Coleorton in the Domesday Book [1]
There are 2 sections listing Coleorton in the Domesday book. They are reproduced
below:
Section 223c
Roger ten de H. in STRETONE 1 car trae uasta. 7 alia in DURANDESTORP similit
uasta. 7 tcia in OVRETONE similit uasta. Valent tam 11 fol.
Roger [] holds 1c ofland in STRETTON from Henry [de Ferrers]; waste
Another in DONISTHORPE; likewise waste,
A third in COLEORTON; likewise waste.
Value however, 2s.
Section 234c
Warin ten de R. IIII car trae in OVRETONE. XII den T.R.E. errant ibi VI car. In dinio
e una 7 II uitta cu I bord hnt I car Silua II qrent lg 7 una q lat. Valuit XII den, Modo
IIII folid,
Warin holds 4 c of land in COLEORTON from Robert [of Bucy].
Before 1066, 6 ploughs. In lordship 1,
2 villagers with 1 smallholder have 1 plough.
Woodland 2 furlongs long and 1 furlong wide.
The value was 12d; now 4s.
Some History of the The Beaumonts [2]
The heraldic device of the Beaumonts forms the first quarter of the Leicestershire coat
of arms; the others being the De Montforts, the Hastings and John of Gaunt.
Coleorton was where the earliest mining in Leicestershire began in the 16th century.
A descendant of the Beaumont Earls of Leicester who came to England with William
the Conqueror was made a viscount by Henry VI in 1439. A later Beaumont (John)
acquired Grace Dieu priory after its dissolution by Henry VIII, who did this on the
trumped up charge that 2 nuns had given birth there. Grace Dieu had been founded as
an Augustinian nunnery by Roesia de Verdun in the 13th century. Beaumont built a
house out of the priory and went on to become Recorder of Leicester and Master of
the Rolls. He lost these offices when he admitted to appropriating official funds for
his own use. Grace Dieu passed to Hastings but after John Beaumont’s death it was
returned by the Earl of Huntington to his widow [who was a Hastings].
In 1584 Francis Beaumont (John’s grandson) was born. He went on to become a
literary great, but was eclipsed by the competition at th etime {Shakespeare, Marlow,
Jonson}. His finest work was ‘On the tombs oin Westminster Abbey’. The Beaumonts
left Grace Dieu for Coleorton when their mining interests made them a fortune and
the converted priory passed out of the family. At Coleorton another cultural great was
born: Sir George Beaumont. He rebuilt Coleorton Hall in 1808 and as a connoisseur
of the arts was a generous friend and patron to Wordsworth, Byron, Wilkie, Scott,
Southey and others. He collected a large number of fine paintings including some byt
Rembrandt.
Wordsworth and his wife, sister and sister-in-law spent some winter months at
Coleorton Hall farm at Sir George’s invitation during which time the hall was being
rebuilt. Sir George erected the memorial to Joshua Reynolds in the grounds of the
hall. The words on it were penned by Wordsworth and Constable’s painting of the
memorial is in the National Gallery.
Mining & Transport in the Area
There is some reason to belive the Beaumonts had some impotance in the
development of the rail industry. Huntingdon Beaumony (younger brother of Sir
Henry) used a primitive wooden railway at his mines in Nottinghamshire &
Northumberland to move coal from pit to river.There were 15 pits near Coleorton by
1779. Sir George Beaumont built himself a private extension to the Leicester &
Swannington Railway to Coleorton but Lord Moira (Hastings) relied on water (The
Ashby canal).
References
1) Domesday Book: 22: Leicestershire. EDS> Morris J, Morgan P. Phillimore,
Chester. 1979.
2) Bailey Brian J. Portrait of Leicestershire. Robert Hale, London. 1977.