Belton

BELTON is a considerable village and parish, on the borders of Leicestershire, 1½ miles from East Norton station on the Market Harborough and Melton Mowbray branch of the London and North Eastern and London, Midland and Scottish joint railway, and 3½ north-west from Uppingham, in the hundred of Oakham Soke, Uppingham union, county court district of Oakham, rural deanery of Rutland (third portion), archdeaconry of Oakham and diocese of Peterborough. The village stands on a height on the north bank of the river Eye, and within the old bounds of Leighfield Forest. The church of St. Peter is a building of stone of the Decorated period, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch, and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 6 bells; two new bells were presented in 1911, one by Mrs. Elizabeth Ward and the other by F.R.D.A. Gough esq. J.P.; the old bells were re-cast in the same year; the chancel retains an aumbry and a piscina; the nave arcade is of four bays, with octagonal piers and alternately plain and decorated capitals: in the church is an incised slab, with effigies of Sir Thomas Haslewood, ob. 20 Dec. 1559, and Clemence, his wife (see Harl. MSS. 1558 and 3610): on the south Wall of the chancel there are two brasses to John Eagleton esq. and his wife, erected in 1870, and several mural tablets, chiefly to the Roberts and Kemp families: two stained windows were presented in 1898 by Mrs. Ward: the church was repewed in 1841 and in 1897-98 was new roofed, reseated, a chancel screen, vestry and organ chamber erected and the fabric generally restored, at a cost of about £2,000: in 1903 an organ was presented by an anonymous donor: a lych gate was presented in 1911 by J. E. Corby esq.: there are 200 sittings. The registers date from 1577. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Wardley, joint net yeariy value £287, with residence, and including 56 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Bishop of Peterborough, and heldd since 1926, by the Rev. David Michael Evans B.A. of St. David's College, Lampeter. There is a stone obelisk to the men of this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: its base is supposed to be the original stone on which Charles I. rested after the Battle of Naseby. There is a Baptist chapel here, erected in 1843, and having 120 sittings. The charities, amounting to about £58 yearly, are principally derived from the poor's land of 33 acres and £10 yearly from Brooke lordship for the oldest widows of Belton parish; the Orlando Green charity, dating from 1920, brings in £22 per year, this being divided among the poor at Christmas. Belton House is the residence of Fleming R.D.A. Gough esq. T.D., D.L., J.P. The Old Hall, an ancient structure of the early Tudor period, is now occupied by Mr. John James Jackson, grazier. W.H.M. Finch esq. J.P. is lord of the manor. The principal landowner is George Monckton esq. The soil is gravelly ; subsoil, clay. The land is almost entirely in pasture. The parish contains 1,024 acres; the population in 1921 was 277.

Post, M.O., T.&T.E.D. Office. Letters through Uppingham.
Conveyance.—Midland Red bus stops at Belton at 10.2 a.m. proceeding to Uppingham

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
(For T N's see general list of Private Residents at end of book.)
Evans Rev. David Michael B.A. [vicar], Vicarage
Goode Misses
Gough Fleming Richard Dansey Aubrey T.D., D.L., J.P. (co. Brecon), Belton ho
Hudson Mrs. Highfield
Hutton Adml. George B. The Cottage
Mawson Major William Wilmott O.B.E. Westbourne house
Mawson Cecil Allerton Greville, Westbourne house

COMMERCIAL.
Ashby Jn. Wm. shopkpr
Blanchard William, outfitter
Bond Henry Thomas, baker
Bradley James, butcher, & Black Horse P.H
Burnham John, chimney sweeper
Butterise John Hy. & Albert, graziers
Clarke William, grazier
Corby Walt. H. grazier
Goode Esther & Gertrude (Misses), dressmakers
Gowing Edward A. grazier
Griffiths Fras. grocer, & post office
Grocock Arth. & Jn. bldrs
Grocock John, grocer
Jackson John James, grazier. Old Hall
Jelley Harold, farmer, College farm
Johnson Thos. Bromwich, grazier, Netherfield ho
Miller Ethel (Mrs.), draper
Ringrose Archbld. Thos. motor engnr
Stevenson Henry, farmer
Swingler Albt. Sun P.H
Wadd Charles Henry, shopkeeper
Wadd Geo. E. insur. agt
Ward Walter, grazier
Webb David, grazier
Webb John, grazier