Gumley
Encyclopedia
Gumley is a village
in Leicestershire
, England
, United Kingdom
. The closest town is Market Harborough
.
The name Gumley is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon
“Gutmundesleah” – meaning Godmund’s clearing.
at Gumley in that year, at the instigation of Saint Boniface
, to answer accusations that he had been oppressing churches and monasteries. The outcome was that Æthelbald released the Church from all public burdens except the three common burdens of providing military service, and building and repairing bridges and fortresses. These obligations arguably initiated changes in the land tenurial system of England and eventually led to serfdom
.
King Offa
visited Gumley in 772 and 779 for the witanagemot of the kings of Mercia
. On the south side of Gumley Covert there is a pond called "the Mot" which may be a Saxon site. The pond stands in a small natural amphitheatre near a mound surmounted with trees.
After the Norman Conquest Gumley was given to Countess Judith
, the Conqueror
's niece. At that time there were twenty inhabitants. In the medieval period there were dwellings below the village towards Thornhill Farm, of which little remains apart from some surface irregularities and cobbles on the footpath passing by Too Cottage. There were also houses by the 'holloways' in Crow Spinney beside the parish church
.
Gumley’s population peaked in 1821 when 281 residents were engaged working the land as well as making lace
and stocking
s. Now there are about 105 people on the electoral roll.
Because Gumley has been surrounded by pasture
predominantly, the medieval ridge and furrow
method of working the land is particularly well preserved and its fields are subject to preservation orders.
who apparently took over the house in an unfinished condition. South of the hall and opening upon the village street the red-brick stables built round a court-yard were erected by Capt. Whitmore; the clock tower in the style of an Italian campanile bears the inscription Incorrupta Fides and a weathercock dated 1870.
Cradock laid out the gardens and plantations of Gumley Hall in imitation of the Parc de Saint-Cloud
, and in the summer months they became a fashionable resort for the gentry of Leicester, particularly those who came to take the mineral waters of its 'spa', a chalybeate
spring
found in 1789.
Cradock moved in the literary society of Goldsmith
, Johnson
, and Burke
, and built a theatre at Gumley which was used for amateur productions and by Garrick
. The owners of Gumley Hall in the 19th century, were not always resident. There were at least two periods when the hall was in the hands of tenants-the 1860's and the 1890's. The Cradock-Hartopps let it to Lt.-Col. Dottin Maycock (1816-79) before he moved to Foxton Lodge, and then to Viscount Ingestre
(1830-77) before he succeeded as 19th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1868.
After many structural alterations in 1869-70, the new owner, Capt. Whitmore, came into residence. From c. 1890, when he moved to Essex, he let the hall to a succession of tenants: Thomas Keay Tapling
(1855-91), M.P. for South Leicestershire; James Coats (1834-1913), of J. & P. Coats, Ltd.; and from 1893 Mrs. Emma Bellville, who afterwards moved to Stoughton
Grange. In 1897 the hall was bought by the Murray Smiths, who lived there until 1940. G. A. Murray Smith then moved into the Rectory, which was no longer required by the incumbent.
During the Second World War the Hall was used to train resistance fighters and Special Operations Executive
and afterwards Leonard Cheshire
was given the use of the Hall for those servicemen returning homeless after demobilisation. The Hall became increasingly dilapidated and was demolished in 1964.
in 1874 and is a good example of the Decorative style. There is a service every Sunday with a family service once a month.
At the Engine House gas
was manufactured for the Hall. There was a Post Office
and part of the bakery
remains as outbuildings of Westfield. The Butcher
s shop was at the ‘Js’ where it was preserved as a museum until recently. There were two public house
s in the 1840s, the Hartopp Arms and the Bluebell, which later became The Bell. Only two of seven farms in Gumley are left.
Grade 2 listed structures in the village include Hall Farm, Rose Cottage and Fenleigh Cottage, Stone House, Leys Farm and the village pump. The Motte
Castle
, a tree ringed mound to the west of Gumley is a Scheduled Monument.
The Village Hall
was opened in 1969 on the site of Gumley's former school, which closed in 1933. It is run as a charitable trust and has a small committee open to anyone from the village who cares to join. There is a fish and chips
evening in February and a summer barbecue
in August as well as other social events.
The Fernie Hunt, founded in 1919, traditionally holds its opening meet in Gumley in October.
Gumley Cricket Club
is a village cricket
team based in Gumley, Leicestershire, England. The club has three teams, the Saturday and Sunday XI's play friendly fixtures against an established selection of clubs. The Midweek XI competes in the Market Harborough District Midweek Evening League and Knockout competitions.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The closest town is Market Harborough
Market Harborough
Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.It has a population of 20,785 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border...
.
The name Gumley is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
“Gutmundesleah” – meaning Godmund’s clearing.
History
The village is first mentioned in 749. King Æthelbald of Mercia (r.716-757) held a synodSynod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
at Gumley in that year, at the instigation of Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
, to answer accusations that he had been oppressing churches and monasteries. The outcome was that Æthelbald released the Church from all public burdens except the three common burdens of providing military service, and building and repairing bridges and fortresses. These obligations arguably initiated changes in the land tenurial system of England and eventually led to serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
.
King Offa
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
visited Gumley in 772 and 779 for the witanagemot of the kings of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. On the south side of Gumley Covert there is a pond called "the Mot" which may be a Saxon site. The pond stands in a small natural amphitheatre near a mound surmounted with trees.
After the Norman Conquest Gumley was given to Countess Judith
Judith of Lens
Countess Judith , was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of his sister Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale and Lambert II, Count of Lens....
