Croxton Kerrial (pronounced �kroʊsən ˈkɛrɨl is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Melton borough of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England, south-west of

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

, north-east of

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

, and west of Leicestershire's border with

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. The civil parish includes the village of Branston and had a population of 530 at the 2011 census.

History

The village's name means "farm/settlement of Krok" or "farm/settlement of a crook". In medieval times,

Croxton Abbey Croxton Abbey, near Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire, was a Premonstratensian monastery founded by William I, Count of Boulogne. History Croxton Abbey was founded by William, Count of Boulogne and Mortain, who donated the land for the abbe ...

, a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

house, lay within the locality. The manor of Croxton was granted (in part-exchange for the manor of

Kettleburgh Kettleburgh is a small village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk. The population of this Civil Parish at the 2011 Census was 231. It is near the small towns of Wickham Market and Framlingham in the valley of ...

, Suffolk) by King Henry III in May 1242 to

Bertram de Criol Sir Bertram de Criol (Criel, Crioill, Cyroyl, or Kerrial, etc.) (died 1256) was a senior and trusted Steward and diplomat to King Henry III. He served as Constable and Keeper of Dover Castle, Keeper of the Coast and of the Cinque Ports, Keeper of ...

or Crioill,

Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cinqu ...

His seat was at Ostenhanger in

Stanford, Kent Stanford is a village and civil parish in Kent, England. It is part of the Folkestone and Hythe district. It has been divided by the M20 into Stanford North and Stanford South. The Stanford Windmill is to the north of the M20 and west of the a ...

.) The name "Kerrial" derives from him.

Nicholas de Crioll Nicholas de Crioll (Cryoyll, Kerrial or Kyriel) (died c. February 1272), of a family seated in Kent, was Warden of the Cinque Ports, Constable of Dover Castle and Keeper of the Coast during the early 1260s. His kinsman Bertram de Criol (died 1256 ...

, a successor to Bertram as Warden of the Cinque Ports, married the heiress of William de Auberville the younger, whose grandfather in 1192 founded the Premonstratensian abbey of Langdon, near

West Langdon West Langdon is a village in the Dover district of Kent, England. It is located five miles north of Dover town. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Langdon. The name ''Langdon'' derives from an Old English ...

, Kent;

Leiston Abbey Leiston Abbey outside the town of Leiston, Suffolk, England, was a religious house of Canons Regular following the Premonstratensian rule (White canons), dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, St Mary. Founded in c. 1183 by Ranulf de Glanville (c. 11 ...

in Suffolk had been founded by his father-in-law

Ranulf de Glanville Ranulf is a masculine given name in the English language. It is derived from the Old Norse name ''Reginúlfr''. This Old Norse personal name is composed of two elements: the first, ''regin'', means "advice", "decision" (and also "the gods"); the s ...

in 1183. On 28 December 1246 the king granted a Monday weekly market to Nicholas de Crioll and his heirs, at his manor of Croxton, and a yearly fair on the vigil, feast and morrow of St Barnabas (June 10–12).

Governance

Lying across the historical county boundaries of

and

from very early times, Croxton Kerrial once formed an ancient parish within the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

Framland Framland was a hundred in north-east Leicestershire, England, roughly corresponding to today's borough of Melton. It was recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' as one of Leicestershire's four wapentakes. The name remains in use as a deanery of the Dioc ...

. From 1894, Croxton Kerrial formed part of the

Belvoir Rural District Belvoir was a rural district in Leicestershire, England from 1894 to 1935. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from the part of the Grantham Rural Sanitary District that was in Leicestershire. It was a small district, named after t ...

, until it was amalgamated in 1935 into

Melton and Belvoir Rural District Melton may refer to: Places * Melton, Victoria, a satellite city outside Melbourne, Australia ** Electoral district of Melton, the Victorian Legislative Assembly electorate based on Melton ** Melton, Victoria (suburb), a suburb of Melton **Melton ...

, both of which were in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Leicestershire. On 1 April 1936 the parish of Branston was abolished and merged with Croxton Kerrial. In 1974, under the provisions of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Croxton Kerrial was transferred into the newly created

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

of Melton, while remaining within Leicestershire county.

Geography

Croxton Kerrial can be described as hilly, its highest point being 500 ft (152 m) above sea level. Much of the land surrounding it is arable farmland. Nearby are

Knipton Knipton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Belvoir, in the Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It lies about from the town of Grantham, just off the A607, and from Melton Mowbray. It borders the ...

and

Harston Harston is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around 5 miles (8 km) south of Cambridge. In 2011, it had a population of 1,740. Village Sign The village sign was erected in the Queen's Silver Jubilee ye ...

(both in Belvoir parish),

Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. The Castle was first built immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 an ...

, Hungerton (over the border in

), Eaton and Sproxton.

South Croxton South Croxton (traditionally pronounced "crow-sun" �kroʊsən is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It had a population of 261 in the 2011 census. Nearby villages include Beeb ...

is a separate village and civil parish in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, named to reflect its position south of Croxton Kerrial. A local landmark is the Croxton Water Spout, part of an old water system sourced from a local spring, which was refurbished in 2003 as part of the Millennium celebrations.

Education and worship

Croxton Kerrial

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Primary School converted to academy status in 2013 under the Leicester Diocese Charitable Trust. An

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report in June 2015 graded the school as good. It had a roll of 73. The Anglican church, part of the

Diocese of Leicester The Diocese of Leicester is a Church of England diocese based in Leicester and including the current county of Leicestershire. The cathedral is Leicester Cathedral, where the Bishop of Leicester has his episcopal chair. The diocese is divided int ...

, is dedicated to

Saint Botolph Botolph of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as vario ...

and to

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. There is a former

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel in the village.

Sport

Croxton Kerrial currently has a senior football team, CK Dons, playing in the

Leicester and District Football League The Leicester and District Football League is an association football competition based in England. The league has three divisions, of which the highest, the Premier Division, sits at level 12 of the English football league system and is a feeder ...

. It also has a Sunday cricket team, which plays in the GMCA Division 3. South-west of the village (beyond Croxton Park) is the disused Croxton Park race course. The last race meeting there was held on 2 April 1914.

References

External links

Croxton Kerrial
GENUKI article.
Croxton Kerrial
a Leicestershirevillages.com community forum. {{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton