Wistow, Leicestershire

Historical Description

Wistow, a parish, with the chapelry of Newton Harcourt, which is noticed separately, in Leicestershire, on the Union Canal, near Glen station on the main line of the M.R., and 7 miles SE of Leicester. It has a post office at Newton Harcourt under Leicester; money order and telegraph office, Great Glen. Area of Wistow, 910 acres; population, 36; of Newton Harcourt, 1143 acres; population, 167. The manor, with Wistow Hall, a large ancient mansion standing in extensive grounds, belongs to the Halford family. 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 annexed to that of Kilby, and with Newton Harcourt chapelry, in the diocese of Peterborough; joint net value, £160 with residence. The church, a small building of stone in the Early English style, contains some fine tombs and memorials of the Halford family.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Wistow:

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Wistow from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wistow (St. Winston))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Leicestershire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Wistow 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)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Leicestershire newspapers online:

• Leicester Chronicle
• Leicester Journal
• Leicester Daily Mercury
• Leicestershire Mercury
• Leicester Mail