PARISHES ADDED TO LEICESTER SINCE 1892 AYLESTONE
Aylestone lies 2½ miles to the south-west of Leicester, on the road from Leicester to Lutterworth, and
on the River Soar and the Leicestershire and
Northampton Union Canal. The ancient parish lay
in Guthlaxton hundred and contained the chapelries
of Lubbesthorpe and Glen Parva as well as Aylestone township. Lubbesthorpe and Glen Parva were
still in the administrative county in 1955 and consequently are not dealt with here. (fn. 1) Aylestone township covered 1,723 acres in 1891. Most of it is now
in the county borough and civil parish of Leicester,
and since 1891 has been divided ecclesiastically into
the two parishes of St. Andrew, Aylestone, and
St. James, Aylestone Park. (fn. 2) These had populations of
4,798 and 14,540 respectively in 1931. The older part
of the village is situated on a stretch of river gravel
by the Soar. The surface soil of the parish is largely
Boulder Clay, with alluvium in the Soar valley.
Aylestone is now an almost completely built up
area, but some remains of the old village still survive. Aylestone Hall is a plain, grey-plastered stone
building, probably of the Tudor period, standing in
its own small grounds, at the corner of Aylestone
Road and Hall Lane. It is doubtful if the lords of the
manor, either Vernons or Mannerses, ever resided
there for any length of time. Dorothy Vernon's son,
George Manners, almost certainly lived there for
some years, as the baptisms of several of his children
are recorded in the parish registers, although it was
probably not his principal place of residence and he
seems only to have used it until he inherited the
Derbyshire property at Haddon on the death of his
father. In 1846 part of Aylestone Hall was being used
as a ladies' boarding school. (fn. 3) In 1854 it was occupied
by a Joseph Knight. (fn. 4) When the Duke of Rutland
sold the manor in 1869 the hall was in the possession
of Nathaniel Stone. (fn. 5) In 1896 it was the residence of
Simeon Stretton and was still owned by the Strettons in 1938. (fn. 6) It is now (1955) the property of
Leicester Corporation. (fn. 7) The grounds have been
made into a small public park, and the house is used
as a restaurant.
The stone pack-horse bridge over the Soar is of
uncertain date. Judging from architectural evidence
it probably dates from the 15th or 16th century.
There is one timbered house in the village dating
from the 16th century, but most of the cottages are
of the early 19th century.
Manor.
Robert, Count of Meulan and probably
Earl of Leicester (d. 1118), held 11/6 hide in AYLESTONE in 1086, the village thus forming part of his
extensive possessions in Leicestershire. (fn. 8) Aylestone
remained in the hands of his successors, the earls of
Leicester, until it passed to Margaret, wife of Saer
de Quency (later Earl of Winchester) at the division
of the estates after the death of Earl Robert FitzParnell in 1204. (fn. 9) Before his death in 1219, Saer had
settled the manor of Aylestone on his daughter
Arabella and her husband, Richard Harecurt. (fn. 10)
When Richard died in 1258, he held the manor of
Aylestone, for the service of one knight's fee, from
the Earl of Winchester. (fn. 11) He was succeeded by his
son, William, who forfeited his estates as punishment for his support of Simon de Montfort. (fn. 12) At the
instance of his brother-in-law, Alan la Zouche of
Ashby, the manors of Aylestone and Tonge (Salop)
were redeemed in 1267 for the benefit of William's
two daughters, Arabella and Margaret, upon their
marriages. (fn. 13) Aylestone passed to Margaret, but she
died without issue and the manor was inherited by
Arabella's son and heir, Fulk de Pembrugge, in
1280, when it was still held for the service of a
knight's fee from the heirs of the Earl of Winchester. (fn. 14)
The manor was held by Fulk from Richard Harecurt,
son of William and half-brother of Arabella and
Margaret. Fulk's successors continued to hold from
the Harecurt family. (fn. 15) Fulk de Pembrugge died in
1296 and was succeeded by his son, Fulk (II), then
a minor. (fn. 16) He died before 1326, when there was
an inquisition post mortem upon his Shropshire
