Harby, Leicestershire
Harby is an English village and a former civil parish that is now in the parish of Clawson, Hose and Harby. It belongs to the Borough of Melton and the county of Leicestershire. It lies in the Vale of Belvoir, 9.4 miles (15.1 km) north of Melton Mowbray and 13.9 miles (22.4 km) west-south-west of Grantham. Although in Leicestershire, the county town of Leicester is further – 21.4 miles (34.4 km) – than Nottingham – 15.7 miles (25.3 km). The village lies on the south side of the Grantham Canal. Belvoir Castle, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north-east, is conspicuous on the horizon.
| Harby | |
|---|---|
 Harby from the south – Waltham Road | |
  Harby Location within Leicestershire | |
| OS grid reference | SK7449331135 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Melton Mowbray |
| Postcode district | LE14 |
| Dialling code | 01949 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Location and governance
The population in 2001/2002 was listed as 864 individuals, with 698 on the electoral register and 376 houses. This increased at the 2011 census to 931 and was estimated in 2016 to be 877.[1]
Harby is in the Rutland and Melton constituency. The current MP is the Conservative Alicia Kearns. It shares its civil parish council with Long Clawson, and Hose. In local government it comes under Melton Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council.
There are other villages named Harby in Nottinghamshire, Denmark (Hårby) and Sweden.
History
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Old names for the village include Hereby, Herdby, Hedeby, and Harteby. The first element "Har" either derives from the old Scandinavian "hiorth" meaning herd, flock, or the old Norse personal name "Herrothr", found in old Danish as "Heroth". The second element is the old Scandinavian "by", meaning a village or homestead.
The Domesday book of 1086 listed Harby as in the possession of Robert de Stafford:
Robert de Tosny. He owned 17 carucates of land at Harby. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was 14 ploughs. Three of these carucates were held directly by Robert with 8 slaves. 13 of the ploughs were leased to 24 freemen, 7 villagers and 3 smallholders. There were meadows measuring 5 furlongs long and 5 furlongs wide. This land now brought in £5 a year; it used to be £4. Robert de Bucy owns 1 carucute of land at Harby and leases it to Gerard. The land takes 1 plough to work it. Gerard sub-leases it to 2 freeman and 3 smallholders. Its value is 5 shillings.
In 1622 William Burton described in his book The Description of Leicester Shire (page 127).
"Harby, in olde deedes written Herdeby in the Hundred of Framland, standing in the Vale of Bever upon the border of Nottinghamshire. In the 20. yeere of Edward the third, William Lord Ros, and John de Oreby held lands heere. In the 44. yeere of Edward the third, Roger Delaware was Lord of this Mannor. In the 25. of Henry the eight the Lord Delaware was Lord of this Mannor as it appeareth by an Inquisition taken after the death of Sir John Digby Knight, in the said 25.yeere of Henry the eight, where it was found that the said Sir John Digby held 4. messuages (with the appurtenances in Harby) of the said Lord Delaware, as of his Mannor of Harby. In this Towne was borne Jeffrey de Hardby a famous Dvuine, brought up in Oxford, and after became one of the Canons of the Abbey of Leicester; from whence he came to be Confessor to King Edward the third, and was by him made one of his Privy Council of state. He wrote many books of special note in Divinity, and died in London, and was buried in the Austin Fryers. Here also was borne Robert de Hardby, a Frier Carmelite in Lincolne, who wrote something in praise of the saide Order, and lived 1450. Ecclesia de Herdeby Patronus Willimus de Albaniaco persona Mr.Robertus institutes per Hug.nunc Episcopum Lincoln. The new Patron of this Church is Francis Earle of Rutland. This Rectory is valued in the King's books at 20 pounds."
In 1815 John Nichols described Harby in his book The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire.
"Harby... is destitute of woods and streams; no high road leads through or beside it. A heavy clay spreads over every acre in the parish and the uniform operations of husbandry give a sameness to the country, which a stranger might view with disgust; but cultivation has made it fruitful.... Industry here makes the prospect, and the product alone is the beauty of the soil. There are about 1800 acres in the parish; and, whilst the field continued open, the method of tillage was, first-year fallow; second, barley and wheat; third, beans and pease. The families of Harby are 60, its inhabitants 322, among whom are many small freeholders. There is no mansion or ancient building in the village; but the present rector has lately built a neat and convenient house...."
On 1 April 1936 the civil parish was merged with Hose and Long Clawson to form "Clawson and Harby",[2] which is now called Clawson, Hose and Harby.
