Ashby Folville
| Ashby Folville | |
 St Mary's Church, Ashby Folville |
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  Ashby Folville |
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| OS grid reference | SK706120 |
|---|---|
| Civil parish | Gaddesby |
| District | Melton |
| Shire county | Leicestershire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MELTON MOWBRAY |
| Postcode district | LE14 |
| Dialling code | 01664 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Rutland and Melton |
| Website | http://www.ashbyfolville.com |
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Coordinates: 52°42′05″N 0°57′22″W / 52.701377°N 0.955987°W
Ashby Folville is a village in the Melton district of Leicestershire, south west of Melton Mowbray. The civil parish of Ashby Folville was abolished in 1936 and its 1,796 acres (727 ha) were merged with Gaddesby.
History
The village of 'Ashby' was recorded in the Domesday Book as consisting of twenty-four villagers, three smallholders, two slaves, one priest and being owned by the Countess Judith.[1]
By the time of the Leicestershire Survey of 1124-29 the manor had passed from Judith to her daughter Maud, Countess of Huntingdon and her husband King David I of Scotland.[2]
The Folville Family
The Folville element of the placename comes from a family that had its seat here since at least 1137 when its lordship was held off of the Honour of Huntingdon by Fulk de Folville.[3] The family name, ultimately derived from Folleville in the French region of Picardy, is attached to several other sites in Leicestershire, such as the deserted village of Newbolt Folville.[4]
They seem to have gained most their estate at the beginning of the 12th century. Several of their possessions, such as Ashby and the manor at Teigh, were in the hands of other parties at the time of the Domesday survey, but had passed to the Folvilles by the reign of Stephen (1135-1154). The family were certainly well-established in Leicestershire by the mid 13th century. In 1240 a member of the family donated a large sum to the church at Cranoe.[5]
The Folvilles were rebels during both Barons Wars; Sir William Folville (d.abt.1240) had his lands seized for his part in the First Barons' War in 1216[3] and Sir Eustace Folville (murdered in 1274) was one of the knights appointed to enforce the Provisions of Oxford in 1258[6] and stoutly defended Kenilworth Castle after the Battle of Evesham in 1265.[3]
The family gained renown during the reign of the inept Edward II and the criminal Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester and his sadistic son Hugh Despenser the Younger when they ambushed and killed the corrupt Baron of the Exchequer, Roger de Beler. Hugh Despenser the Elder had been stealing people's lands in Leicestershire, using Roger de Beler as an enforcer, and in 1325 de Beler had threatened the Folville family with physical violence.[7] By the beginning of 1326 almost the entire country had turned against Edward and the Despencers and preparations for a rebellion led by King Edward's wife, Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer had started.[8] The Folville family, headed by Eustace Folville, and encouraged by Sir Roger la Zouch, Lord of Lubbesthorpe decided the time had come to strike back against the criminal regime and assassinated de Beler before fleeing to Paris. Following Isabella and Mortimer's successful Invasion of England, Edward III was crowned as new king and rebels were pardoned including the Folville family who were celebrated locally with the Folville Cross, said to be located at the site of de Beler's murder.
The Folville Gang continued to act as unofficial enforcers of the law and flitted in and out of outlawry for many years, but their judgement seems to have ensured that they were backing the right side most times and, apart from Richard Folville, Vicar of Teigh, who was beheaded in his own churchyard, they ended up with their freedom intact.
The manor of Ashby eventually passed via marriage from the Folvilles to the Woodfords and then Smiths.[3]
Landmarks
After World War II, a resettlement camp for displaced people from Poland was established in a former US Army base in the grounds of Ashby Folville Manor.[9]
Religious sites
The parish church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building. The Ashby Folville estate was bought in 1890 by Herbert Smith-Carington, then mayor of Worcester (died 1917), who built cottages and a village institute and restored the church. The old wooden roofs of the nave and the new oak panels of the chancel and screen of the Woodford chapel are among the features of interest. In the chancel are memorials to Ralph Woodford (a descendant of the Folvilles) and Elizabeth Woodford. Monuments in the Woodford chapel include a stone knight known as "Old Folville" and the fine monument of Sir Francis Smith and his wife.[10] Stained glass windows by Veronica Whall and Edward Woore were erected in memory of members of the Smith-Carington family.
References
- Cites
- ↑ "The Domesday Book Index". Haughton.net. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ↑ Farnham 1919–20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Nichols 1795.
- ↑ Primrose 1889, p. 17.
- ↑ Hoskins 1964, p. 82.
- ↑ VCH Rutland II 1935.
- ↑ Lumley 1895.
- ↑ Fryde 1979.
- ↑ "Polish reunion is resounding success", Melton Times 14 Sept 2010
- ↑ Firth 1926, p. 272-5.
- Sources
- Farnham, George (1919–20). Leicestershire Manors: The Manors of Allexton, Appleby and Ashby Folville (PDF). Leicester: Leicestershire Archaelogical and Historical Society.
- Firth, J.B. (1926). Highways and Byways in Leicestershire. London: Macmillan.
- Fryde, Natalie (1979). The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II 1321-1326. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521222013.
- Hoskins, W.G. (1964). A History of the County of Leicestershire: Gartree Hundred V. London: Boydell and Brewer.
- Lumley, Joseph (1895). Chronicon Henry Knighton I. London: HMSO.
- Nichols, John (1795). The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester. Leicester: John Nichols.
- Page, William (1935). A History of the County of Rutland. London: Victoria County History.
- Primrose, Catherine L.W (1889). The Battle Abbey Roll: with some account of the Norman lineages I. London: John Murray.
External links
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Media related to Ashby Folville at Wikimedia Commons - Ashby [Folville] in the Domesday Book