estates, although none exists for Aylestone. (fn. 17)
Probably he, like his father, held the manor free of
service, as it was held to have been settled in free
marriage upon his grandmother Alice, wife of
William Harecurt. (fn. 18) He was succeeded by his son
Fulk (III), whose widow Alice demanded certain
lands in Aylestone as dower in 1345, when she was
already married for the second time, to Richard de
Noweres. (fn. 19) The defendant in this action was Robert
de Pembrugge, brother and heir to Fulk (III), who
was assessed at the aid for knighting the Black Prince
in 1346 at 20s. for ½ knight's fee in Aylestone. (fn. 20)
Robert's son Fulk (IV), who died in 1409, was the
last Pembrugge of the male line, (fn. 21) and the manor
was held in dower by his widow Isabel until her
death in 1447. Her husband's heir was his sister
Juliana, wife of Richard Vernon. (fn. 22) Juliana died
before her sister-in-law, and on Isabel's death the
next heir was Juliana's grandson, Sir Richard de
Vernon. At his death in 1451 the manor was still
said to be held of the Harecurts for the service of ½
knight's fee. (fn. 23) The manor continued in the possession
of the Vernon family, (fn. 24) whose principal seat was at
Haddon Hall (Derb.). In 1565, on the death of Sir
George Vernon, (fn. 25) Aylestone passed with Haddon
and other Derbyshire manors to Dorothy, his
younger daughter and coheir, and her husband
John Manners. (fn. 26) Dorothy died in 1584 and John in
1611, when their eldest son George Manners succeeded to their estates. (fn. 27) In 1641 George's son
John became Earl of Rutland on the death of his
cousin. The manor of Aylestone remained in the
possession of the earls and dukes of Rutland until it
was sold in 1869, (fn. 28) after which the manorial rights
seem to have been extinguished.
Economic History.
In 1086 the holding of
the Count of Meulan consisted of 11/6 hide. The count
had 2 ploughs on his demesne, and a further 5 were
used by his tenants, who numbered 24 villeins and
5 bordars. A bondwoman also worked on the demesne. The count also owned 4 mills, valued at 48s.,
and 55 acres of meadow, and his whole holding was
valued at £4, as against £3 before the Conquest.
Before the Conquest 6 ploughlands had been held
by Saxi, from whom they were held by Lewin. (fn. 29)
Alveva, widow of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, had held
5 carucates in Aylestone with 12 ploughs before the
Conquest. (fn. 30) She was dead by 1086, and the lands
were in the possession of the king, who had 2
ploughs and 1 serf in demesne; there were also 18
villeins, a socman and 8 bordars, who had 6 ploughs,
and the whole holding formerly possessed by Alveva
was worth 110s. in 1086. Two further tenants of the
Count of Meulan, Turald and Ulnod, held separately
described lands, the former the land of 4 villeins and
worth 20s., and the latter 4 carucates worth the
same. Ulnod's land had been held before the Conquest by the Saxon Lewin, and these two holdings
may perhaps be equated with that of Lewin and
Saxi, mentioned above, although they are said to belong to Aylestone and might not have been in the
village at all. (fn. 31)
The population of Aylestone as enumerated in
1086 was not inconsiderable, and indicates a place of
some size. By the 14th century, so far as the information from the tax returns may be taken as reliable,
the number of inhabitants, or at least of those wealthy
enough to be taxed, seems to have fallen. In 1327 the
eight taxpayers in the village paid a total of 325. to the
subsidy. By 1332 this was reduced to 24s. 6d. The
most heavily taxed was Henry juxta aquam, who
paid 55. in 1327 and 6s. in 1332. (fn. 32)
At an inquisition taken in 1272, the condition of
tenure of Henry le Forcer was described. His 4½
carucates were held 'by homage and the service of
going into Wales, and staying there at his own proper
costs, and of being the pantler and butler of his said
lord there'. (fn. 33) This land was ordered to be delivered
in wardship to Margaret Harecurt in 1273. (fn. 34) Robert
de Aylestone, who was in 1339 plaintiff in a suit
against Richard de Aylestone for land in the parish,
