Houses of Interest: Leicestershire

The Civil Wars in Leicestershire are overshadowed by events leading upto, and after the Battle of Naseby just over the border in Northamptonshire. 

For more Leicestershire Civil War locations see  the storming of Leicester (coming soon), Market Harborough's role after Naseby, and Belvoir Castle.

Kirby Bellars, the remains of this C14th moated manor house were reinforced with earthworks to provide protection for its Parliamentarian garrison. The garrison deserted the site after the fall of Leicester. Marked on the OS map as 'moat' it is best viewed on satellite mapping apps. More hardy souls might want to take the footpath from 36 Main Street westwards that curves round to the south to meet Leicester Road.

1620s House

Slightly before 'our' period the 1620s House and Gardens at Donington le Heath gives a fascinating insight into how people lived during the troubled times. Excellent tea rooms (the menu is not C17th themed).

The original Tudor manor of Coleorton Hall was garrisoned by Parliament, providing a useful offensive position blockading Ashby de la Zouch. The Tudor mansion was demolished and rebuilt by the Victorians. Coleorton has been 'developed' into apartments, and there is no public access to the building.

Ashby de la Zouch was a significant Royalist garrison, governed by Henry Hastings, later 1st Baron Loughborough. Ashby de la Zouch Castle was significantly refortified, so good were the defences that local Parliamentarian command decided upon a course of containment rather than attempting to take the castle. The Royalist garrison made a nuisance of itself, so much so that the locals let out a great sigh of relief when the Castle eventually surrendered in February 1646. The castle would be sleighted in 1648 with the outbreak of fresh hostilities.

The Castle ruins are cared for by English Heritage, so it is obligatory that the site has a tea room and shop.

All that remains of North Luffenham Hall is the outline of its moat. Garrisoned by Royalists the house would fall to a strong Parliamentarian force under Lord Grey. The house would be razed to the ground. Included for completeness, as there is no public access or rights of way to the site.

Melton Mowbray, a site of pilgrimage for lovers of the pork pie, was garrisoned by Parliament. The garrison was constantly harried by the Royalist troops from Newark and Belvoir Castle. The most significant incursion being November 1643 when 300 men of the garrison were captured. In Februrary Marmaduke Langdale led a sizeable Royalist force against the town, and battle commenced. Local legend has the site of the battle as Ankle Hill, as the fighting was so fierce that the hill ran ankle deep in blood; alas Victorian hyperbole strikes again, the name predates the Wars, and moves location depending upon the whim of cartographers (in other words we have no idea where the battle was fought, other than it was on a hillside).

A rather grand house, The Limes, stood on Sherrard Street. Home to Sir Henry Hudson, there was much celebration at the end of the First Civil War outside the house. The house was demolished in the 1920s, and is now roughly the site of a supermarket.

St Mary's Church dates from the C12th and is one of the few buildings in the town, still standing, that will have witnessed the events of the Wars.

The Battle of Bosworth. No not that one. A skirmish that took place on the 1st July 1644, where Parliament's men saw off the Royalists, "in the very place where King Richard was slain" (letter by Thomas Fairfax). Bit of a problem, as the location of the battlefield is hotly debated. the most likely location, proposed by Glen Foard and Ann Curry (on behalf of the Battlefields Trust), puts the battlefield roughly around Fenn Lane Farm on Fenn Lane.

The Old Manor, Loughborough

The Old Manor, Loughborough, was the birthplace of  Henry Hastings, Lord Loughborough. Hastings fought for the king, and would later be a founding member of the Sealed Knot (not the re-enactment society, the original Sealed Knot). The Old Manor is now a restaurant. The fourteenth century All Saint's with Holy Trinity Church, on the other side of the road, was utilised as barracks for the King's army at various times.

All Saint's with Holy Trinity Church

To the east of Loughborough, adjacent to Cotes Mill there was a skirmish at Cotes Bridge on March 30th 1644; the result was inconclusive. A Parliamentarian force attacked the barricaded bridge; two cannons opened fire and forced the royalists back across the Great Meadow into the town’s north field and on into the town centre.  The Royalists made a stand, repulsing any further Parliamentarian advance.  

The King would spend the night at nearby Cotes Hall on May 28th 1645, home of Sir Henry Skipwith. The hall is long since gone, the ruins are visible from Stanford Lane.

Bradgate House, Newtown Linford was a C16th brick house, home of the Earl of Stamford.  The house was sacked by a force led by Prince Rupert and Henry Hastings. The ruins are located in Bradgate Park, and are cared for by the Bradgate Park Trust. Free to enter, although there are fees for car parking.

Noseley Hall was the home of Sir Arthur Hasselrigge. The house that Sir Arthur knew was demolished and rebuilt in the C18th. The Hall is strictly private.

Postcodes for SatNavs
Footpath to Kirby Bellars, 36 Main Street, Kirby Bellars LE14 2EA
Kirby Bellars OS grid SK719174
1620s House and Gardens at Donington le Heath, Manor Road, Coalville LE67 2FW

Coleorton Hall, Constable Way, Coleorton LE67 8FZ

Ashby de la Zouch Castle, South Street LE65 1BR 

North Luffenham Hall OS SK928033

Ankle Hill, LE13 0QJ

The Limes (site of), Sherrard Street, LE13 1QR

St Mary's Church, Burton Street LE13 1AE

Fenn Lane Farm, Fenn Lane CV13 6BL

The Old Manor, 11 Sparrow Hill, Loughborough LE11 1BT

All Saint's with Holy Trinity Church, Steeple Row, Loughborough LE11 1EE

Cotes Mill and Bridge, Nottingham Rd, Cotes, Loughborough LE12 5TL

Cotes Hall, Stanford Lane, Loughborough LE12 5SQ

Bradgate House, Newtown Linford, Leicester LE6 0HE

Noseley Hall Noseley LE7 9EH

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