Belton

• The parish was in the Loughborough sub-district of the Loughborough Registration District.
   
• The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

Census Year	Piece No.
1861	R.G. 9 / 2276
1871	R.G. 10 / 3258
1891	R.G. 12 / 2517

• Grace Dieu Priory was founded here in 1240 by Roesia de VERDUN for 14 nuns and a prioress of the Saint Augustine order. It was dissolved in 1539.
   
• "Grace Dieu" is also the name of a brook that runs through the north end of the village.
   
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
   
• The church was built in the Early English style some time before 1538.
   
• The church was restored in 1850 and again in 1877.
   
• The church seats 400.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the St John's Church on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2010.
   
• Tim GLOVER has a photograph of the Church tower and steeple on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2009.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1538 and is in good condition.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of West Akeley (later South Akeley).
   
• The General Baptists had a chapel founded here in 1849.
   
• Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of the Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2006. The chapel is loosing a few of its letters.
   
• Tim HEATON also has a photograph of the General Baptist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2012.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here before 1849.
   
• The Grace Dieu Catholic chapel was dedicated to Saint Mary.
   

• The parish was in the Loughborough sub-district of the Loughborough Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   

Belton, Leicestershire, is a small village and a parish in the North West Leicestershire area. It lies 123 miles north of London, very close to the town of Shepshed. To the south lies the main town of Charnwood borough, Loughborough. The parish lies 5 miles south-west of Kegworth and it covered about 1,900 acres in 1871, but grew to 2,345 by 1891 and to 2,413 acres by 1951.

The village is home to a pub, a restaurant, a village shop, a hairdresser, a doctor's surgery, a woodyard and a riding school. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, Belton is off Junction 23 of the M1 motorway. It lies on the B5324 between the M1 and the A447, northwest of Shepshed.
   
• Belton village is home to one of the few remaining free-standing maypoles in the country. The local residents are very proud of this fact.
   
• In the neighborhood, to the south, is Charnwood Forest.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of Ashby Road into Belton (along with the Village Sign) on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2010. You can offer to use your artistic talent to create the greatest Village Sign ever. I'm sure that they'd entertain the idea.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Belton to another place.

• The well-known Belton Horse Fair was held on the Monday after Trinity Sunday (circa June 11th).
   
• The "Bitterman" has a photograph of the Queens Head Pub & Hotel on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2010.
   
• Carolyn MANSFIELD has a photograph of the George Hotel and Maypole on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2008.
   

• Grace Dieu Manor was the seat of Ambrose Charles PHILLIPPS de LISLE in 1849.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK447208 (Lat/Lon: 52.782936, -1.338708), Belton which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Inset into the churchyard wall is a stone tablet with gold inscription. This World War One Memorial lists ten men of the parish who fell in that conflict.

There is a photograph of the War Memorial at the Leicestershire War Memorials website.

The names listed on the War Memorial for World War I are:

NOTE: There is NO entry in the Commonwealth War Grave database for any Samuel BECCLES, Thomas THACKER or J. F. O. WAKEFIELD. Also, there is an entry for a "J. HICKLING", but almost all the details do not match. The same is true for Harry BARNES. There is no matching entry for Frederick BURTON, William KNIGHT or Leonard WOULIDGE. And the details for John A. ROSE do not match, either.

There is a Samuel BECCLES who died in combat on the date shown and who is buried in Calais, France. There is a Leonard WOULIDGE, age 14, shown in the 1911 census of Belton, born Diseworth, Leics.

Jon CANTRILL contributes this from the Derby Mercury of 7th January 1829: DEATHES: "At Belton, Leicestershire, on Sunday se'nnight, aged 70, Mrs. FOWLER, wife of Richard FOWLER, gent."

• This place was an ancient parish in the county of Leicester. It became a Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• This place contained the extra-parochial liberty of Grace Dieu.
   
• The parish was in the western division of the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the Mid division of the county.
   
• The parish was in the Loughborough local government district up to 1936. Since then it has been in the Castle Donington local government district.
   
• On 1 April, 1936, the Civil Parish was enlarged by 68 acres gained when the Civil Parish of Thringstone was abolished.
   
• You may contact the Belton Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to do family history searches for you.
   
• District governance is provided by the North West Leicestershire County Council.
   

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Loughborough petty session hearings each Wednesday.
   
• William SHAW's annual charity provided £8 for clothing for the poor in 1849. The charity started in 1704 at SHAW's death.
   
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Loughborough Poor Law Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	586
1841	718
1871	684
1881	645
1891	571
1901	542
1911	607
1921	588
1931	554
1961	679

• The village had a National School by 1849.
   
• The village has a primary school, but children travel by bus to Shepshed High School once they pass into secondary school.