is probably to be identified with the Robert de Aylestone to whom in 1325 a parliamentary petition was
referred and who afterwards appears as a baron of the
Exchequer. (fn. 35)
Only five taxpayers contributed to the subsidy of
1571, a total of 42s. 8d., (fn. 36) although in 1563 40 families
were living in the parish. (fn. 37) In 1603 there were 250
communicants in the village, and this presumably
included most of the adult population. (fn. 38) Among the
families in Aylestone were some members of the
notable Wigston family of Leicester. (fn. 39) In 1645, before
the seige of Leicester, Charles I and Prince Rupert
took up their quarters in Aylestone, either at the
rectory or the hall. The siege began on Friday, 30
May, and the king is said to have watched the storming of the town from the Raw Dykes on the Aylestone
road. (fn. 40)
The history of the parish is closely bound up with
the Manners family from the middle of the 17th
century. The earls and dukes of Rutland owned the
greater part of the land in Aylestone. Nichols stated
that there were in 1630 only two freeholders, John
Coles and William Palmer, (fn. 41) although the tenants
and copyholders were in some cases quite substantial
farmers. The inventory of William Coleman of Aylestone, taken in 1633, shows that he had a personal
estate of £285, including 120 sheep valued at £60. (fn. 42)
Richard Neale of Aylestone, baker, had an estate of
£157, (fn. 43) but Thomas Vincent, blacksmith, had only
£19. (fn. 44) The inventory of Henry Beale, taken in 1685,
gives a little more information, and shows that he
had 16 acres of wheat and barley in the wheat field,
16 acres of peas and oats in the pease field, and 45
sheep in the fallow field. With a total personal estate
of £166, he may be taken as a typical tenant-farmer. (fn. 45)
For the 17th century, the Hearth Tax returns give
some guide to the population. In 1663 tax was paid
on 83 hearths by 44 occupiers, who included the
Earl of Rutland with 9 hearths and the rector with
10. (fn. 46) In 1670 84 hearths were paid for and five persons
were exempted from paying on account of their
poverty. (fn. 47) This seems to indicate a population of
about 50 families.
Agriculture on the three-field system was practised in Aylestone. The only medieval field name to
survive seems to be North Field, which lay towards
the mill, (fn. 48) and is now probably represented by the
Aylestone Park neighbourhood. There seems to have
been a certain amount of ancient inclosure before the
passing of the Aylestone Inclosure Act in 1767. In
1607 it was stated that since 1581 Sir John Manners
had converted 50 acres of arable at Aylestone into
pasture, and it seems probable that this land was also
inclosed. (fn. 49) Certainly some inclosures had taken place
by 1638, for closes are mentioned in the glebe terrier
for that year, although not many are named. (fn. 50) The
terrier for 1700 refers to eight named closes, although
some at least of these, like Hall Close, were probably
in the immediate neighbourhood of the village. (fn. 51) The
inclosed area must have been small, for in 1767 1,163
acres remained open out of a total of 1,723. (fn. 52) The
three open fields were then called South Field, Mill
(or North) Field, and Holowell (or Middle) Field
and there were several meadows, including the Rye
Meadow, Upper Meadow, and the Great North
Meadow. The inclosure took place in 1767 after a petition presented by the Marquess of Granby. (fn. 53) There
was no opposition at any stage, probably because the
only landholders other than the lord of the manor
and his son were his kinsman, the rector, and four
freeholders, all of whom received very small allotments. The rector received 72 acres in the Middle
and Mill Fields in lieu of glebe, and 88 acres of
pasture and meadow and 188 of arable in the Middle
and Mill Fields in lieu of great and small tithes.
Apart from the four other holdings, and just over 1
acre of land allotted for the repair of the church, the
whole of the land went to the Manners family. John,
Marquess of Granby, received 735 acres and his
father, the duke, 62 acres.
