Kibworth

Kibworth /ˈkɪbwərθ/ is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp /ˈbiːtʃəm/ and Kibworth Harcourt /ˈhɑːrkɔːrt/. At the 2011 census, Kibworth Beauchamp had a population of 5,433 and Kibworth Harcourt 990. The villages are divided by the A6. Kibworth is close to Foxton Locks, Market Harborough, and Leicester.

St Wilfrid's Church, Kibworth Harcourt

History
Kibworth Beauchamp High Street

In 1270 Walter de Merton, the founder of Merton College, Oxford, bought a large part of the parish of Kibworth Harcourt from Saer de Harcourt, who had been forced to sell the estate following his support for the unsuccessful "Second Barons' War" led by Simon de Montfort. A large part of the parish has remained the property of Merton College, Oxford to the present day. There is a stained-glass window depicting Walter de Merton in the bell tower of the parish church, St Wilfrid's, and the warden and scholars of the college are joint patrons with the Bishop of Leicester. The church is a Grade II* listed building.

Kibworth Harcourt was the birthplace of the writer/reformer Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825) and her brother John Aikin. Their father, John Aikin (1713–1780), kept a dissenting academy there and served as minister of a nearby Presbyterian chapel. The family moved in 1757 to Warrington.

On 23 July 1825 the ancient tower and spire of St Wilfrid's collapsed.[1]

Michael Wood's Story of England

In September 2010, Kibworth was the central feature of Michael Wood's Story of England, a documentary aired on both BBC Four, BBC Two, and repeated on the UKTV channel Yesterday, and PBS America, presented by Michael Wood about the history of England framed through Kibworth.[2][3]

A book of the same name was published by Viking (Penguin Books).[4] The series was likened to Who Do You Think You Are? for a whole community. Villagers (Kibworth Improvement Team - KiT) have created a new website[5] and successfully requested a grant of £48,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to continue the legacy of the TV series by creating a Kibworth Guide Booklet (heritage trails for Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby), several interpretation panels around the three villages, ongoing study materials for the three tiers of local schools and an online Archive (Virtual Museum) to be produced during 2011 and 2012.

Facilities

Kibworth has a number of shops, a community newspaper (The Kibworth & District Chronicle),[6] and since 2002 new shops, including a branch of Co-op UK.[7] New housing continues to be built on the edge of the village, causing periodic controversy.[8]

The Bookshop, which opened in the High Street in 2009, won a regional award for Independent Bookseller of The Year in 2012.[9]

Transport

Arriva Midlands operates Sapphire route X3 between Leicester and Market Harborough and Stagecoach Midlands route X7 between Leicester and Northampton, both via the village.[10][11] The Midland Main Line runs through the area, but Kibworth railway station, which served both villages, closed in 1968.[12]

Sports

The local cricket club won the ECB National Club Cricket Championship in 2004.[13]

The association football club, previously Kibworth and Smeeton, was renamed in 2018 as Kibworth Town, merging the younger and senior teams together. The village also has clubs for snooker, tennis, golf, bowls and dance.

Kibworth is also home to Kibworth Rugby Stars, a children's rugby club serving ages 18 months to 6 years.[14]

Notable residents

In birth order:

  • John Aikin (1713–1780), Unitarian preacher, schoolteacher and father of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, lived and taught in Kibworth in 1730–58.[15]
  • Anna Laetitia Barbauld (née Aikin, 1743–1823), poet, essayist, children's author and daughter of John Aikin, was born in Kibworth Harcourt.[16]
  • John Aikin (1747–1822), physician, biographer and brother of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, was born in Kibworth Harcourt.[17]
  • James Beresford (1764–1840), Anglican cleric and humorist, was rector of Kibworth from 1812 until his death in 1840.[18]
  • Colonel John Worthy Chaplin (1840–1920), awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1860 in the Second China War, was buried in Kibworth New Cemetery.[19]
  • Edmund Knox (1847–1937), Anglican bishop, Evangelical writer and father of Ronald Knox, was rector of Kibworth in 1884–1891.[20]
  • Samuel Perkins Pick (1858–1919), architect, was educated at Kibworth Grammar School.[21]
  • T. E. R. Phillips (1868–1942), Anglican cleric and astronomer specializing in planets, was born in Kibworth.[22]
  • Wilfred Knox (1886–1950), Anglican theologian and brother of Ronald Knox, was born in Kibworth.[23]
  • Ronald Knox (1888–1957), Roman Catholic monsignor and religious writer, was born in Kibworth.[24]
  • Sir Nicholas Harold Lloyd Ridley (1906–2001), inventor of the Intraocular lens, was born in Kibworth.[25]
  • Stu Williamson (born 1956), photographer, inventor of the Tri-flector, and drummer for the Scottish group The Marmalade, is based in Kibworth.

References
  1. "Extract from The Gentleman,s Magazine, August 1825: Kibworth Rectory, 27 July 1825 at stwilfs.freeserve.co.uk". Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  2. BBC coverage of Michael Wood's Story of England
  3. "Coverage of Michael Wood's Story of England at thisisleicestershire.co.uk". Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  4. Michael Wood, The Story of England, Viking Penguin, 2010 (ISBN 978-0-670-91903-1).
  5. Official website for the village of Kibworth
  6. Sheridan Gilley, "Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott (1888–1957)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  7. Co-op Retrieved 4 December 2015. Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Harborough Mail Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  9. Bookshop site Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  10. Arriva Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  11. Stagecoach Retrieved 4 December 2015
  12. R. V. J. Butt, The Directory of Railway Stations (Yeovil: Patrick Stephens, 1995).
  13. ECB National Club Championship (7 September 2004). "National Stage - 2004". ECB Play Cricket. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  14. Club site. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  15. Diana K. Jones, "Aikin, John (1713–1780)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  16. William McCarthy, "Barbauld , Anna Letitia (1743–1825)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  17. Marilyn L. Brooks, "Aikin, John (1747–1822)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  18. [Anon.], "Beresford, James (1764–1840)", rev. H. C. G. Matthew, ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  19. Award Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  20. Stephen Gregory, "Knox, Edmund Arbuthnott (1847–1937)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  21. "1905. Samuel Perkins Pick FRIBA 1905-06". Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society. LLPS. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  22. Obituary. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  23. Natalie K. Watson, "Knox, Wilfred Lawrence (1886–1950)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  24. Sheridan Gilley, "Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott (1888–1957)", ODNB, Oxford University Press, 2004 Retrieved 8 September 2014, pay-walled.
  25. "Harold Ridley". www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
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