Edith Weston
EDITH WESTON is a parish 2 miles north from Luffenham station on the Syston and Peterborough branch of the London, Midland and Scottish railway, 6 east-south-east from Oakham, 7 north-east from Uppingham and 7 west from Stamford, in the hundred of Martinsley, union and county court district of Oakham, rural deanery of Rutland (second portion), archdeaconry, of Oakham and diocese of Peterborough. The church of St. Mary is an ancient building of stone in the Transition and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles and spire, containing a clock and 3 bells, the largest of which is dated 1723, the others 1597 and 1621: the bells were rehung, and the belfry floor and clock chamber restored in 1924: there is a monument to members of the Halford family, erected in 1627 ; a memorial window to the Rev. R. Lucas, d. 1646, and a carved oak reredos, erected in 1896, to the Rev.Charles Lucas, a former rector: the organ was presented by R. Lucas esq. in 1867, and the altar cross by the clergy of the rural deanery, in memory of the Rev. Andrew Trollope B.A. rector 1885-96 : the font cover was given by the parishioners in 1897, in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria : in the chancel floor are five small brasses, inscribed with initials only: a tablet was erected in 1923, inscribed with the names of the men of this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18 : the church was repaired and reseated in 1848, when a large wall painting of St. Christopher was discovered; and in 1903 was further repaired, when the wall of the transept was underpinned and drains laid on the north and south sides, at a cost of £83 : there are 200 sittings. The register dates from the year 1585. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200, with residence, and including 19 acres of glebe, in the gift of S. V. Hotchkins esq. and held since 1908 by the Rev. Bernard Paschal Payne B.A of St. John's College, Oxford. In 1904 a new burial ground, about 4 acre in extent, was given by Major E. L. Braithwaite J.P. and conveyed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. A village hall was erected in 1923, to commemorate the men of this parish who served and those who fell in the Great War, 1914-18. Charities: In 1688 Mrs. M. D. Lucas left £100, to which £50 was added by her representatives, the interest to be spent in the purchase of coals for the poor; Mrs. Lucas also left £100, for the maintenance of the window erected to the Rev. R. Lucas, and the interest having accumulated to £130, Major Braithwaite has conveyed £50 to the coal charity and £50 to the churchwarden's fund; William Louth in his lifetime gave £100, the interest to be annually distributed amongst the poor; R. Haliford esq. left £30 in 1742, and Michael Wing £10 in 1740. Edith Weston Hall, a mansion in the Elizabethan style, built by the Rev. Richard Lucas in 1830, was destroyed by fire in 1920 : it was restored in 1924, and is now the residence of Lt.-Col. Francis Henry Hardy J.P. The Earl of Ancaster T.D. is the principal landowner. The soil is clay and strong creetch; subsoil, limestone. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips and clover. The area is 1,852 acres; the population in 1921 was 227, chiefly occupied in agriculture.
Parish Clerk, Fred Richardson.
Post, T. & T. E. D. Office. .Letters through Oakham. North Luffenham is the nearest M. O. office
PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
Bell Lt.-Col. H. L. Gillison, The Grange
Hardy Lt.-Col. Francis Henry J.P. (Notts) & Lady Cicely, Edith Weston hall
Payne Rev. Bernard Paschal B.A. [rector]. Rectory
COMMERCIAL.
Marked thus farm 150 acres or over
Ball Jn. Wilson, baker
Cunnington Hy. H. boot mkr
Day Arthur, blacksmith
Hales George, carter
°Makey Edward, farmer & landowner,The Firs
Stevenson Arthur V. Wheateheaf P.H.
Thompson Jn. motor engnr
Tibbert Benjamin, butcher
°Tyler George T. farmer
Weaver Geo. W. grocer