Primary school
Harby Church of England Primary School began as a church school founded by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. It opened under the Rector, William Evans Hartopp, in about 1827, on land donated by John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland.
A new school building opened on 25 March 1861, probably on the site of a village green, under a church committee headed by Rev. Manners Octavius Norman, at a cost of £861 3s 4d. The surveyors and architects were Bellamy and Hardy of Lincoln. It had two main teaching classrooms, a large kitchen, toilets to the rear, and accommodation for the teacher consisting of a downstairs study and three upper rooms. The first headmaster was Henry Major. The county council took over management on 1 July 1903.
Originally there was a bell tower above the front door, of which only the base remains intact. A swan (as an emblem of the school) and a book are carved either side of the base. In 1976 the school was extended with three new open-plan classroom areas. One old schoolroom was converted into a studio and TV room. A new kitchen was built at the rear and a boiler house in the style of the old school added.
A letter from the Rt Hon. Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for School Standards, sent in February 2018, states that the school was in the top 1 per cent of primary schools in England for attainment in reading and writing, based in 2017 KS2 results. The school has just under 100 pupils aged 4 to 11. Harby Pre-School has closed. However, the latest full Ofsted report in March 2019 was critical in some respects.[3]
Methodist chapel
Methodists had begun to hold services from 1769 in their homes, and then in an old coach house given by William Orson for chapel conversion in April 1828. By 1847 the Wesleyan congregation had outgrown the coach house, which was replaced by a chapel built on Orson's land. The foundation stone was laid by C. H. Clark, a Nottingham solicitor, and opening sermons were preached by Rev. John Rattenbury and Rev. James Everett. In 1874 it was refurbished.[4]
In 1926 a new two-manual pipe organ by E. Wragg & Son of Nottingham was installed at a cost of £210, but it was removed when the chapel was modernised for its current use by the Vale Christian Fellowship.[4]
Parish church
The Parish church at Harby is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.
The earliest church on the site was probably made of wood, of which there is evidence in the west wall of the nave. The earliest written notice appears in the records of the Bishop of Lincoln, recording a priest at Harby in 1220 called Robert. In the 13th century, the present stone tower was built at the west end of the nave and the wooden nave and chancel were rebuilt in stone. The nave was widened, so that its walls joined the tower at the west end, on the outer edges of the tower buttresses.
The chancel roof was raised in about 1350 and new windows were added.
The font from the Decorated period probably stood in the pre-Reformation position by the front door, in line with Catholic practice. The date 1606 may indicate when it was moved. After the Reformation, the font was moved again into the centre of the church and remained there until 1834.
Harby has three small panes of pre-Reformation stained glass in the first chancel window, bearing the letters W W W.
A Victorian restoration took place in 1874–1876, the flagstone flooring being replaced by tiles. New pews in the chancel were decorated in the Gothic style. In 1874 the roof was renewed. In 1903, a vestry was built and the organ placed to face into the chancel. The font was moved again to the east end of the north aisle.
On the wall above the arch at the east end of the nave are four panels. The middle two are wooden boards. One has the coat of arms of George II (reigned 1727–1760). The board above bears the inscription "Fear God, Honour the King". The other two panels show the ten commandments on canvas in wooden frames.
On 29 May 1839 William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St. Albans (1801–1849) married Elizabeth Catherine Gubbins the daughter of Maj. Gen. Joseph Gubbins (1785–1817). As a celebration, he donated to the church a new clock, a bible, a prayer book, and £30 with the rector to be invested for the poor. This marriage was held at Harby because Elizabeth Catherine Gubbins was the first Cousin to Eliza Georgiana Gubbins who was the first wife of the Rector William Evens Hartopp. Eliza Georgiana Gubbins father was George Stamer Gubbins of Kilfrush, Co. Limerick. His Brother was Maj. Gen. Joseph Gubbins of Kilfrush, Co. Limerick. His daughter was Elizabeth Catherine Gubbins.
Harby Church became a Grade II* listed building in 1968.