In 1764 the inhabitants of Leicester and Lutterworth petitioned Parliament for the repair of the
road between the two places, which passed through
Aylestone and which was stated to be impassable for
carriages in the winter. (fn. 54) In 1785 the trustees of the
turnpike asked for their term to be prolonged and
their powers increased. (fn. 55) In spite of the passing of
an Act for this purpose, the turnpike seems to have
been in poor repair, for in 1786 William Bickerstaffe,
the curate of Aylestone, declared that 'in winter it is
with difficulty that I can find the way home' to
Leicester. (fn. 56) The Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal was cut as a result of petitions to
Parliament in 1793 and 1805. (fn. 57) The canal proceeds
in the bed of the Soar to the bridge at Aylestone,
where the cut begins.
In 1793 there was a population of 378 in the
village, (fn. 58) and by 1801 this figure had increased to
440, of whom 78 were employed in agriculture and
87 in trades and manufactures. (fn. 59) The Land Tax
assessments show that most people still continued to
be tenants of the Duke of Rutland, although the few
small freeholders of Aylestone remained in existence
long after the passing of the Inclosure Act. (fn. 60) One of
the long-lived families was that of the Brays, many of
whose members have been churchwardens and sextons since the first recorded one in 1726. One of the
most recent members of the family to hold office
died in 1921. (fn. 61)
In 1869 the Duke of Rutland sold the manor of
Aylestone by auction. (fn. 62) The hall was bought by the
occupant, Nathaniel Stone, a land agent, and the sale
of the manor effectively broke the Rutland monopoly
of ownership in the village. This can be seen from a
comparison of the church-rate books for 1869, one
of which was compiled before the sale and the other
after. Clearly, many of the duke's former tenants had
been able to buy their cottages and farms. The most
important new owners were D. Adderby and the
executors of a Mr. Eyre. (fn. 63) The sale of the manor and
this division of the land among various small owners
created the opportunity for the great growth of Aylestone after 1870, which resulted in the complete submergence of the old village. The population figures
are striking, when compared with those of the first
70 years of the 19th century. By the time of the census
of 1841, the population had risen to 526; in 1871, a
slight drop was recorded, for there were only 450
inhabitants, perhaps the result of the sale of the
Rutland estate. The census of 1881, however, presents a very different picture, for the population had
multiplied five times in ten years, and was then 2,546.
This remarkable growth is evident in the number of
houses which were built in the period, especially
in the northern part of the parish in the district
known as Aylestone Park, and along the road between the borough and the village. (fn. 64) An event of
some importance was the purchase of 16 acres of
land in Aylestone by the Leicestershire Cricket
Ground Company. Twelve acres of this land were
prepared as a running and cycling ground, with a
cricket ground in the centre. This ground, now known
as Grace Road Ground, was opened in 1878. (fn. 65) The
tram route from Leicester was inaugurated in the
same year. (fn. 66) By 1891, Aylestone was no longer a
village but a suburb of Leicester, and as such it was
taken into the borough under the Leicester Extension Act of that year. (fn. 67) By 1901 the population of St.
Andrew's ecclesiastical parish was 1,009 and that
of St. James, which lay between the village and the
borough, was 6,366, a total of 7,426. (fn. 68) During the
post-war years 1921–31, the population rose sharply,
doubling itself in both parishes. (fn. 69) In 1935 the boundaries of the borough were again extended and that
part of the old civil parish of Aylestone which had
been put into Lubbesthorpe was made part of the
borough. (fn. 70) This included the housing estate known as
Southfields estate, whose name preserves at least a recollection of the old village community of Aylestone.
Mills.
