There’s a hill behind my house from the top of which you can see five churches: Nevill Holt, Drayton, Bringhurst, Great Easton and Cottingham. It’s a beautiful view and the landscape is typical of the Welland Valley, a patchwork of lush pastures, hedges and coppices.
Below is Drayton where I live, a village with one claim to fame – as the location of Leicestershire’s smallest consecrated church. Built from the beautiful, honey-coloured ironstone that characterises the area, it sits on the tiny village green, with its one room capable of accommodating 25 worshippers. It’s “small but perfectly formed”, according to Reverend Stephen Bishop of the parish of Six Saints circa Holt. It has a portable font, a tiny altar and a single small bell. It was built on the site of a former chapel, which fell into disuse and became the village bakery.
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In 1878–79, its new owner, George Lewis Watson of Rockingham Castle, rebuilt it as a mission church with a central door on the south side (you can spot the remnants of the bakery door on the north wall). “The imaginatively minded might describe it as ‘Leicestershire’s Bethlehem’ since the latter name means ‘house of bread’ and this is a space where bread was made and where bread is blessed and broken in worship,” says Reverend Bishop.
Home to fewer than 200 people, Drayton is easy to drive through without noticing – which, in many ways, can also be said of the Welland Valley. Part of its challenge is a definitional one, as the valley spans multiple counties. The Welland River rises at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire and flows 105km broadly east to Fosdyke in Lincolnshire. Along the way it winds through well-known villages and towns, such as Stamford, but it’s the stretch along the south Leicestershire-north Northamptonshire border that I think is the most exquisite and have forever been surprised isn’t better known.
Debates rage about where the ‘centre’ of England is, however this place in the south-east corner of Leicestershire feels like the heart of the country – emotionally if not geographically. With its slopes, spires and grazing land, it represents olde England.
A varied past
Walk with me in the direction of another of those spires we can see from the hilltop – the one at Nevill Holt Hall. Originally built in the 13th century, the hall was home to the Nevill family from 1474 until 1876, then owned by the Cunards (of shipping fame) until 1912. It had a spell as a school before businessman and philanthropist David Ross bought it in 2000.
Under Ross’s ownership, it has become an important cultural centre, with an opera house-cum-theatre seating about 400 created in the 17th-century stable block. The summer opera festival it had held for a decade evolved in 2024 into a multi-arts event, enabling it to become more accessible and reach new audiences. From 30 May – 22 June 2025 it will once again offer a programme featuring leading artists, musicians, writers and speakers.
Those attending often explore the gardens, too, with their collection of 20th and 21st-century British sculpture, including work by Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and Allen Jones. The iconic piece, with panoramic views over the Welland Valley, is a huge sculpture by Nic Fiddian-Green; poised balletically on its nose, this horse’s head is a seminal landmark.
May and June is my favourite time in the Welland Valley as great white strings of hawthorn hedges crisscross the landscape and froths of cow parsley line the roadsides; early summer is also when Nevill Holt gardens are at their best. From the lawn there are views across to Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire, another historic building. Built on the instruction of William the Conqueror, it was originally designed to the standard Norman pattern, with an outer bailey, curtain wall, square tower and stone keep.
Dambuster training
This is a region where, it seems, there’s a historical gem around every corner. It’s now a haven for wildlife, but in 1943 Eyebrook Reservoir near Great Easton was used by Lancaster bombers as a training ground for the famous Second World War ‘Dambusters’ raid. Drive to the picturesque village of Lyddington and the Bede House, meanwhile, and you’re travelling further back in time. It was originally a medieval wing of a palace belonging to the Bishops of Lincoln, but by 1600 it had passed to Sir Thomas Cecil, son of Queen Elizabeth I’s chief minister, who converted it into an alms house for 12 poor “bedesmen” and women “free of lunacy, leprosy or the French pox”. Visitors today can see the rooms, with their tiny windows, and the former bishops’ Great Chamber on the first floor with its carved ceiling cornice.
History buffs might like to travel seven or so miles south-west from Market Harborough to the site of the Battle of Naseby, which proved to be the decisive battle in the First Civil War in 1645 and led to the defeat of the Royalist forces. The King’s Head pub stands on the spot in Harborough where Charles and his allies hatched their doomed plans.
As for Market Harborough itself, this charming town is friendly and vibrant. Its most iconic building is the timber-framed Old Grammar School, dating from 1614. Built on stilts, this Grade I-listed building formerly had a dual use – underneath was a sheltered butter market. Set on its distinctive wooden ‘legs’ and fully refurbished in 2014, it’s now used as a community meeting place, administered by Market Harborough and The Bowdens Charity.
Other notable buildings in the town include St Dionysius church (often referred to as St Di’s), the earliest parts of which date back to the 13th century, plus the Symington Building, a former corset factory that, in its heyday, aimed “to dress every woman in the world”.
It’s also worth heading further afield to Leicester and the King Richard III Visitor Centre. The Battle of Bosworth in 1485 resulted in the death of the monarch; his remains were taken to the city where they lay lost and buried for more than 500 years until discovered under a car park in 2012.
Talking of discoveries in car parks, there was an unexpected find in one such spot at Burghley House last year. Routine work at the estate, near Stamford in Lincolnshire, unearthed a mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman statue – a marble head and bust. Experts dated the sculpture from the first or second century; an iron dowel had been added much later, allowing it to be attached to a bust or pedestal. It’s believed the ninth Earl bought it during one of his tours to Italy in the 1760s.
Historic viaducts
For those interested in industrial history, a trip to Harringworth Viaduct (also known as the Welland Viaduct and Seaton Viaduct) is a must. At 1.166km long and with 82 arches, each of which has a 12m span, it is the longest masonry viaduct in the UK and crosses the River Welland between Harringworth in Northamptonshire and Seaton in Rutland. The first brick on this jaw-dropping structure was laid in March 1876 and it took more than two years to complete. With its red and blue patchwork appearance, the result of numerous repairs over the decades, it remains a striking landmark and the line is still used for freight and the occasional passenger train.
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In 1810, work started on Foxton Locks, part of a new section of waterway connecting Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Canal at Foxton to the Grand Junction Canal at Buckby. This allowed boats to travel from the Thames at Brentford to the East Midlands, including the coalfields of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Comprising two sets of five locks, Foxton is Britain’s longest, steepest staircase flight of locks. Rising 23 metres up a steep escarpment, it’s a phenomenal feat of engineering.
But first, come back to my favourite Welland Valley village, Medbourne. Its name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘meadbourne’, meaning meadow stream, and it’s an unspoilt place of picture-postcard beauty, full of ironstone cottages. Like many of the villages, it has a large and impressive church, built with the wealth generated by the wool trade in centuries gone-by.
Once a year, crowds descend on this and nearby Hallaton for the bottle-kicking competition. This age-old custom on Easter Monday sees teams try to carry, roll, kick, throw or wrestle the bottle (it’s actually a wooden cask) across a mile-long playing area, in a bid to transport it across their opponent’s stream. The rivalry between the two villages is fierce – Hallaton Parish Council describes the contest as “a rough one, not for the faint-hearted” – and it’s a great spectacle. You won’t be surprised to hear that as a proud and very vocal Medbourne supporter, I always head to that village for my after-match pint.
Main image: A view towards the Welland Valley viaduct / Credit: Getty
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