Bells
There are five bells in the tower dating from as early as 1610.
| Bell | Weight | Note | Diameter | Cast | Founder | Inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4–2–21 | D# | 27.88" | 1887 | John Taylor & Co | "JUBILEE 1887. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN" "CHRIST REIGNETH EVER" E. HALL. T. FRECK, WARDENS" It cost £186 when cast and commemorates the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. |
| 2 | 4–3–7 | C# | 29.25" | 1610 | Henry II Oldfield | "JESUS BE OUR SPEED" This was the pancake bell, rung at 11 a. m. on Shrove Tuesday to remind housewives to prepare the pancake mixture. |
| 3 | 5–0–9 | B# | 30.75" | 1610 | Henry II Oldfield | "GOD SAVE THE CHURCH" |
| 4 | 7–2–0 | A# | 34.25" | 1701 | William Noone | "GOD SAVE HIS CHURCH" R. WHITTLE, I. BROOKBANK, WARDENS |
| 5 | 8–2–16 | G# | 37.75" | 1614 | Henry II Oldfield | "GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH". The tenor or passing bell, rung to record a death is the heaviest in the tower. |
Pipe organ
The organ in Harby parish church[5] was originally built by Thomas Elliot for Gedling Parish Church, Nottinghamshire, in or before 1808, probably at Elliot's works in Tottenham Court Road, London, with his business partner John Nutt. It was removed from Gedling at a cost of more than £80 and transported to Harby in 1874, where it was first installed at an additional cost of £11 in the north-east corner of the north aisle, where the font stands now. When a new vestry was built in 1903, the organ was moved to face north into the chancel choir.
The organ has been maintained by Hawkins, organ builders of Walsall, West Midlands, who were initially requested to quote for an electric blower in 1945. Thereafter they overhauled and cleaned the organ in 1956 and 1975.
Parish registers
The parchment skins of an early volume of Harby Parish Registers, long lost, are said to have been unstitched and wrapped around the trunk and limbs of the corpse of Anne Adcock, and so buried by her grandson, John Adcock, a man of eccentric character, in December 1776. Some transcripts exist at Lincoln for the years 1604, 1606 to 1609 and 1618; and at Leicester for 1581, 1612–1613, 1617, 1621, 1625–1629, 1632–1634, 1636–1638, 1661–1663, 1670, 1672, 1674–1683, 1685, 1687–1688, 1690–1691 and 1694–1700.
Incumbents
| Year | Name | Position | Alma mater | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1220 | Robert | Rector | Patron: William de albini II | |
| 1235 | William de Herdeby | Chaplain | Patron: William de albini III | |
| 1251–1275 | Thomas de Bathon | Subdeacon | Patron: Robert Lord Ros | |
| 1275 | Lambert de Trikingham | Subdeacon | Patron: Robert Lord Ros | |
| 1298 | William de Keln | Patron: William Lord Ros I | ||
| 1336 | Gilbert | Rector | Patron: William Lord Ros I | |
| 1373 | Nicholas | Patron: Thomas Lord Ros | ||
| 1468 | William Reynolds | Patron: William Lord Hastings | ||
| John | ||||
| 1526–1536 | Robert Carleton | Ordained 19 February 1502 Vicar of Foulden, Norfolk, 3 February 1503–1508 Rector of Roos, Yorkshire, 2 June 1508 – February 1529, Rector of Wilsthorpe, Lincolnshire, 10 May 1513 Rector of Westmill, Hertfordshire, 25 July 1518 Rector of Harby, Leicestershire | Gonville Hall College, Cambridge | or Robert Carlton Born 1404 perhaps in Norwich Died 1600 |
| 1570 | George Benett | Patron: Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland | ||
| 1596–1616 | Robert Snoden | Ordained: Deacon and Priest (Lincoln) 21 February 1588/9 Rector of Harby, Leicestershire. Rector of Hickling, Nottinghamshire. 1598–1616 Prebendary of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, 1599–1616 Chaplain to James I in 1614 Bishop of Carlisle, Cumberland, 1616–1621 | Sizar from Christ's College,Cambridge May 1580 BA 1582/3 MA 1586 BD 1593 DD 1598 Fellow, 1589–1599 | Born about 1562 Parent: third son of Ralph Snoden of Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire Siblings: Richard Snoden 1575 Issue: Rutland Snoden 1615 Died London, 15 May 1621 |
| 1613 | John White | |||
| 1647 | Thomas Dalby | |||
| 1659 | William Stevens | |||
| 1662 | Daniel Pepys | Curate (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1662–1701 | Daniel Pepys | Deacon | ||
| 1662–1703 | Anthony Harwood | Rector | (unknown – MA) | |
| 1638–1703 | Richardus Johnson | (unknown – MA) | ||