, the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
's niece. At that time there were twenty inhabitants. In the medieval period there were dwellings below the village towards Thornhill Farm, of which little remains apart from some surface irregularities and cobbles on the footpath passing by Too Cottage. There were also houses by the 'holloways' in Crow Spinney beside the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
.
Gumley’s population peaked in 1821 when 281 residents were engaged working the land as well as making lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
and stocking
Stocking
A stocking, , is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency...
s. Now there are about 105 people on the electoral roll.
Because Gumley has been surrounded by pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
predominantly, the medieval ridge and furrow
Ridge and furrow
Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages. The earliest examples date to the immediate post-Roman period and the system was used until the 17th century in some areas. Ridge and furrow topography is...
method of working the land is particularly well preserved and its fields are subject to preservation orders.
Gumley Hall
Gumley Hall was built in 1764 for Joseph Cradock (d. 1826). It consists of a large three storey red brick central block, flanked by two-story pavilions connected to the main block by quadrant walls. Internally many of the features, including the main staircase with its cast-iron balustrade, appear to date from the earlier 19th century. These were probably inserted between 1823 and 1833 by Sir Edmund Cradock-HartoppSir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 1st Baronet
Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 1st Baronet was a British baronet and politician.Born Edmund Bunney, he was the son of Joseph Bunney and Mary Cradock in Freathby, Leicestershire...
who apparently took over the house in an unfinished condition. South of the hall and opening upon the village street the red-brick stables built round a court-yard were erected by Capt. Whitmore; the clock tower in the style of an Italian campanile bears the inscription Incorrupta Fides and a weathercock dated 1870.
Cradock laid out the gardens and plantations of Gumley Hall in imitation of the Parc de Saint-Cloud
Parc de Saint-Cloud
The Parc de Saint-Cloud, officially the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, is a domaine national , located mostly within Saint-Cloud, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, near Paris, France....
, and in the summer months they became a fashionable resort for the gentry of Leicester, particularly those who came to take the mineral waters of its 'spa', a chalybeate
Chalybeate
Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...
spring
Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...
found in 1789.
Cradock moved in the literary society of Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
, Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, and Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, and built a theatre at Gumley which was used for amateur productions and by Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
. The owners of Gumley Hall in the 19th century, were not always resident. There were at least two periods when the hall was in the hands of tenants-the 1860's and the 1890's. The Cradock-Hartopps let it to Lt.-Col. Dottin Maycock (1816-79) before he moved to Foxton Lodge, and then to Viscount Ingestre
Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury
Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, 19th Earl of Waterford, 4th Earl Talbot, PC , styled Viscount Ingestre between 1849 and 1868, was a British Conservative politician...
(1830-77) before he succeeded as 19th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1868.
After many structural alterations in 1869-70, the new owner, Capt. Whitmore, came into residence. From c. 1890, when he moved to Essex, he let the hall to a succession of tenants: Thomas Keay Tapling
Thomas Tapling
Thomas Keay Tapling was an English businessman and politician. He played first class cricket and was also an eminent philatelist who formed one of the greatest stamp collections of his era.- Early life :...
(1855-91), M.P. for South Leicestershire; James Coats (1834-1913), of J. & P. Coats, Ltd.; and from 1893 Mrs. Emma Bellville, who afterwards moved to Stoughton
Stoughton, Leicestershire
Stoughton is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire.It is just east of Leicester, and sits in countryside between two protusions of the Leicester urban area . The closest part of the city of Leicester is Evington...
Grange. In 1897 the hall was bought by the Murray Smiths, who lived there until 1940. G. A. Murray Smith then moved into the Rectory, which was no longer required by the incumbent.
During the Second World War the Hall was used to train resistance fighters and Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
and afterwards Leonard Cheshire
Leonard Cheshire
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC was a highly decorated British RAF pilot during the Second World War....
was given the use of the Hall for those servicemen returning homeless after demobilisation. The Hall became increasingly dilapidated and was demolished in 1964.
Other buildings
St Helens Church mostly dates from the 14th century with later additions. The tenor bell was cast around 1520. The interior of the church was restored in the Victorian eraVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
in 1874 and is a good example of the Decorative style. There is a service every Sunday with a family service once a month.
At the Engine House gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
was manufactured for the Hall. There was a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and part of the bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
remains as outbuildings of Westfield. The Butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s shop was at the ‘Js’ where it was preserved as a museum until recently. There were two public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s in the 1840s, the Hartopp Arms and the Bluebell, which later became The Bell. Only two of seven farms in Gumley are left.
Grade 2 listed structures in the village include Hall Farm, Rose Cottage and Fenleigh Cottage, Stone House, Leys Farm and the village pump. The Motte
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
Castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
, a tree ringed mound to the west of Gumley is a Scheduled Monument.
The Village Hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
was opened in 1969 on the site of Gumley's former school, which closed in 1933. It is run as a charitable trust and has a small committee open to anyone from the village who cares to join. There is a fish and chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
evening in February and a summer barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
in August as well as other social events.
Village activities
Gumley Women's Institute was founded in 1918 and is one of the oldest in the whole country. Meetings are still held most months in the Village Hall.The Fernie Hunt, founded in 1919, traditionally holds its opening meet in Gumley in October.
Gumley Cricket Club
Gumley Cricket Club
Gumley Cricket Club is a village cricket team based in Gumley, Leicestershire, England. The club has three teams. The Saturday XI, having traditionally played friendlies, from 2009 competes in the Northamptonshire Cricket League. The Sunday XI plays friendly fixtures against an established...
is a village cricket
Village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels of the English cricket pyramid....
team based in Gumley, Leicestershire, England. The club has three teams, the Saturday and Sunday XI's play friendly fixtures against an established selection of clubs. The Midweek XI competes in the Market Harborough District Midweek Evening League and Knockout competitions.