Map sources for Earl Shilton at grid ref. SP 469 982 (52°35′00″N, 01°20′00″W (52.5833, -1.3333))

Earl Shilton is a large village or small town in Leicestershire, England, some 5 miles from Hinckley and about 10 miles (16 km) from Leicester, with a population of around 9,000 (as of 2005). Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Hinckley Earl Shilton Barwell Dadlington Categories: GFDL images | GBdot ... Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Hinckley Earl Shilton Barwell Dadlington Categories: GFDL images | GBdot ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Hinckley is a town in south-west Leicestershire, England. ... Leicester city centre, looking towards clock tower Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city in the English East Midlands. ...

One of the parcels of land gifted to Hugh de Grandsmesnil by King William the Conqueror was the village of Scheltone, now known as Earl Shilton. The village measured some 500 acres (2 km²), standing on the top of a long, narrow ridge in the southwest of the county. Schulton or Scheltone is an ancient word, which means shelf. Shilton is therefore Scheltone or shelf-town. The village boasted 3 ploughs, with 1 serf and 4 sokemen. Sokemen were the highest class of free peasants, a lower aristocracy, and were thought to be the descendents of the Danes who settled in the East Midlands. The village also had a priest, 10 villeins and 5 bordars. Villeins and Bordars were below Sokemen and tied to the land. Villeins often held between 30 to 100 acres (100,000 to 400,000 m²), while Bordars were of a lower standing and usually had a smallholding. Hugh de Grandmesnil was a commander at the Battle of Hastings. ... William I ( 1027 – September 9, 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087. ... An acre is an English unit of area, which is also frequently used in the United States and some Commonwealth countries. ... It has been suggested that Mouldboard Plough be merged into this article or section. ... Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... -1... The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the tradional region of the Midlands. ...

Attached to the village of Sheltone were 12 acres (50,000 m²) of meadow and a mill of 16 pence (£0.07) value, with woodland 8 furlongs (1609 m) in length and 3 broad valued at 70 shillings (£3.50). Following the Norman invasion there must have been some inflation as during the time of Edward the Confessor Sheltone’s woodland was valued at 5 shillings (£0.25). A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. ... The 5 furlong (1006 m) post on Epsom Downs A furlong is a measure of distance within Imperial units and U.S. customary units. ... Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... Edward the Confessor or Eadweard III (c. ...

The ruins of a hunting lodge belonging to Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, remain to this day beside the church of St Simon and St Jude at the 'top end' of Earl Shilton. The Victorian church, designed by Richard Cromwell Carpenter dates back to 1854; the previous mediaeval building was largely destroyed by fire and was rebuilt from a public subscription raised by the then incumbent, Rev. Ferdinand Tower. The church, which features a window by the renowned stained glass designer Charles Eamer Kempe (1837-1907), is attached to an older tower and steeple, which date back to the 13th/14th century. From the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (1208 – August 4, 1265) was the principal leader of the baronial opposition to King Henry III of England. ... Saint-Simon can refer to various people: Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1607–1693), French courtier Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1675–1755), French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (1760–1825), the founder of French socialism Simon... , by Georges de La Tour. ... The parish church at Earl Shilton designed by Richard Cromwell Carpenter. ...

The Leicestershire antiquary, John Nichols provides quite a lot of information about the township of Earls Shilton, recording that the lordship of was once part of the Honour of Leicester and that it had a long association with the earls of Leicester, hence its name. The castle, originally the hunting lodge of Simon de Montfort, survives as a mound in Hall Field and in the name “Castle-yard”.

The town of Shilton which Nichols describes as “long and large”, containing 32 virgates of land in 1296 was held in fee along with several other local manors as part of the Honour of Leicester for a quarter of a knight’s fee.

Nichols also records that in the early 1600s the town was visited with bubonic plague with the greatest loss between 1611-1612, when 41 people died.