| 1680 | Edvardus Browne | Curate (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1687 | Laur Howel | Preacher (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1688 | Gul Lewis | (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1692 | Robert Peete | (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1703 | Johannes Vincent | Curate (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1703–1739 | John Major | Rector | (Unknown – BA) | |
| 1738 | John Bugg | Curate (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1739–1741 | William Turvile | Rector | (Unknown – BA) | |
| 1741–1749 | Samuel Kerchevall | (St John's College Cambridge BA) | ||
| 1749–1751 | Richard Stevens | (St John's College Cambridge BA) | ||
| 1751 | Richard Stoup | Curate (appt. Licensing) | ||
| 1751–1763 | William Cant | Rector | (Queens' College Cambridge BA) | |
| 1792–1813 | Daniel Wagstaff | 1803–1841 Curate (appt. Licensing) Harby, Leicestershire. Eastwell, Leicestershire. Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire. Scalford, Leicestershire. | School: Newcastle-on-Tyne School, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland Lincoln College, Oxford BA 1791 | Born 1769 Parents: Josiah WAGSTAFF of Middleton-in-Teesdale, Co. Durham Died: 17 December 1841 aged 74 |
| 1763–1804 | Bennet Storer | Ordained deacon (Lincoln), 24 September 1749. Ordained priest 2 December 1750 Rector of Harby, Leicestershire Prebendary of the Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of Christ Canterbury, Kent. 1769–1804 | School: Grantham, Lincolnshire Trinity College, Cambridge. BA 1748/9 MA 1763 | Born 1726 Parents: Francis Storer Vicar of St Mary Magdalene's Church, Stapleford, Leicestershire. Baptised there 21 November 1726 Had the misfortune to kill a man in self-defence while in lodgings at the Swan public house at Westminster Bridge; tried at the Old Bailey, London on 17 January 1777 and honourably acquitted.[9] Died 9 July 1804 aged 78 Will held at The National Archives (United Kingdom)PROB 11/1404/82 |
| 1804–1826 | Thomas Norris | Rector | (Trinity College Cambridge BA) | |
| 1826–1852 | William Evans Hartopp | Vicar: Thurnby with Stoughton, Leicestershire, 1820- vacant 1832 Rector: Gt Kington, Dorset 1825–26 Rector: Harby, Leicestershire | School: Sonning Hill, Sonning, Berkshire Trinity College, Cambridge. BA 1817, MA 1831 | Born in Dalby, Leicestershire. on 30 October 1793 Parents: Edward Hartopp-Wigley |
| 1852–1899 | Manners Octavius Norman | Ordained deacon, Peterborough, 1844 Ordained priest, 1845 Rector: Croxton-Kerrial, Leicestershire. 1846–1853 Rector: Harby Leicestershire Rural Dean Framland III Deanery 1872–1885 | School: Rugby School Rugby, Warwickshire. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge BA 1845 | Born Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, 5 March 1818
Parents: Richard Norman 1758–1847 |
| 1899–1925 | Edward Henry Stone | Rector | ||
| 1926–1946 | Arthur Evelyn Furnival | Rector | (Exeter College Oxford BA) | |
| 1946–1949 | William Paul Watkins | Rector | (Lincoln College Oxford BA) | |
| 1949–1959 | Alfred Cuthbert Holden | Rector | (University of St. Andrew MA) | |
| 1959–1961 | Charles Brian Underwood | Rector | (University of Leeds BA) | |
| 1961–1963 | Joseph Henry Dransfield | Rector | Not listed in Crockford's | |
| 1964–1974 | Ieuan Delvin Powell | Rector | (University of Wales BA) | |
| 1975–1977 | John Sydney Savige | Priest-in-charge | ||
| 1977–1989 | John Sydney Savige | Rector / Rural Dean Framland III Deanery | ||
| 1990–1994 | Simon Bailey | Team Rector | ||
| 1994–1998 | Mark Turner | Curate | (Sarum and Wells Theological College) | |
| 1994–1998 | Geoffrey Spencer | Priest-in-charge | (Nottingham University) | |
| 1997–1999 | David Francis Mills | Curate | (Oak Hill Theological College) | |
| 1999–2000 | Charles Anthony Bradshaw | Priest-in-charge | (Birmingham University) | |
| 2000–2004 | Charles Anthony Bradshaw | Team Rector | ||
| 2000–2008 | Robin Duncan Stapleford | Team Rector | (St John's College, Nottingham) | |
| 2002–2005 | Stephen Patrick James Burnham | Curate | (Christ Church, Oxford) | |
| 2005–2009 | Stuart Jack Foster | Priest-in-charge | (Oak Hill Theological College) | |
| 2009 onwards | Frederick Philip Richard John Connell | Team Vicar | (St John's College, Nottingham) |
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Notable people
- Samuel Levis, born in Harby on 30 September 1649, son of Christopher Levis, was married on 4 May 1680 to Elizabeth Claytor. He received a Quaker certificate of removal in July 1684 and arrived in Pennsylvania by 4 November 1684. Levis died between 4 October 1728 (the date of his will) and 13 April 1734 (date of probate).
