William Hanbury was rector of St. Peter's Church,
Church Langton during the middle of the 18th century. A very talented
man, he was also a horticulturist and botanist, and owned nurseries
and plantations in Tur Langton and Gumley as well as Church Langton.
He was responsible for much of the tree planting in the area. Another
of his fund-raising activities included musical events, notably
the first playing in the area of Handel's Messiah at St. Peter's
Church.
A man of great vision, he set up a charitable trust
for the poor of the parish. He had great plans for Chuch Langton,
some of which included a portrait gallery, printing office, library
and school, all to be funded by his horticultural activities and
musical enterprises. He also had a dream of demolishing the church
and building a cathedral in it's place! Being very much a fanatic,
his ideas became obsessive, much to the dismay of the trustees whom
he appointed to manage the trust.
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Church Langton
Hanbury School
The earliest section of the Hanbury School, which
features some beautiful Gothic architecture, was built in 1873,
and opened in 1874. Since then, other sections have been added in
1924 and 1937, when the school became the Hanbury Secondary Modern
School. Designed by Joseph Goddard, the school was financed by the
Hanbury Charity Trust, of which William Hanbury, who's portrait
once hung in the assembly hall, was the founder.
The school ceased to exist as a Secondary Modern after 1964, when it was moved to premises
in Kibworth Beauchamp, where it became known as the Kibworth High
School. Parts of the school have been used in later years of the
20th century as a field centre for local schools and was known as
the Hanbury Centre. It is now known as the International Language
Centre, which will cater for schools from Turkey as well as this
country. The Hanbury Primary School occupies premises shown in the
left of the picture.
Many of the buildings behind those shown in the picture have recently been domolished or converted for housing.
St. Peter's Church (13thC), stands in close proximity to the school, a
huge limestone ashlar tower being one of it's most striking features.
This is where Hanbury's musical events took place, and where he installed
a magnificent organ. A monument to him dated 1896 is above the vestry
door. Three new bells were added in 1763, and all had to be re-hung during
the 1990's
The Old Rectory
Shortly after Hanbury's death, the trustees had this building erected
on the site of an old rectory in the late 1700's. It has been the home
for rectors of the parish until 1981, when it passed into private hands.
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