Stonton Wyville

Stonton Wyville is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 21. The village is about eleven miles (17 km) south east of Leicester [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22073] 'Stonton Wyville', A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5: Gartree Hundred (1964), pp. 308-12 Date accessed: 21 February 2007] . Nearby places include Kibworth Harcourt, Tur Langton, Church Langton, and Shangton.

The buildings include a church, a manor house, a rectory and a farm that used to be the Fox and Hounds Inn.

Stonton Wyville parish is convert|1217|acre|km2 or convert|1.9|sqmi|km2 in area. Bounded on the western side by a tributary of the River Welland the parish rises from a height of convert|250|ft|m near the river to about convert|450|ft|m in the north and convert|500|ft|m in the south. The soil is loamy clay over clay subsoil. The majority of farmland in Stonton is used for pasture and has been since 17th century enclosures. Stonton Wood, in the north of the parish, covered about convert|100|acre|km2 in 1279.

History

In 1086, the Domesday book shows that Stonton Wyville was part of the estates of Hugh de Grandmesnil"Domesday Book: A Complete Translation". London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7] . Stonton was amongst a hundred manors that had been given to Hugh for his assistance at the Battle of Hastings.

"The same man holds of Hugh 6 of land in Stonton Wyville. There is land for 4 ploughs. In demesne are 2 ploughs and 2 slaves and 15 villans with a priest and 2 bordars have 4 ploughs. There are two mills rendering 5s4d and convert|8|acre|m2 of meadow, woodland 6 furlongs long and 4 furlongs broad. It was worth 40s now 60s".

Hugh did not have rights over all the land in the village, some was controlled by the King's niece. She had interests which included "10 acres of meadow".

There were two mills in Domesday and there were still two in 1605. One of the mills was still working in 1846 but not by 1863. Which is regrettable as they could have used it to power a threshing machine ...

In 1494, the last William Wyville died. Stonton Wyville is named after him and his ancestors who had been instrumental in the village since the Domesday Book where they had been under tenants.

On 25th February, 1628 Thomas Brudenell (whose family had married into the Wyvilles) was created Baron Brudenell of Stonton. There was a move to rename the village Stonton Brudenell, but this never stuck. (Thomas went on to be first Earl of Cardigan).

In January 1862 there was an inquest held at the Fox and Hounds Inn into the deaths of several villagers who had died in a dreadful boiler explosion. Killed in the explosion "on the spot, Thomas Lee, about 40 years of age, was blown over convert|40|yd into a ditch. William Woolman, about 65 years of age was blown fully fifty yards...""Contemporary newspaper account - January 1862] and Samuel Ashby. George Woolman died of his injuries on the same day. It appears from the inquest that 13 people had been gathered around a steam engine [http://www.stationaryengine.org.uk/ Stationary Engine home page] ] that was being used to power a small threshing machine that they had hired from a Mr Butcher of Debdale Wharf.

Stonton Wyville must have been much larger in the past. It is officially recognised as a "shrunken or deserted medieval village" [http://www.kairos-press.co.uk/html/ancient_monuments.html Ancient Monuments list] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.harborough.gov.uk/pp/location/guestbook.asp?ID=548 Stonton Wyville Notice Board]