Welcome to the Parish of Appleby Magna
Our small village in rural Leicestershire has a rich history. We have evidence of occupation dating back to the Iron Age. Roman remains, a mediaeval dwelling still used as a family home, and a school based on an original design by Sir Christopher Wren are just some of our treasures. This site brings together information from a variety of sources, delving into the village's past, from the iron age to the 20th century. All the work represented here has been undertaken by volunteers. Please respect their rights and do not use this material without permission.
Just Added: July 2010
22 Botts Lane - a picture of the previous house that was knocked down in the early 1980s (scroll down the page a little)
Bishop's Transcript of the Parish Records 1570 - an image of the handwritten transcript and a translation of the records, researched and interpreted by Richard Dunmore
Shopping in Appleby: Memories of the 1950s from Allan Condie
June 2010
Appleby's Public Transport in the 20th Century, an interesting insight into the bus services of the past, contributed by Allan Condie, one of the Rowland family.
May 2010
Two poems written by Appleby people about the village, both evoking memories of the past in their different ways. The Changing Face, by Steve Burton, describes beautifully the changes he saw since his childhood. Appleby Magna is an older poem about the village's history and the heritage it left for its residents today.
April 2010
Filling the gap in the Parish Registers: the missing entries between 1725 – 1731 have been transcribed from the Bishop's Transcripts of the time
Updating In Focus: Chapter 2, The Roman Occupation has been revised
New for 2010: The Parish Registers
We are very excited to present a searchable version of the Church Registers (recording baptisms, weddings and burials) from St Michael & All Angel's Church, covering the years 1572 to 1906. This has been a major undertaking involving scanning each page of the 1934 transcript and converting it to text. The converted files have been saved in pdf format and can be used to look up family names quickly and easily.
The registers have been provided by the Parochial Church Council and we are very grateful for their permission to publish them here, and of course to Chris for doing all the work.
Items Added 2010
- The Roman Occupation: A revision of chapter 2 of Richard Dunmore's In Focus series, presenting evidence of Roman activity around the village, and the possible routes of Roman roads through the area
- New pictures of Eastgate House added to the Tour of the Village: Top Street, courtesy of Duncan Saunders
- Beginnings: A revised version of chapter 1 of Richard Dunmore's In Focus series, with an additional map showing sites of early human activity around Appleby Magna and Parva
Items Added 2009
- The Bells of Appleby: A new article by Richard Dunmore on the bells of St Michael & All Angels church (October 2009)
- Revised version of In Focus 8, The Land of Burton Abbey at Appleby Magna using a more accurate transcript of 12th century surveys, revealing details of the lives of ordinary peasant villagers under the feudal system
- Extended History Tour with additional information and images
- An Appleby Penitent: Alan Roberts unearths a tale of sin and remorse in 18th century Appleby
- Sir John Moore's Benevolence: Richard Dunmore on Appleby's most famous benefactor
- The Clockmakers of Appleby: A history of clock making in the village, by Richard Dunmore
Family History
We have a wealth of information to help people with their family history, including the digitised version of the parish registers. You can use the Search facility to find a mention of a family name anywhere on the site.
We're sorry that we don't have the resources to respond to individual requests for family history, but we recommend posing questions on the Discussion Board.
If you are interested in the Appleby family name, we suggest you try www.applebydna.org.uk which is an international project, part of the Appleby One-Name Study, which aims to identify the origins of (and possible connections between) the various known Appleby/Applebee/Appelbe family trees.
A good place for further research is the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office, and there is also a Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society with a web site full of useful tips - see our Links page
Contributions
We welcome new contributions to the site. Please contact us on website @ applebymagna.org.uk
Search the Appleby History Site
Results will be listed in a new window. Please note that if the search result is from the Parish Registers (a pdf file) you will have to search again within the pdf file to find the actual text.