The freeholders, or principal landholders in 1630 were Richard Churchman, gent, Richard Veasey, Samuel Wightman, and Sampson Goodall. After the Civil War this same Richard Churchman was listed among the gentry who in 1645 “compounded” for their estates with the Parliamentary Sequestration Committee, along with Thomas Crofts, another royalist. This meant they had to pay a fine to restrieve their estates [Calendar of the Committee for Compounding, Part 1, pp 110-111]

The local curate William Holdsworth was also accused of being a royalist or “malignant”. John Walker, who wrote about the Sufferings of the Clergy during the Grand Rebellion, records that Holdsworth was hauled before the County Committee in 1646 for “reviling” Parliament. His offences included ignoring the Directory set by Parliament to enforce puritan reforms, refusing sacraments to those not kneeling, allowing Sunday games and reading a royalist Protestation in the middle of a sermon. He was also accused of being “several times drunk” and using “old notes as new sermons” for the past twenty years. According to the charges, when the royalist soldiers besieging Leicester came to him for provisions “he gave them bread and cheese and said he would he could give them a fat ox” [A.G. Matthew, Walker Revised, p. 237]. Like their neighbours in the surrounding villages, the constables in Earl Shilton submitted their claims for losses and "free quarter" from the parliamentary garrisons, to the county committee. In June, 1646 Mr Goodall Sen. claimed that parliamentary soldiers from the Astley garrison took "a rapier, sword, belt and a snapsack" worth 8s. (Exchequer SP 28/161)

Nichols also describes “a barbarous custom” practised in this village in 1776

A woman having for some time laboured under the common disorder, her friends took it into their heads that she was bewitched by a poor old creature in the neighbourhood, who could scarcely crawl. To this miserable object the diseased, her husband, and son (a soldier), went, and threatened to destroy her if she did not instantly suffer blood to be drawn from her body, bless the woman, and remove her disorder. Hesitating a little, the son drew his sword, and, pointing it to her breast, swore he would plunge it into her heart if she did not immediately comply; which being consented to, they all returned home seemingly satisfied. But the patient not being relieved by a certain day, they raised a mob, seized the old woman, dragged her to a pond, cruelly plunged her into the water, and were proceeding to practise the barbarous experiments upon her that were usual in times of ignorance and superstition; when fortunately for her, she was rescued from their hands by the humanity of the neighbouring gentlemen. [Gentleman’s Magazine XLVI, 1776, reprinted in Nichols, Vol. IV, pt 2, pg. 778]

1778 saw the enclosure of 1500 acres of the lordship from the parish of Kirkby Mallory. The enclosure act lists all of the landholders and lands, including a large common called Shilton Heath, the Breach Meadow, and the Hall Fields. The lord viscount Thomas Wentworth is named as the patron of the rectory of Kirby Mallory, and the Reverend Rowney Noel as rector.

The 1800 census Return to Parliament for Earl Shilton records 249 inhabited houses (8 uninhabited) 284 families, 655 males, and 632 females (total 1287) of which 118 were employed in agriculture, and 716 in trade or manufacturing. This same year more than eight hundred pounds was raised by subscription for a windmill to grind grain. Further details about the township including a list of the benefactors can be found in Nichols, Volume IV, part ii, pp 774-780.

Between the 19th and late 20th centuries, Earl Shilton was a busy industrial village consisting of numerous Shoe, Hosiery and Knitwear factories. At one point Earl Shilton produced boots for none other than Russia's Red Army, no less. Many of these businesses have now closed due to competition from the far east, but a very few still continue into the 21st century. Womens shoes on display in a shop window, July 2005 A shoe is an item of footwear. ... Hosiery describes undergarments worn directly on the feet and legs. ...

A famous visitor to the village, still talked about by its oldest residents, was Reverend Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, otherwise known as Woodbine Willy a First World War army padre. The Reverend Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy (June 27, 1883 - 1929), was an Anglican priest and poet. ... The Reverend Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy (June 27, 1883 - 1929), was an Anglican priest and poet. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World...

Increasingly heavy traffic flow through the village has led to the planning of an Earl Shilton bypass, though as yet no work has transpired.