Sewstern 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 in the parish of Buckminster, in the Melton district of east

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. It lies just south of Buckminster, with which it shares a primary school, situated between the two villages. It is 9 miles east of Melton Mowbray, 10 miles south 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 ...

and 4 miles from the A1 at Colsterworth. It is the easternmost village in Leicestershire.

Housing

Many of Sewstern’s houses are built in local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Almost all are individual, and indicate a village which has grown organically. Modern development is modest. Some houses are owned by the Buckminster Estate and let to tenants, while others are privately owned. Several houses have stables, and some have a paddock to the rear, with these facilities and the quiet roads through the village appealing to those with equestrian interests. ''Population'' The 1931 census was the last to enumerate Sewstern separately, when it had a population of 241. Buckminster and Sewstern together had a combined population of 356 in 2011.

History

The road bisecting the village along a north–south direction (''Timber Hill'' and ''Stamford Road'') is an ancient track, which may date back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, called ''Sewstern Lane''. At this point (and for most of its length) it forms the boundary between

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 ...

and

. This track is now partly road and partly green lane, and forms part of the modern

Viking Way The Viking Way is a long distance trail in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. History The route was officially opened on Sunday 5 September 1976 at Tealby, by the Deputy Chairman of Lincoln ...

long-distance trail. The small part of Sewstern to the east of this road is now part of Leicestershire. A range of occupations was recorded in Sewstern in 1381, including carpenters, a smith, a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

and a shoemaker. Businesses here in the 17th century included a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and a

chandlery A chandlery was originally the office in a wealthy medieval household responsible for wax and candles, as well as the room in which the candles were kept. It could be headed by a chandler. The office was subordinated to the kitchen, and only exist ...

. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Sewstern Lane was an important droving route for cattle being taken from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and northern England to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and became known as The Drift. This passing trade ended with the coming of the railways. Land on the eastern side of Sewstern was quarried for ironstone between 1937 and 1968 on a rolling opencast basis, with the fields returned to agricultural use within a season. The result can be seen in the landscape, with the fields in the quarried area, and also Back Lane, lying some 7 to 15 feet below the level of other roads. There is a small war memorial at the west end of the village, and another inside Holy Trinity Church. Sewstern was formerly a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

in Buckminster parish, from 1866 Sewstern was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1936 and merged with Buckminster.

Modern Industry

Sewstern Industrial Estate lies east of the village, just beyond the parish boundary, on the site of the former workshops of the ironstone company.

Church

Sewstern had a medieval

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

at the west end of the village by 1220, which had vanished by 1795. The sale of its bell in 1550 may mark its passing as a religious building. Three carved stones found in gardens in the west of the village may be from this building. Holy Trinity Church was built in 1842 on agricultural land alongside Back Lane. The architect was Anthony Salvin, who had been working locally at

Harlaxton Manor Harlaxton is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir and just off the A607, south-west from Grantham and north-east from Melton Mowbray. History Ae ...

Stoke Rochford Stoke Rochford is a small English village and civil parish south of Grantham in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 230 (including Easton, Lincolnshire, Easton). It has two notable Grad ...

, Easton, Belton and

. This ironstone building, in the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

revival style, is Salvin’s only

church.

Nonconformity

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 ...

congregation began meeting in ''c.''1803. ‘The Old Chapel’ was built in 1903 to replace an earlier and smaller building. It closed in the 1980s, and has since been converted to a private house.

School

Buckminster Primary School is half a mile north of Sewstern village, on the road to Buckminster. It was rated as Good by Ofsted in 2014.

Pub

Sewstern once had three public houses, but there is now only one, the Blue Dog. Its name references the political colour of Sir William Manners, the major landowner in the 1820s.

Village Hall

Sewstern Village Hall was built in 1962. Community events are held there such as the long running Saturday Bingo, and it is available to hire. It is home to the Newton's Players drama group and the Sewstern Pétanque team who play in the Rutland league. Rumours of it being one of the finest small gig venues in the region, having been widespread since the middle late early 80’s, are reinforced by the recent news that March To The Grave will be launching their 2022-23 World-Tour-of-the-Fens in early Sept 2022.

References

External links

Sewstern
Leicestershire Villages
Melton On-line
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton