Belvoir, Leicestershire

Belvoir Castle ( BEE-vər) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated 6 mi (10 km) west of the town of Grantham and 10 mi (16 km) northeast of Melton Mowbray. A castle was first built on the site immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and has since been rebuilt at least three times. The final building is a grade I listed mock castle, dating from the early 19th century. It is the seat of David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland (the tiny county of Rutland lies 16 mi (26 km) south of Belvoir Castle), whose direct male ancestor inherited it in 1508. The traditional burial place of the Manners family was in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Bottesford, situated 3 mi (5 km) to the north of the Castle, but since 1825 they have been buried in the ducal mausoleum built next to the Castle in that year, to which their ancient monuments were moved. It remains the private property of the Duke of Rutland but is open to the general public. The castle is situated at the extreme northern corner of the county of Leicestershire and is sandwiched between Lincolnshire to the east and Nottinghamshire at west, and overlooks the Vale of Belvoir to the northwest on the Nottinghamshire border. It is surrounded by the villages of Redmile, Woolsthorpe, Knipton, Harston, Harlaxton, Croxton Kerrial and Bottesford. The antiquarian John Leland (d.1552) stated: "the Castle stands on the very nape of a high hill, steep up each way, partly by nature, partly by the working of men's hands."The 15,000 acre (6,000 hectare) Belvoir estate, situated in the heart of England's fox-hunting terrain is the headquarters of the Belvoir Hunt ("the Duke of Rutland's Hounds"), established in 1750 and now kennelled 0.6 mi (1 km) southeast of the Castle.

Belvoir Priory (pronounced Beaver) was a Benedictine priory near to Belvoir Castle. Although once described as within Lincolnshire, it is currently located in Leicestershire, near the present Belvoir Lodge.

Briery Wood Heronry is a 5.7-hectare (14-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the grounds of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire.This is the largest heronry in the county, with up to thirty breeding pairs. The dominant trees are mature oaks and ash, with a ground flora of bracken and dog's mercury.The wood is in an area of the grounds which is not open to the public.

Knipton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Belvoir, in the Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It lies about 6 miles (10 km) from the town of Grantham, just off the A607, and 10 miles (16 km) from Melton Mowbray. It borders the Duke of Rutland's estate at Belvoir Castle. Although the village is in Leicestershire, it has a Nottinghamshire postcode and a Lincolnshire (Grantham) STD code. In 1931 the parish had a population of 273. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Belvoir.

Woolsthorpe by Belvoir, also known as Woolsthorpe is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 415. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) west from Grantham, and adjoins the county border with Leicestershire. The neighbouring village of Belvoir lies on the other side of the border. Grantham Canal is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north-east at its closest point.

Muston Meadows is an 8.8-hectare (22-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Muston in Leicestershire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site.These ridge and furrow meadows are on soils derived from clay. Herbs include green-winged orchid, lady's bedstraw, yellow rattle, pepper saxifrage and cowslip.The site is in two different areas, both of which are open to the public. At Muston Meadows, hay is cut in late summer and over winter the meadow is grazed by cattle. This prevents the meadow habitat from transitioning to forest through ecological succession. Some of the plants in the nature reserve only grow in meadows and this kind of habitat is very threatened in the UK; 97% of Britain's wildflower meadows have been destroyed since the 1930s.

The Waltham Iron Ore Tramway was a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge industrial tramway serving the ironstone pits of the Waltham Iron Ore Company, a subsidiary of the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. It was located to the north of the village of Branston in Leicestershire on the edge of the Belvoir Estate. The tramway operated from 1884 until 1958.

Harston is a crossroads village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Belvoir, in the Melton district, in Leicestershire, England, near the border with Lincolnshire. The nearest town is Grantham, about 6 miles (10 km) to the north-east. It once contained several quarries for iron ore. Part of the village borders Lincolnshire. In 1931 the parish had a population of 182. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Belvoir.

Redmile is an English village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, about ten miles (16 km) north of Melton Mowbray and seven miles (11 km) west of Grantham. The population of the civil parish, which includes Barkestone-le-Vale and Plungar, was 921 at the 2011 census, up from 829 in 2001.

Belvoir was a rural district in Leicestershire, England from 1894 to 1935. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from the part of the Grantham Rural Sanitary District that was in Leicestershire. It was a small district, named after the village of Belvoir and contained nine parishes: Barkestone Belvoir Bottesford Croxton Kerrial Harston Knipton Muston Plungar RedmileUnder the County Review Orders of the 1930s it was merged with the Melton Rural District to form the Melton and Belvoir Rural District. The merger took effect in 1935.

Croxton Kerrial (pronounced [ˈkroʊsən ˈkɛrɨl]) is a village and civil parish in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-west of Grantham, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) north-east of Melton Mowbray, and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) west of Leicestershire's border with Lincolnshire. The civil parish includes the village of Branston and had a population of 530 at the 2011 census.

Muston (pronounced Musson) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bottesford, in the Melton district, in north-east Leicestershire, England. It is 18.6 miles (29.9 km) east of Nottingham, five miles (8.0 km) west of Grantham on the A52 and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) north of Melton Mowbray. It lies on the Leicestershire/Lincolnshire county border, two miles east of Bottesford. The River Devon (pronounced Deevon) flows through the village. In 1931 the parish had a population of 218. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Bottesford.