Lane, is dated 1723 in burnt bricks on the eastern elevation and has the initials REH set into the elevation. The roof is now pantiled, but the slope suggests that it was thatched in times gone by. The Duke of Rutland's Almshouse, also grade II listed, was begun in 1590 and was a home for elderly local men called Bedesmen, having once been a hospital. The building has two M-shaped roofs of differing pitches, both with concrete tiles dating from 1985. The Rectory, grade II listed, is an ironstone and brick building dated 1708, enlarged in the 19th century and altered in 1988. Located in Rectory Lane behind wrought iron gates and amid large, landscaped gardens it has a slate roof. The police station, in Queen Street, is likewise grade II listed and is dated 1846. It is in red brick with a slate roof and three bays. The central bay projects under a pediment and the building is an early example of a purpose-built police station. Market Street is the location of the grade II listed Dr. Fleming's house, which was once a series of women's almshouses built in ironstone and mainly rebuilt in brick in the late 18th century. A stone plaque over a door reads "Dr. Fleming's Hospital 1620". There are several grade II listed properties in High Street, including the Thatched Restaurant, set back from the road in spacious grounds and the only thatched building in the village.

There are also many other listed buildings within the Conservation Area.

Governance

Bottesford is in the Melton borough of Leicestershire and in the Rutland and Melton constituency. The current Member of Parliament is the Conservative Alan Duncan.

The civil parish includes the villages of Bottesford, Easthorpe (which is now effectively a suburb of Bottesford), Muston and Normanton. The parish council has nine members.

Transport

The village is served by Bottesford railway station on the Nottingham, Grantham and Skegness line. There are also No. 24 and 26 buses, which run to Melton Mowbray at least every two hours, and other services to Grantham and Bingham.

The town was bypassed by the A52 road in February 1989 at a then cost of £3 million.

Landmarks

Village sign in Bottesford

The Victory Commemoration (or VC) Hall is the local name for Bottesford Village Hall. The name came about because some of the funds used to purchase the original hall came from money raised by the village during WW2 to send parcels to those serving in the armed forces. After the war there was money left in that fund, and a decision had to be made whether it should be divided between those who had been on active service or donated to the Village Hall fund.

A new village hall was built in 2003, mainly funded by a grant from 'Awards for All' (Lottery) and contributions from the local people.[13] To mark the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002, several large developments occurred in Bottesford, including the creation of a memorial green.

One of the 2010 Low Carbon Awards given by the Royal Institute of British Architects went a house in Bottesford designed by architects Allan Mulcahy.[14]

Clubs and groups

The village has several clubs, including two badminton clubs, a bowling club, a cricket and social club, four football clubs, several sections of the Scout and Guides movement as well as many other clubs and events such as a youth club catering for 11 to 19-year-olds and a skate park. The village has several charity groups primarily raising funds to provide for new facilities locally. One group raising funds in Bottesford in particular is the Vale of Belvoir Lions.

Local community information has appeared since 2002 in the Village Voice newsletter, which is delivered free to every house in the parish.[15]

Education

Bottesford has a playgroup as well as a primary school (5–10), Bottesford Primary School, and a high school (11–16), Belvoir High School. In 2008 Belvoir High School had its first ever group of year 10s, having expanded from being a middle school that year. This initially controversial change was being hailed as a success after the schools inspectorate Ofsted rated Belvoir as "outstanding" in its 2010 inspection report.[16]

There is a public library in the Old School, Grantham Road.[17]

Places of worship

There are Church of England churches in Bottesford (St Mary's) and Muston (St John the Baptist). The poet George Crabbe (1754–1832) moved to Muston Rectory from Stathern in 1789, remaining as incumbent of Muston and of West Allington, Lincolnshire until 1792. His Natural History of the Vale of Belvoir was a pioneering study of the district.[18]

Bottesford Methodist Church is in Devon Lane. The Baptist Church is in Queen Street.

Telephone numbers and times of services can be found in the online community listing service Village Guide.[19]

Notable people

Crime

Ten-year-old Rosie May Storrie of Bottesford was murdered during a house party in Normanton on 30 December 2003, two days after she had made her first stage appearance as a dancer in a pantomime. She was found by other guests smothered and partly stripped, and died in hospital 36 hours later. Paul Smith of Sedgebrook, aged 18, was convicted of the murder.

The Rosie May Storrie Memorial Fund established by her parents has raised over £270,000 towards charity work with children, notably a Rosie May Children's Home at Boossa, Galle, Sri Lanka.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Eckwall 1960.
  3. ↑ Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the North. London: Collins; p. 166
  4. ↑ The English Heritage listing of the mausoleum as a Grade II historic building. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  5. ↑ A pictorial description of the chancel with its monuments. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  6. ↑ Bottesford Living History Retrieved 19 September 2010. Archived 27 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  8. ↑ Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  9. ↑ Not Forgetting Aspects of Village Life in Bottesford, Easthorpe, Muston and Normanton (Bottesford, 2009).
  10. ↑ Leicestershire Magazine, 31 July 2010 . Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  12. ↑ Grantham Journal obituary: Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Bottesford VC Hall Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ This is Leicestershire report: Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  15. ↑ Retrieved 10 October 2010. Archived 25 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ http://www.leics.gov.uk/pressrelease.htm?id=194973
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ John Marius Wilson: Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72.
  19. ↑ Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  20. ↑ The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Charity website. Retrieved 12 September 2012. Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
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