There were four mills in Aylestone in
1086, (fn. 71) but three of these seem to have disappeared
before the late 13th century, when 'the north field of
Aylestone towards the mill' is mentioned in a deed. (fn. 72)
This mill probably stood on the site of the present
mill building, on the river almost opposite the end of
Grace Road. There was a corn miller in Aylestone in
1846, (fn. 73) but there seems to be no mention of the mill
before that date. The present building is a ruin, now
part of a builder's yard. The wheel, which was driven
by water, has disappeared, but the trough in which it
turned still remains. The buildings are of brick, with
heavy wooden beams and probably date from the
late 18th or early 19th century. The property was
purchased in 1936 by Leicester Corporation. (fn. 74)
Parish Administration.
The administration of Aylestone civil parish does not seem to have
presented any unusual features. The town constable's
book for 1671–1710, the accounts of the overseers of
the poor for 1668–1715, the churchwardens' accounts
for 1700–70, and the highway overseer's accounts for
1826–48 are all extant. (fn. 75) The parish possessed its own
workhouse by 1803. (fn. 76) Under the New Poor Law
Aylestone was placed in Blaby union, and the parish
workhouse ceased to be used. (fn. 77) Aylestone civil parish
ceased to exist in 1896, when it became part of Leicester civil parish. (fn. 78)
Churches.
There is no record of a church at
Aylestone until the beginning of the 13th century,
but nothing suggests that it was a recent foundation
in 1219, when William Harecurt presented Philip de
Cuneston to the living. (fn. 79) William was the father of
the Richard Harecurt, owner of the manor, who had
that year inherited Aylestone on the death of Saer de
Quency. In the matriculus of Hugh of Welles it was
stated that Richard Harecurt held the advowson, and
that the church had two chapelries, Lubbesthorpe
and Glen Parva. (fn. 80) The former had a resident chaplain, but the latter was served by the mother church
three days in the week. The advowson was held by
the Harecurts until the manor passed to Fulk de
Pembrugge (I), although when the Pembrugge family
was first called upon to exercise its patronage in
1293, the rector was presented by the Crown as Fulk
was still a minor. (fn. 81) The Crown presented again in
1307, (fn. 82) 1312, (fn. 83) and 1320, but in the last year, Fulk
(II) announced that he was of age and won an admission from the king that not only was his presentation in 1320 illegal, but that those in 1307 and 1312
were also wrongful, since Stephen de Segrave had
been rector throughout the period from 1293. (fn. 84) The
advowson remained with the Pembrugges until the
manor descended to the Vernons in 1447. In 1401–2
the rector had been presented by William Mosse,
Robert Saye, and John Walton, clerks acting probably as attorneys for Fulk (IV). (fn. 85) In 1537 William
Coffyn presented in right of his wife Margaret, widow
of Sir Richard Vernon (d. 1517). (fn. 86) Henry, Earl of
Rutland presented in 1554 (fn. 87) and Sir George Vernon
in 1560. (fn. 88) Thereafter the advowson was in the hands
of the Manners family until it passed to the Bishop
of Peterborough, who first presented in 1891, (fn. 89) and
from whom it passed to the Bishop of Leicester. (fn. 90)
The rectory was valued at £33 6s. 8d. in 1291, at
£31 8s. 11d. in 1535, and at £100 in 1650, and has
always been one of the wealthiest livings in the
county. (fn. 91) It was worth £875 in 1831. (fn. 92) There was
extensive glebe land, and of this 30 acres remained in
1846. (fn. 93) The Rectory was built at a cost of £3,000 in
1839 in the Elizabethan style, on the site of an earlier
parsonage in which Charles I is said to have stayed
before the siege of Leicester. (fn. 94) Little is known of the
earlier rectories, but in 1325 and 1336 John de Pyrie
was granted two roods of land for the enlargement of
his dwelling. (fn. 95) In 1663 there were at least ten rooms
with hearths, one more than at the hall. (fn. 96)
In 1545 the rent of 1d. from a rood of land at
Aylestone was returned as being for the maintenance
of an obit in the church. (fn. 97) Nothing is known of the
donor of this gift. In 1549 the land formed part of a
large grant of chantry property made to Edward
Pease and James Wylson. (fn. 98)
In 1891 the ecclesiastical parish of Aylestone was
divided, and that of St. James, Aylestone Park,
created from the area between the old village and the
borough. (fn. 99) The church was built in the same year;
the architects were R. J. and J. Goodacre. (fn. 100) The
church of St. Christopher was built in 1929 to serve
the new Southfields housing estate. (fn. 101) The livings are
both in the gift of the Bishop of Leicester. (fn. 102)
The church of ST. ANDREW stands at the junc
tion of Middleton Street and Old Church Street, a
few hundred yards from the river. The tower is all
