English Heritage sites near Kirby Bellars Parish
JEWRY WALL
11 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
A length of Roman bath-house wall over 9 metres (30 feet) high, near a museum displaying the archaeology of Leicester and its region.
KIRBY MUXLOE CASTLE
14 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
The picturesque moated remains - including the fine gatehouse and a complete corner tower - of this brick-built fortified mansion have recently been extensively conserved by English Heritage.
LYDDINGTON BEDE HOUSE
16 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
Set beside the church of a picturesque ironstone village, Lyddington Bede House originated as the late medieval wing of a palace belonging to the Bishops of Lincoln.
KIRBY HALL
20 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
Kirby Hall is one of England's greatest Elizabethan and 17th-century houses. Begun by Sir Humphrey Stafford, it was purchased by Sir Christopher Hatton, one of Queen Elizabeth's 'comely young men'.
RUSHTON TRIANGULAR LODGE
22 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
This delightful triangular building was designed by Sir Thomas Tresham (father of one of the Gunpowder Plotters) and constructed between 1593 and 1597.
ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH CASTLE
22 miles from Kirby Bellars Parish
Ashby Castle forms the backdrop to the famous jousting scenes in Sir Walter Scott's classic novel of 1819, Ivanhoe. Now a ruin, the castle began as a manor house in the 12th century.
Churches in Kirby Bellars Parish
Kirby Bellars: St Peter
Main Street
Kirby Bellars
Melton Mowbray
01664 561909 (Tu
St. Peter’s Church is remarkably lavish for such a small village. Made of ironstone and decorated, it was transferred to the Augustinian Canons of the priory to the north in 1359. The impressive tower has an ashlar spire, with very low broaches – which can be seen throughout the northern sections of the saucer-shaped Wreake Valley.
Considerable amounts of Roman pottery found in the churchyard in the 1960’s suggest a long history of use of the site. A contemporary charter in the Lincoln Episcopal Registers states that one Roger Beler founded a chantry in 1316 in the chapel of his manor house ,some distance from the parish church. This eventually became a Priory, and shaped the worshipping life of the village and surrounding area until the Dissolution in 1535.
The nave at the core of the present building dates from the early thirteenth century and was built in the Early English Gothic style.
The very wide south aisle is of the 14thcentury, and currently houses a children’s area with desks, soft toys and chairs for use both during services, and for casual visitors during the week.
Unfortunately the church has recently been subject to the theft of copper from a large section of the roof and efforts are being made to finance the repairs.
Pubs in Kirby Bellars Parish
Flying Childers
Main Road,, Kirby Bellars, LE14 2DU
(01664) 813972
flyingchilderspub.co.uk