Framtand Hundtted. 231 :Burbidge Wm

FRAMtAND HUNDttED. 231 :Burbidge Wm. shoemaker FARMERS. Marriott Michl. Cawthorn John, vict. White Swan Bell John Rose James Sandilands Hon. and Rev. John, Briston Samuel SculthorpeTHall M.A., Rectory Fardell Richd. Wakefield John Dobney Richard, carrier to Melton Hand~homas W akefield Thos. Mowbray, Tuesday JacksonR.Lodge Watchorn Wrn. CROXTON KERRIAL, or Croxton Kyriel, is a pleasant villag~>, on a bold declivity of the W old hills, 3 miles S. by E. of Bel voir Castle, and 9 miles N .E. of .Melt on Mow bray; and has in its parish 650 souls, and about 3,500 acres of land, mostly an indifferent red marl, and the surface hilly; but more than 2,200 acres are arable. The parish was enclosed in 1766, when the vicarial tithes were commuted for l93A. All the rest belongs to the Duke of Rutland, the lord of manor, who has a pleasant hunting seat, called CRoXTON PARK, built by John, the then Duke of Rutland, about 1730, with extensive stables, near one of the sources of the Devon, ahout 2 miles S. \V. of Croxton village, and 7! miles N.E. of Melton Mowbray. The Park comprises 777 acres, of which about 400 are in the Pxtra-parochial liberty of Bescahy. It has extensive woods, plantations, and fish ponds, and the stables are at present occupied by Lord Forester's. hunters. Horse Races are held in the Park yearly, for two days in the last week in l\Iarch, or first week in April. They were establisht>d about 30 years ago, and are highly popular, being numerously attended by the gentlemen of the Melton and neighbouring hunts. The principal stakes are the Granby Handicap, the Gold Cup, the Eillesdon Coplow Stakes, the Farmers' Plate, the Melton Plate, and the Scurry Stakes; and the sport is usually of the first order, most of the horses being highly bred hunters, attached to the Quorn, Belvoir, and Cottes· more hounds. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, whilst gnests at Belvoir Castle., met the Duke's hoends in this Park, Dec. 6th, 1843, and threw off at Melton Spinney. In l 086, Croxton was held by the King, and bad 24 carucates, and two ploughs in the dem~>sne 1 5 bond men, 22 villans, and 2 bordars, with 2~ ploughs; 30 socmen, with 8 ploughs, 30 acres of meadow, and 2 mills. Soon afterwards, William the Conqueror gave it to Robert 1\lallet, Baron of Eye; but King Stephen gave it to his natural son, William, Earl of 1\fortaigne, &c. In the 13th and 14th centuries, it was held, mostly under the abbey, by the Oriol, Curie!, or KyTiel family. CRoxToN ABBEY, which stood on the Bescaby side of the Park, was founded about 1150, by William, Earl of 1\Iortaigne, Parcarius de Linus, and Sir Andrew Lutterel, for ·white Canons, or Premonstratensians. It was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, and was riehly t•wlowed by subsequent l>enefactors. Its church was a large and handsome structure, some· times called St. John de Vnlle, The bowels of King John, who died at Newark, were buried here, after the abbot, who had been the King's physician, had einbalmed his body, prior to its being sent to \Vorcester. The clear annual revenue of the Priory was £385. Os. 1OJ. at the di~olution, in 1534, when it was granted to the Earl of Hut laud. When excavating for stone near one of the fish-ponds in the Park, a few years ago, a stone coffin, ornamented with a griffin's bead, ~as found ; also vestiges of a large oven, and Rome fragments of a tesselated pavement; and nearer to Bescaby, are traces of several large • .

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