Kibworth

The cricket field is a focal point of village life, where summer upon summer old rivalries are played out. Here winter game plans hatched in the local pub can produce unlikely heroes, or fall apart in minutes. This is the battlefield - a small, probably balding, grass square.
An extract from from"Leicestershire Photographic Memories".

Beauchamp was added to the original name of Kibworth through Walter de Beauchamp around 1130. The red brick village, which has expanded to become interesting rather than beautiful, has excellent examples of Leicestershire vernacular, from the 17th-century Stuart House in Station Street to the well-proportioned late 19th- century small houses in the photograph. Kibworth, although large, is a village to see on foot, combining it with Kibworth Harcourt on the opposite side of the A6.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".

This was one of the finest grammar schools in Leicestershire. The photograph shows the rear of the red brick master’s house of c1725, which was originally of two stories until a third was added around 1835, backed by a neat garden and tennis courts. In 1965, Anthony Crosland, Labour’s then Secretary of State for Education, swore that if it was the last thing he did he would destroy every grammar school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Leicester City and the County were pleased to put their backs into the task and they have rid themselves of schools which have yet to be replaced. The Master’s House is now a well-ordered private residence, and the gardens have suburban fencing divisions. The tennis courts are a car park.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".

Close to the road, the solid but impressive ashlar tower dominates the immediate street scene with its substantial angled buttresses and crocketted finials; these are not 15th-century, but were added in 1832, after the collapse of the original tower, by the local architect William Flint (1801-1862), whose specialism was Greek Revival. The body of the church is fairly run-of-the-mill with its four-bay nave arcade, but it does house some 19th-century stained glass of interest. The usual Victorian ‘restoration’ was carried out by William Slater (1819-1872) in 1860.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".

This view, taken from the north-west angle of St Wistan’s churchyard, shows an uncomfortable blend of small scale 18th- and 19th-century cottages with the more angular, bland 20th-century buildings. It is an unusual piece of townscape, which with the passage of time has been simply neatened up rather than transformed.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".