- Harby farm labourer Kemp, born in 1884, was recorded in 1956 by the University of Leeds, talking about sheep shearing, washing, dipping and the price of a fleece.[10]
Amenities
Harby has a post office, a village shop and a cafe, all located at the village garage in Nether Street. The nearest centre for trade, medical services and other amenities is Melton Mowbray.
War memorial
The war memorial cross was erected in honour of the Harby soldiers and sailors who participated in the First World War. The accepted plans were drawn up by Mr T. Burbidge and the work was entrusted to Mr S. Squires of Bingham. The height is nearly 15 ft, the lower of the two bases being 8 ft square. The stone above is 4 ft square and 2 ft in height, containing 99 names, 19 on the front face being those who were killed in action or died on service. The remaining 80 are those who enlisted from the village and survived. Surrounding this stone is an old shaft and base from an ancient village cross, capped with a new cross suggesting what the original may have looked like, drawn by a former rector, Rev. Manners Octavius Norman. The whole, old and new, is of Portland stone. This relic of the old village cross stood originally on the village green, some yards from its present position. It was moved to the churchyard when the school was built in 1860.
The unveiling ceremony on the night of Thursday, 20 May 1920, was performed by the Rev. E. H. Stone, Rector, in the presence of 200 people and of the church and chapel choirs. Sixty ex-servicemen formed a guard of honour. The text runs:
ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919.
BAILEY J. T . COOK E. DEWEY E. GOODSON B. GREAVES W. H. HALL H. HAND B. HOYES F. A. M. M. HOYES J. KEMP T. A. ABBOTT F. W. MOULDS C. H. MOULDS G. H . D.C. M. RAWLINGS T. SMITH J. STOKES A. WESSON F. WOODFORD L. WRIGHT W.
OFFERED UPON THE ALTAR OF THE NATION
After the 1939–1945 war, two names of men who did not return were carved on the base. The arrow marks where the new cross was fitted to the old. The steel brace which joins the two parts together was made by Mr. Martin Stead, the village blacksmith."
AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE 2ND WORLD WAR 1939 – 1945
DEWEY A. C. MABBOTT J. W.
Public houses
Originally there were three:
- The Marquis of Granby stood opposite the junction of Boyers Orchard in Stathern Lane, as one of many named after John Manners, Marquess of Granby. Now a private house, it ceased trading some time between 1871 and 1881.
- The White Hart in Main Street traded opposite the Nags Head, both being managed by Home Breweries of Nottingham. It was demolished in 2005 and its site used for housing.
- The Nags Head, as the survivor, is one of the oldest buildings in the village and reputedly one of the oldest pubs in Leicestershire. It may once have been a priest house: evidence of a priest hole can be seen in one of the upper rooms. It forms one of the best examples of early timber-frame construction in the area.
Transport
Harby is almost equidistant at 7 miles (11 km) from the A46 between Leicester and Newark-on-Trent and the A52 trunk road between Nottingham and Grantham. It is just over 5 miles (8 km) from the main A607 between Leicester and Grantham. London is 126 miles (203 km) via the M1 motorway.
The village is served by the No. 24 bus between Melton Mowbray and Bottesford or Bingham.[11]
Harby and Stathern railway station opened in 1879 and closed in 1962. The wharf of Grantham Canal was formerly used to ship grain from the village mill in Colston Lane, but is now closed.
References
- City Population site Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- "Relationships and changes Clawson and Harby CP through time". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- Ofsted reports Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- "Harby Methodist Chapel". Harby Village. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 2012-09–24. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - Specifications and photographs: National Pipe Organ Register.
- Data from Crockford's Clerical Directory, supplied by Library of Lambeth Palace
- Data from Location: Parish (Church): Harby in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 2 February 2014)
- Data From A Cambridge Alumni Database John Archibald Vennvolumes of Alumni Cantabrigienses from 1752 to 1900
- Data From Proceedings of the Old Bailey London, 1674–1913
- Ellis, Stanley. "Harby, Leicestershire- Survey of English Dialects". sounds.bl.uk. British Sound Library. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- Bus times. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harby. |
- Village Website
- Harby Village Hall Website
- Nags Head Harby Public House
- Nags Head Harby Public House Website
- Harby Church of England Primary School
- Belvoirchallenge.com
- Church of England – Harby
- Valley Christian Centre in Harby
- Grantham Canal
- Meltononline Description
- Leicestershirevillages.com
- Vale of Belvoir
- Harby, Leicestershire, in old photographs*
- Map sources for Harby, Leicestershire