Stanton-Under-Bardon History
Stanton-under-Bardon is a small rural village pleasantly situated
amongst farmland but only a mile from junction 22 of the M1.
It has a population of around 1,000 people but this is increasing
due to recent development. The village possesses a general store,
two churches and a good primary school.
The name ‘Stanton’ originates from the latin ‘stan’ meaning stone
and ‘tun’ meaning village. The name reflects the fact that, for the
last two centuries at least, quarries have existed in the area and
have provided a welcome source of employment. Today, two major
companies still quarry extensively in close proximity to the village.
amongst farmland but only a mile from junction 22 of the M1.
It has a population of around 1,000 people but this is increasing
due to recent development. The village possesses a general store,
two churches and a good primary school.
The name ‘Stanton’ originates from the latin ‘stan’ meaning stone
and ‘tun’ meaning village. The name reflects the fact that, for the
last two centuries at least, quarries have existed in the area and
have provided a welcome source of employment. Today, two major
companies still quarry extensively in close proximity to the village.
Stanton is featured in the Domesday Book at which point it had
eighteen households, ten of which qualified to pay taxes.
The households consisted of 13 homes for villagers and five
smallholdings. The nearest church, for many centuries, was at
Thornton, one and a half miles away, but records show that there
was a Chapel in the village. It would seem that the chapel was a
‘sub-branch’ of Thornton church and records of both marriages
and burials, which took place at Stanton Chapel, still exist.
The last burial appears to have been that of Grace Dunisthorpe in
1685. In 1908, Stanton built its own Anglican church out of local
granite. The little church can seat 120 people.
By his will in 1698, Squire St John Cole left 20 acres of land and
two roods (i.e. barns) to be rented out and the income used for
the benefit of the widows and orphans of the parish of
Stanton-under-Bardon. A charity was set up which has continued
to flourish to the present day. By the late twentieth century the
original purpose and functions of such charities had become the
responsibility of the welfare state so, in 1975, the Charity Commission
revised their raison d’etre. The St John Cole Charity now pays out
a small sum of money, twice yearly, to people who can show that
they have resided in the village for at least three years and are in
receipt of a state retirement pension.
The coming of the Leicester & Swannington Railway, engineered
by Robert Stephenson, son of the more famous George, in 1832/3,
gave Stanton villagers their first opportunity to travel to neighbouring
villages and towns including Leicester. Stanton villagers needed to
walk the two miles along Thornton Lane, Stanton and Bagworth Lane,
Thornton, to the building which is now called ‘Hollow House’ which
was then a public house. The pub sold tickets for the railway and
trains stopped at a small platform right outside. The building, which
has been considerably modernised and extended, is now a private
residence.Records relating to the history of Stanton are not extensive
but they are sufficient to show that the village has existed for more
than a thousand years.
