Eaton, Leicestershire

Eaton is a village in Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the picturesque vale of Belvoir and its current population is about 900 people. Eaton has a church, a village hall, a pub (the castle), a children's park being built and a new village shop being built.

Nature around Eaton

Eaton has at least 10 known springs surrounding it and is the start of the river devon, nottinghamshire. Its surrounding land is full of sandstone and in the past a large quarry was formed outside of it.(This has since become a woodland).The surrounding land is also full of iron ore which during the 1800s made it a famous source of iron and used to have two iron works. The railway bridge under which the iron was transported is still in Eaton today.

Buildings in eaton

The church in Eaton is saint Deny's church which dates back to the 12th century. The pub in Eaton is "the castle" which serves food and also is a registered campsite. It is also probably one of the only pubs in England that is going to have a village shop built on the side of it. Eaton also has a village hall which was built in 1952.

Local legends

Like most ancient villages Eaton has a few local lengends.Probably the most famous is the "phantom cat" which is said to be a black panther which stalks the surrounding countryside at night. This story may not be as unbelievable as it sounds as there have been over 300 recorded sightings of the cat over 2001 to 2002.People believe there must be more than one cat in the area and there have been sightings of dead herons and dead lambs found in trees.There are also plenty of hiding places for the cats as there are large stretches of abandoned railway now covered in trees.

The other local story is that of "ash tree operations".According to locals back in the 17th century a band of outlaws formed an organisation called ash tree operations and built a huge underground hideout somewhere in the Eaton countryside. The entrance to this was a hollow ash tree which gave the organisation its name.The reason this band was formed was because back in the 17th century Eaton was a popular haunt for crimanals from the surrounding villages and there were many murders and many houses were looted.

Eaton was considered too desolate for the police to get involved so 10 local men formed ash tree operations and became vigilantees; doing terrible things to anyone who committed a serious crime.The legend states that whenever someone commits a serious crime in Eaton and gets away with it ashtree operations will be found and the finder will restart the band and "deal" with the perpetraitor.

History

The incumbent's reply to the Articles of Inquiry for the Ecclesiastical Revenues Commission in 1832.

:"Robert Walker, the vicar, gives the population of Eaton as 350 (from the 1831 census). He was admitted in October 1814. There was no curator so he did the duties himself. There was only one church which was capable of accommodating the entire population. The "Glebe House unfit, being a mere cottage and very damp" was occupied by Richard Palmer who rented part of the land, paying £10.4.0 for the lodgings. The annual income of the benefice was stated as £83.6.2, no tithes or corn rents or dividends and any other income. The Surplice and other fees amounted to nine or ten shillings. This was a poor living, as the incumbent states: "I expect a decrease of Income in future but cannot speak as to the amount of that decrease because the lands are said to be too high let at present and poor rates are increasing."

References

*Source: Articles of Inquiry. Eccleasiastical Revenues Commission: Diocese of Lincoln. Article no. 2348.

External links

* [http://www.meltononline.co.uk/pp/location/detail.asp?id=96]
* [http://www.bigcats.org.uk/panthermap.html]