Melton Mowbray
The north-eastern region of Leicestershire County is home to the region’s food industry hub. Melton’s appeal is primarily derived from its manufacturing of Stilton cheese and pork pies. The relationship between Melton and English royalty extends back to the 1100s, and the town’s function as the centre of the Leicestershire Hunt led to the creation of the county’s mascot and symbol, the Leicestershire fox.
Market Bosworth
This quiet little market town is hidden away in Leicestershire’s verdant countryside. At nearby Bosworth Field, the “War of the Roses”‘ pivotal conflict between Richard III and Henry Tudor—who defeated Richard to become Henry VII of England—took place.
Richard III stayed the night at the White Boar Inn in Market Bosworth before the Battle of Bosworth and hid £300 under a false bottom of his bed. It was hidden until Elizabeth I’s reign since no one returned to claim it after he was killed in battle the following day. Ironically, due to her wealth, the original landlord’s widow was later murdered when he passed away. She had discovered the cash and prospered.
Market Bosworth is a nice area to visit with numerous historic pubs and coaching inns, a wonderful tea shop, and a fish and chip shop that has won awards. There is a tiny market square (built around 1285) in the middle of the town where regular markets are still held today. There are several charming Georgian and thatched cottages lining the nearby streets.
Market Bosworth’s two most noteworthy structures are the Dixie Grammar School and its renowned hall, “Bosworth Hall” (opposite the marketplace). The Dixie family has ties to the community dating back hundreds of years, and Sir Wolstan Dixie established the old Tudor grammar school in 1601. Bosworth Hall, which is east of the town and was constructed of red brick and white stone in the English Renaissance style popular during Queen Anne’s reign and similar to Hampton Court, is an excellent example of the period. From 1680 to 1880, this vast hall served as the ancestral home of the Dixie family. Today, it houses a luxury hotel with 190 rooms as well as a spa and fitness centre.
Sir Wolstan Dixie, who tragically killed his daughter, Ann Dixie, by mistake when he set traps to capture her boyfriend, the neighbourhood gardener’s son, is claimed to haunt the hall.
Numerous memorials to the Dixie family can be seen in the Church of St. Peter, a 14th-century building set away among the trees to the north of the town. Huge rural park east of the town is ideal for strolls and picnics with a grill because it has a year-round public arboretum and a small lake. To the west of the town is the Bosworth Water Trust, a 50-acre recreational area with sizable lakes for boating, fishing, and other water sports. The town is not far from the Market Bosworth Light Railway. A wonderful steam train line runs across peaceful terrain from Shackerstone Station to Shenton Station (walking distance from the Bosworth Battlefield Centre). The route was significantly renovated in 1970 by the Shackerstone Railway Society. The stationmaster’s office is filled with a wide range of lamps, levers, clocks, dials, posters, and other railroad artefacts. The station yard is home to a very spectacular collection of vintage steam and diesel engines that have been restored, as well as six steam cranes that are still in operation for track maintenance.