that survives of the 13th-century church, which consisted of nave, chancel, and west tower. In the 14th
century the aisles were added, with the south porch,
and the tower arch was replaced by one more suited
to the style of the new work. The original arch was
inserted in the north wall of the tower and a small
room built with a lean-to roof, to which this arch
gave access and which was probably used as the
vestry. Later in the century the chancel was rebuilt
with a new vestry on the north side, and on its completion the building on the north side of the tower
was demolished. The opening was built up with
rubble and provided with a small crude single-light
window with a straight-sided pointed arch. (fn. 103) In the
15th century a clerestory was added to the nave. The
church was restored in 1894–1901 (fn. 104) and the roof
repaired in 1924. (fn. 105) The south porch was replaced in
1926, (fn. 106) although the zigzag floor of 17th-century
brickwork was retained. In 1935 as a jubilee commemoration a new choir vestry was built on the old
site to the north of the tower and a new doorway
pierced through the blocked arch. (fn. 107) Most of the window tracery is modern.
When Archdeacon Willcock visited the church in
1517, he found that the chancel was in a ruinous
condition and also ordered that the churchyard
should be properly enclosed. (fn. 108) In 1633 the church was
in a deplorable state. The chancel windows wanted
mending and 'the wall of the Great Window in the
forefront of the chancel' was 'cracked and cloven'.
The church wanted whitening and plastering, and
the belfry, which was full of rubbish, needed retiling. Of the vestry it was said that the window must
be glazed 'as the pigeons come in and defile the
room'. (fn. 109) In 1779, beside the regular complaint about
the need for whitewashing and replastering, the
archdeacon ordered that the chancel roof should be
repaired together with its seats and floor, that the
rubbish should be removed from the belfry, and that
the elder and ivy growing in the walls and foundations of the church should be destroyed. (fn. 110) By 1785
the steeple had been restored and the chancel was
repaired three years later, (fn. 111) but like so many repairs
carried out at this time they seem to have been poorly
done and by 1797 Archdeacon Burnaby had to order
that much the same things should be done again. (fn. 112)
Repairs to the Rectory and to the church were
carried out in the first 40 years of the 19th century. (fn. 113)
The church now consists of chancel, nave, north
and south aisles, west tower with a broach spire,
two vestries, and a south porch. It is built of small
random rubble in a mixture of local stones with
subsequent ashlar patching. All the roofs are slated.
The chancel, of four long bays, is lighted by an east
window of five trefoil lights and a window in each
bay. In the second bay from the east on the south
side the window-sill is raised to accommodate a small
doorway, and in the same bay on the north side is the
entrance to the vestry, a small building with a lean-to
roof. The organ stands in the western bay on the
north side in which the window has been blocked to
accommodate it. At the east end of the south wall are
an ogee-headed piscina with a damaged trefoil basin
and a triple sedilia, in which the eastern seat is
raised a little above the other two. The nave, of three
bays, retains its 15th-century roof. The pillars of the
north arcade are circular; those on the south, octagonal. Both have moulded capitals and bases. The pews
are modern, but into them six carved bench ends of
the early 16th century have been incorporated, three
of them bearing the Vernon arms. The tower arch is
pointed, of three orders, with moulded capitals on
the innermost. The font stands in the south aisle;
it dates from the 13th century, and has a plain circular bowl, supported on a circular stem, with four
semi-detached shafts, all with moulded capitals. The
south aisle is known as the Vernon or Manners
aisle (fn. 114) and was at one time detached from the rest of
the church. Just east of the south door, from the wall
to the western pillar of the arcade, there is a stone
screen covered in plaster and with a battlemented
top, and the two eastern bays of the arcade bear
evidence of the existence of wooden screens. By the
south door is an oak alms box, dated 1613. In the
north wall of the chancel is a very fine late brass
of 1594 to William Heathcote, Rector of Aylestone,
erected by his nephew and successor. He is depicted
in knee breeches and a long gown with puffed sleeves,
worn over his surplice. The Latin inscription is in
Gothic characters. In one of the south aisle windows
there is a small square of coloured glass said to have
come from the church of St. Ouen at Rouen after its
destruction in 1789. There are in the church a piscina in the south aisle, whose basin has been cut
away, a 13th-century sepulchral slab fixed to the
west wall and a 17th-century oak chest in the chancel.
