Breedon on the Hill

Geography

Breedon is notable for its Carboniferous limestone hill that rises 122 m above sea level in a generally low-lying landscape and affords distant views across several counties. A large portion of the hill has been cut away by an active quarry now operated by the Breedon Group. This currently produces limestone and gravel. It has also produced sand.

On top of the hill is The Bulwarks Iron Age hill fort, within which is Breedon's historic Church of England parish church. A recent survey found considerable evidence of occupation within the southern part of the hillfort enclosure.

Breedon is 3 mi from East Midlands Airport and 5 mi from the junction of the A42 road and M1 motorway. The village is 3 mi from the River Trent, and 2 mi from Donington Park motor circuit.

Etymology

The name Breedon is first attested in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People of 731, in the form Briudun and Breadun. Here the name refers to the settlement now known as Breedon, but the settlement evidently took its name from the hill on which it stands, which must once simply have been called Breedon: the first element of the name derives from Brittonic *breɣ ("hill"). This word, whose literal meaning was presumably not understood by Old English-speakers, was borrowed into Old English as a name for the hill, with the addition for clarification of the Old English word dūn (also meaning "hill"). When the word dūn ceased to be understood to mean "hill", and perhaps also to distinguish the settlement from this hill on which it stood, the element on the Hill was added; the form Breedon on the Hill is first attested in 1610. Thus the name is, in terms of its etymological meanings, triply tautologous.

History

Excavation of The Bulwarks in 1946 identified occupation between about the 1st century BC and about 1st century AD.

Medieval hagiography manuscripts record four saints buried in Breedon on the Hill. They are Friduricus, donor of the Mercian royal monastery built in Breedon during the seventh century, King Eardwulf of Northumbria, and relatively unknown Anglo-Saxon Saints Beonna of Breedon and Cotta of Breedon.

Breedon has a circular stone-built village lock-up and similar to the one in the nearby Worthington. It was used for detaining local drunks, and the adjoining pound for straying livestock. The lock-up and pound together comprise a Grade II listed building.

Breedon Hall is an historic building which was the ancestral home of the Curzon family.

In 1874, a branch of the Midland Railway was built through the eastern part of the parish and Tonge and Breedon railway station was built at Tonge. In 1980 British Rail closed the line and later the track was dismantled. The trackbed through the parish is now part of National Cycle Route 6.

Breedon Priory Church

Main article: Church of St Mary and St Hardulph

The Priory Church of St Mary and St Hardulph was originally a monastery founded in about AD 676 on the site of The Bulwarks, an Iron Age hill fort. It was re-founded as an Augustinian priory early in the 12th century. Before becoming a monastery it was a hermitage.

In 1498 members of the visiting Battenberg family took mass at the church on a number of occasions.

What remains of the priory church includes a large number of Anglo-Saxon sculptures, an ornate family box pew and notable Renaissance church monuments.

Amenities

Breedon has two pubs: the Holly Bush and the Three Horseshoes. There was a third pub, The Lime Kiln, but this is now a private home.

The village has a small primary school and a post office. It did have a butcher's shop, but that closed in 2017. The school, St Hardulph's Church of England Primary School, was built in 1962 and also housed community facilities. Relations between the school, Leicestershire County Council and the local community association subsequently broke down and the community association was unsuccessful in a high court application arguing that they had the right to use the facilities on the grounds that the community had contributed some of the funding for the construction of the building.

Breedon has a football club, Breedon F.C.

References

Sources

References

1. "Area selected: North West Leicestershire (Non-Metropolitan District)". [[Office for National Statistics]].
2. "Leicestershire County Council: 2001 Census".
3. Richardson, Hannah. (26 July 2022). "Quarry at Breedon on the Hill is given approval to carry on working the area for an extra 36 years".
4. "Breedon Quarry and Cloud Hill Quarry,11th July 2007".
5. (2019). "Breedon Hill, Leicestershire: new surveys and their implications". Internet Archaeology.
6. (2004). "The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society". Cambridge University Press.
7. Mills, A.D.. (2003). "A Dictionary of British Place Names". [[Oxford University Press]].
8. "Key to English Place-names".
9. {{harvnb. Pevsner. 1960
10. Williams, Brian C. J.. (1996). "The Story of St. Mary and St. Hardulph Church: A Cradle of our Faith". The United Benefice of Breedon and Worthington.
11. [https://archive.today/20140103065303/http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=stowe_ms_944_f029v Stowe MS 944], [[British Library]]
12. The [[Oxford Dictionary of Saints]], [[Oxford University Press]].
13. with an adjoining animal pound. The lock-up is 18th-century{{NHLE |num=1074127 |desc=Lock Up and Pound |grade=II |fewer-links= |access-date=9 November 2024}}
14. England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division), [https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/1387.html Dore & Ors v Leicestershire County Council & Anor [2010] EWHC 1387 (Ch) (11 June 2010)], accessed 22 September 2023