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The Victoria History of Leicestershire
Buckminster and Sewstern
Pamela J. Fisher
University of London Press, 2017
Buckminster and Sewstern, in north-east Leicestershire, are two small villages within a single parish, and although both were established before 1086, they have developed different characters. Buckminster was purely an agricultural village until the 1790s, when Sir William Manners enlarged a small park, built a mansion and began to create an estate village. Many of the houses are of red brick, and were built for estate employees by the 9th earl of Dysart between 1878 and 1935, as part of a programme of village improvements. All the land, residential and commercial properties in Buckminster were held in 2017 by the Tollemache family, descendants of Sir William and Lord Dysart. In contrast, Sewstern’s houses are individual in character, and mostly built from local limestone. Before the 20th century, many had large paddocks to the rear. The village is near the presumed ancient route known as Sewstern Lane, and a wide range of trades were followed between the 14th and 19th centuries, until the age of the railways ended the passing trade. Land in both villages was quarried for ironstone in the 20th century, then reinstated for farmland, resulting in fields that are several feet below the level of the roads and property curtilages. This book explores the similarities and differences between the two villages over more than a thousand years of recorded history.  
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The Victoria History of Leicestershire
Castle Donington
Pamela J. Fisher and J.M. Lee
University of London Press, 2016
The parish of Castle Donington  in north-west Leicestershire lies on the south bank of the river Trent, 20 miles north-west of Leicester and 8 miles south-east of Derby. A nucleated village developed on the present site more than 1,000 years ago. A castle was built in the 1150s, and several features of a town soon developed, including a market, fair and hospital. Secondary settlements grew up alongside the Trent, by the King’s Mills and at Cavendish Bridge, the site of an important medieval ferry. Donington Park, which originated in the early 13th century as a hunting park, became a separate estate of the earls of Huntingdon in the late 16th century. Later history has been shaped by strong religious nonconformity and the growth and then decline of traditional industries in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then, modern transport links, including East Midlands Airport in the south of the parish, have delivered new employment opportunities. Castle Donington in the early 21st century is thriving. Many people travel in daily to work, and thousands more visit the motor-racing circuit at Donington Park and other leisure attractions each year, yet few know of the parish’s rich history. This book, the first in the Leicestershire VCH series since 1964, examines the changing patterns of landscape, landownership, working lives, social structure and religious worship in Castle Donington across many centuries, and includes the settlements at King’s Mills and Cavendish Bridge. It will be of interest to local residents, visitors, family and local historians.
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The Victoria History of Leicestershire
Lutterworth
Pamela J. Fisher
University of London Press, 2022
This volume in the Victoria County History series centers on the town of Lutterworth.
 
From before the Norman Conquest to the development of the jet engine, this volume tells the history of Lutterworth, a small market town in the southwest of Leicestershire. A combination of factors ensured the town’s success, including its position linking the rich agricultural land of south Leicestershire with the Warwickshire Arden and its natural resources of wood and coal. Lutterworth also played a role on the national stage, first in 1428, when the bones of the town rector, the theologian John Wyclif, were disinterred and desecrated on the instructions of the Pope. Lutterworth also made headlines between 1937 and 1942, when Frank Whittle developed the jet engine in a disused foundry in the town.

This book focuses on the people of Lutterworth and the roles they played in shaping the economy, schools, hospitals, churches, and the social life of the community. The evolution and development of the town are described in these pages, from its humble beginnings to the challenges it faces today.
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