The organ was erected by public subscription in
c. 1875. (fn. 115)
There are 8 bells, 3 by Newcombe of Leicester
cast in 1580 (recast 1887), 1602 and 1609. Another is
inscribed Wilielmus filius Johannis Reseyuour fecit me
in honore beate Marie, and probably dates from the
15th century. In 1412 a William Rekevour was
granted land in Aylestone and he may have been the
donor of the bell. (fn. 116) The bells were restored and a
new tenor by Taylor of Loughborough was added in
1887 to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria. (fn. 117)
In 1948 the bells were rehung with new fittings and
framework and two new bells by Gillet and Johnstone
were added. (fn. 118)
The earliest pieces of plate are a silver cup and
paten dated 1662, and a silver dish and flagon of
1717. (fn. 119) The registers date from 1561.
In the churchyard there is a curious carved stone
probably of Norman origin, but now surmounted by
a modern cross.
Roman Catholicism.
The church of St. Edward the Confessor, Aylestone Road, was built in
1921–2 as a chapel of ease to be served by Holy Cross
Priory. The chapelry has now become a parish and
in 1937 the chapel of St. John Bosco was built in
Stonesby Avenue to serve the Saffron Lane area. (fn. 120)
Protestant Nonconformity.
At the
beginning of the 18th century there were in Aylestone
five Presbyterians, one Quaker, and three Independants. (fn. 121) Nothing further is known of the nonconformists in the parish until the building of the Baptist
chapel in Sanvey Lane in 1872. (fn. 122) The Primitive
Methodist chapel in Cavendish Road was built in
1883. (fn. 123) A second Baptist chapel was built in 1954 in
Lutterworth Road, (fn. 124) and there are Methodist chapels
in Vernon Road (1897) (fn. 125) and in Southfields Drive
(1928). (fn. 126)
Schools.
In 1786 William Bickerstaffe, the curate
of Aylestone, petitioned the Duke of Rutland as lord
of the manor that 'a charity school at Aylestone . . .
is an establishment highly necessary to prevent barbarism' and solicited the duke's bounty for this purpose, stating that 'there are at this time 30 children
here whose parents are unable to give them the least
education'. This petition was signed by 58 householders in the parish, but Bickerstaffe only succeeded
in establishing a Sunday school. (fn. 127) The National school
was built about 1846, on a site given by the then Duke
of Rutland, who also made a substantial contribution
to the building of the schools. About 40 boys and 50
girls attended in 1846. (fn. 128) The school was later enlarged, but only about 100 children attended in
1877. (fn. 129) In 1879 the Aylestone School Board was
established, and two schools were built, one for the
Aylestone Park area in Lansdowne Road in 1881, and
one in Granby Road in 1889. (fn. 130) The Aylestone School
Board came under the control of the Leicester education authority after Aylestone was brought into the
borough in 1891. The National school was enlarged
in 1881, and seven years later had an average attendance of 170 boys, the same number of girls and
about 300 infants. (fn. 131) The school was closed soon after
Aylestone became part of the borough. (fn. 132)
Charities.
There are no endowed charities in
Aylestone.