Hungarton (or Hungerton) is a small 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

Harborough district Harborough () is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering , the district is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter o ...

, in the county 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, about north-east of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and south-west 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 ...

. The population of the civil parish was 269 at the 2001 census, including

Ingarsby Ingarsby is one of the best preserved deserted medieval villages in England. It is situated about to the east of Leicester, and a little to the north of Houghton on the Hill. The majority of the site, which is situated on a west facing slope an ...

, and increased to 289 at the 2011 census.

Amenities

The village has a church, a village hall, a small stream and a

Millennium Green Millennium Greens are areas of green space for the benefit of local communities. 245 were created in cities, towns and villages across England to celebrate the turn of the Millennium. Their creation was funded in part by the National Lottery via ...

. It also has a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called ''The Black Boy''.

Stilton cheese Stilton is an English cheese, produced in two varieties: Blue, which has '' Penicillium roqueforti'' added to generate a characteristic smell and taste, and White, which does not. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of o ...

was first produced in a dairy in the grounds of

Quenby Hall Quenby Hall is a Jacobean house in parkland near the villages of Cold Newton and Hungarton, Leicestershire, England. It is described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as "the most important early-seventeenth century house in the county f Leicestershire. T ...

. The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist is part of a group benefice with Keyham,

Billesdon Billesdon is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of 745 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 901 at the 2011 census. It is just off the A47, nine miles east of Leicester. ...

Goadby Goadby is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, about 8 miles north of Market Harborough. It had a population of 204 according to the 2011 census. The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Gauti' ...

and

Skeffington Skeffington is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It lies 11 miles/18 km east of Leicester on the A47 Uppingham road, between Billesdon and Tugby and Keythorpe. The population at the 2011 census ...

. A service is held twice a month.

Heritage

The village features in the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Hungretone''. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Hungarton covers over and includes with the village the estates of

, Baggrave and

. A bill to enclose common lands in the village was introduced in 1762. The village layout follows the

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

built in 1764–1776 by

Shukburgh Ashby Shukburgh or Shuckburgh Ashby (6 October 1724 – 28 January 1792) was a British landowner and politician. Life Ashby was the eldest son of Shukburgh Ashby, Leicestershire and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He inherited the Quenby es ...

, then owner of nearby Quenby Hall. There are a few

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

s that pre-date this and several houses built since. John Marius Wilson: ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1870–72): :"HUNGERTON, a village, a township, and a parish in Billesdon district, Leicestershire. The village stands between the two branches of the river Wreak, 6 miles SE by E of Syston Junction r. station, and 7 NE by E of Leicester; and has a post office under Leicester. The township includes the village. Real property, £1,565. Pop., 196. Houses, 48. The parish contains also the liberty of Baggrave, and the hamlets of Ingarsby and Quenby. Acres, 2,910. Real property, £5,945. Pop., 302. Houses, 64. The property is divided among a few. Baggrave Hall is the seat of E. A. Burnaby, Esq. Quenby Hall has, for upwards of seven centuries, belonged to the Ashbys. Ingarsby Hall, an old moated building, is now a farmhouse. The living is a vicarage, united with the vicarage of Twyford and the p. curacy of Thorpe-Satchville, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £320. Patron, the Rev. E. Q. Ashby. The church is ancient; was restored in 1851; and consists of nave, chancel, and S aisle, with porch and lofty spire. There are a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

chapel and some charities." Samuel Lewis, editor: ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848): :"HUNGERTON (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Billesdon, chiefly in the hundred of Gartree, S. division, but partly in that of

East Goscote East Goscote is a modern village and civil parish in the Borough of Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England, just north of the market town of Syston. It is a medium-sized village, with a population measured at 2,866 in the 2011 census. ...

, N. division, of the county of Leicester, 7 miles (E. by N.) from Leicester; comprising the liberty of Baggrave, and the hamlets of Ingarsby and Quenby; and containing 267 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Twyford and the chapelry of Thorp-Satchville united in 1732, valued in the king's books at £9. 8. 1½., and in the alternate patronage of the families of Peacocke and Ashby; net income, £220."

Notable people

In birth order * George Ashby (1656–1728), politician, was born at Quenby Hall and buried at Hungarton. *

(1724–1792), landowner and politician, was buried at Hungarton. * Andrew Burnaby (1732–1812), travel writer and cleric, was buried at Hungarton. *

Louisa Cavendish-Bentinck Caroline Louisa Cavendish-Bentinck (née Burnaby; baptised 5 December 18326 July 1918) was the maternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, great-grandmother of Elizabeth II, and great-great-grandmother of King Charles III. Early lif ...

(née Burnaby, c. 1831–1918), a great-grandmother of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, was baptised at Hungarton. * Algernon Edwyn Burnaby (1868–1938) of Baggrave Hall, was Master of the Quorn Hunt.

References

External links

Hungarton Parish Walks
* ttp://www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk/hungarton-church-st-john-the-baptist/ Photographs of Hungarton church with some anecdotal history of the building and village {{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District