Bardon is a
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
and former village in
North West Leicestershire about southeast of the centre of
Coalville. The parish includes
Bardon Hill, which at above sea level is the highest point in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
. With the population remaining less than 100, information from the 2011 census was included in the civil parish of
Ellistown and Battleflat.
History
The village's name means '
tumulus
A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...
hill'.
East of Bardon Hill is an oval
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
about wide and deep.
It encloses an area measuring about by , and the island thus created is raised about above the level of the surrounding land.
[ The site is a ]scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.[ This site is about east of Kellam's Farm and a few metres north of the main east-west asphalt driveway (carriage road) linking Copt Oak and Bardon Hall.
South of Bardon Hill is a second moat. This moat is square or rectangular. The moat island is the site of the old Bardon Hall, which was demolished in about 1840 after the current Bardon Hall was completed further up Bardon Hill.][
Granite was being quarried from Bardon Hill by 1622.]public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
called the Birch Tree. However, in the 1990s the village was demolished to allow the quarry to be expanded.[
]
Bardon Hall
Bardon Hall is a mid-19th century Tudor revival house built in about 1830[ An earlier moated house, the Old Hall, was situated in a shallow valley in Bardon Park, south of Bardon Hill. The hall had been the property of members of the Hood family since the 1620s. The last male member of this family, William Hood, died in 1835 without issue. Hood left the estate to his cousin, Robert Jacomb, on condition that Robert assumed the surname of Hood.
The Old Hall was demolished in about 1840 for Robert Jacomb Hood, who described it in his memoirs as "too dilapidated for residence, and the situation was low, damp and unhealthy" The moat that surrounded it still remains.
In 1864 the whole estate was sold to William Percy Herrick of Beaumanor Hall. To improve access Herrick had a private carriage road built, leading to the Ashby de la Zouch road.
The Hall is Grade II listed,][ and is the head office of Aggregate Industries, the owners of Bardon Hill Quarry.
]
Church and chapel
Parish church
St Peter's Church, Bardon was designed by the architect J.B. Everard[ (1844–1923) and built in 1899.][ St Peter's was built in memory of two members of the Everard family][
The tower has a saddleback roof topped by a flèche.][ It has three bells, all cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough in 1899.
St Peter's parish is now part of a single ]benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
with Christ Church, Coalville and St Michael and All Angels, Ravenstone.[ Bardon's ecclesiastical and civil parishes are not coterminous. St Peter's church is about outside the civil parish, in the civil parish of Coalville.
]
Chapel
Bardon Park Chapelpulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
, which is octagonal and has fluted Doric pilaster
In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s.[ A wooden screen and doors date from the remodelling of about 1830.][ The chapel has always been galleried, but the original gallery which had wooden Doric columns was replaced in the remodelling of about 1900 with the present gallery on iron columns.][ The chapel is part of the United Reformed Church.][
]
See also
* Bardon Hill
References
Sources and further reading
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External links
{{Towns and Villages of North West Leicestershire , state=expanded
Civil parishes in Leicestershire
Former populated places in Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire District