Preston, Rutland
Historical Description
Preston, a pleasant village and a parish in Rutland. The village stands 1½ mile SW of Manton Junction station on the Syston and Peterborough, and Nottingham and Kettering branches of the M.R., and 2 miles N by E of Uppingham, and has a post office under Uppingham; money order office, Wing; telegraph office, Uppingham. The parish comprises 1207 acres; population, 286. The manor belonged formerly to the Nevilles, and belongs now to the Earl of Gainsborough. The Old Manor House, an ancient Tudor mansion, and Preston Hall, a fine building in the Elizabethan style, are chief residences. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; gross value, £140 with residence. The church, which consists of chancel, nave, aisles, S porch, vestry, and an embattled western tower, is an ancient edifice of stone showing examples of almost every style from Norman down to Renaissance. It has a beautiful reredos of Caen stone and alabaster, some good stained windows, and some memorials of the Shield and Belgrave families. There is a Congregational chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Rutlandshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Preston St. Peter and St. Paul | |
| Hundred | Martinsley | |
| Poor Law union | Uppingham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The earliest date of the parish register is 1560, and in the parish chest is preserved a series of original papers, chiefly relating to taxes and county rates levied during the Civil War and the Commonwealth, copies of which have been deposited in the British Museum.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Preston:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1560-1916 | 1754-1904 | 1560-1836 | 1563-1991 |
Churches
Church of England
SS. Peter and Paul (parish church)
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is an ancient building of stone, in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, vestry and an embattled western tower with lofty spire, containing 5 bells, one dated 1717, the others being undated: (two new bells were added in 1902 .when the old bells were rehung): the roof was reloaded and its woodwork repaired in 1902: the fabric affords examples of almost every style, from Norman down to Renaissance, the chancel retaining a sedile and piscina of early date: there are a number of marble tablets, principally to members of the Belgrave and Sheild families: the east and west windows are stained, and there is a trefoil-canopied reredos of Caen stone and alabaster erected in 1882 to the Rev. William Belgrave M.A. rector from 1840: altar rails were erected in 1927 to the memory of the wife of the Rev. H. H. Lucas (d. 1881): the church affords 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Preston from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Preston (St. Peter and St. Paul))
- Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1928
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Rutland is online.
Maps
Online maps of Preston are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Rutland, 1618-19 and The Visitation of Rutland 1681-2 are available to browse on the Heraldry page.