Long Clawson is a village and former

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 ...

, now included in that of

Clawson, Hose and Harby Clawson, Hose and Harby is a civil parish in Leicestershire, England, forming part of the Melton district. It contains the villages of Harby, Hose and Long Clawson Long Clawson is a village and former civil parish, now included in that of Cl ...

, in the Melton district and 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. Being in the

Vale of Belvoir The Vale of Belvoir ( ) covers adjacent areas of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, England. The name derives from the Norman-French for "beautiful view" and dates back to Norman times. Extent and geology The vale is a tract ...

, the village is enclosed by farmland with rich soil ideal for pasture. Milk from local farms is used for

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 ...

, of which the Long Clawson dairy is one of the largest producers. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 664.

Origin of the name

There is some debate about the village name; one theory is that there were two villages named Clawson and Claxton that grew into one. History of Long Clawson
accessed 27 December 2009. The "Long" in the name may have arisen from it being over in length, although the main road through the village has 14 sharp bends.

History

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 ''Clachestone'', but there is evidence of much earlier settlement. Embedded in a tarmac footpath against the wall of the Manor House is an ancient

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

, the Long Clawson Stone. It is about 3 ft (91 cm) long and thought to be a fragment of a larger stone.Long Clawson Stone - Standing Stone
16 August 2004 The Manor House itself has an ancient

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

that is still stocked.Long Clawson - Melton Online
, Accessed 27 December 2009 On 1 April 1936 the parish was merged with Harby and

Hose A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally '' ...

to form "Clawson and Harby" (now "Clawson, Hose and Harby"). As in many villages, the number of businesses has declined in recent years. It once had five pubs, numerous stores and traders and its own police presence, but now has one pub, the ''Crown and Plough'', and a few shops. The community is strong and thriving with a growing population. Some 100 new houses were built in the early part of the 21st century and the primary school has doubled its pupil number. A traditional saying about Long Clawson and Hose claims "there are more whores in Hose than honest women in Long Clawson"; this also puns on items of clothing.

Religion

The places of worship are the Anglican church of

St Remigius Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event ...

, a

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 ...

church,Long Clawson Methodist Church
, 21 January 2009. and a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church dating from 1845. The last two congregations now meet in 20th-century red brick buildings. The former

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

chapel of 1868 has become a private residence. The parish church of St Remigius dates from about the 14th century. Its walls, like those of the nearby manor house, are made of a rich red local stone. It contains a medieval effigy of the crusader William Bozon. The church was restored in 1893 and seats 300. The present Methodist Church opened in 1956. Methodism was introduced into the village by a Mrs Hind through her contact with the Wesleyan Society in 1797. After joining a small society at

Nether Broughton Nether Broughton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Broughton and Old Dalby, in the Melton district, in Leicestershire, England. Broughton and Old Dalby's parish council is based in Nether Broughton. The village lies o ...

, she formed one in Long Clawson, meetings being held in the kitchen of her home. Later a licence was obtained and William Parkes's home was registered for public worship. It became known as the Consecrated Barn. The first chapel was built in 1801 and in 1816 improved by adding a gallery. In 1840 a new chapel was built on the present site at a cost of £1100. A new schoolroom and a Minister's vestry were added in 1873, and a

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

built alongside the chapel in 1887. In 1954 the chapel burnt down. A committee was formed to raise funds for a replacement and on 25 June 1955 the foundation stone for the new building was laid. It opened on 29 September 1956.

Long Clawson Dairy

One of only six in England where

is manufactured, Long Clawson Dairy was founded in 1911 by a dozen farmers from the Vale of Belvoir. The firm has prospered and is supplied today by over 40 farms, all within

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, as the

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

for Stilton requires. The supplier farms range in production between 350,000 and over 4 million litres of milk per year. The dairy employs about 200 to make an annual 6,700 tonnes of cheese in 60 varieties. Exports account for about 20 per cent of its sales, which came to some £54 million in 2008.Own site. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
/ref> The firm now makes about 65 per cent of the 9000 tonnes of Stilton cheese sold. The dairy continues to win several independent trophies and awards each year.

Other landmarks

The village has a recently restored

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

conspicuous on the skyline from the south. The mill, located at Mill Farm, has a typically Lincolnshire-style cap (white painted ogee-shaped) and counts as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

References

External links

Long Clawson websiteLong Clawson village description on Melton OnlineLong Clawson at GENUKILong Clawson dairy
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton