Historical Research

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• The The Farming Exhibition  of 2002 that looked at farming in this area over the past 50 or so years.

• New Archeological Tour of Great Bowden 2022. 2022 New Archaeological Tour of Great Bowden. We have re written the Tour, first produced in 2008.  So much more has been discovered since then and you can enjoy  a walk through history, about 2 3/4 miles long with just one hill to climb and options to shorten the distance. You can follow the walk on your mobile phone with 10 information stops, and then use the Supporting Information document on this website to explore things further if you wish.

• New Great Bowden Archeological Tour  2022 Supporting Information Links. Links to reports of the many excavations and surveys carried out in recent years by professional bodies and Great Bowden Heritage and relevant leaflets produced by Great Bowden Heritage.

• Mud Buildings: Timber and mud walls and thatched roofs were commonly used in the past, but don’t leave much trace in the archaeological record. A step by step guide to wattle and daub.

• Great Bowden Banner Competition 2004: The banner celebrating the history of Great Bowden and the meanings and symbols of the design created by the W.I.

• Evolution of Great Bowden’s Community: A round up of how our community developed from the earliest times to the present day.

• Give us today our daily bread: First grind your grain… How we produced flour from Neolithic querns to mill sites in our parish.

• Horse Fair on Bowden Ridge: When the estates along Alvington way were developed, a variety of small coins were found, suggesting that for centuries the hill top was the site of a horse fair.

• How Leicestershire and Northamptonshire were founded: In the tenth century, wars between the Danelaw Vikings and the kings of Wessex led to the Welland becoming the edge of the Danelaw and Bowden being cut in half.

• Judith and Waltheof: At the time of Domesday Book, Judith, a niece of William the Conqueror, owned a manor in Bowden. Discover her turbulent relationship with the English Earl Waltheof, who was executed for treason. (see also Domesday Manors)

• The Last Commander: When Sir Giles Russell died in 1543, the title of Turcopolier of the Hospitaliser Order of Knights died with him. What was the connection with Dingley, and what became of the Order?

• Old Houses in Main Street: The known history of the properties on the south side of Main Street

• St Mary in Arden: On this ancient site, there were pre-Christian cremations, a small Anglo-Saxon church, and a large Norman church. Today, we see the ruins of a 17th century mortuary chapel reusing the medieval porch and Norman arch.

• St Mary in Arden Geo-Phys: The results of a geophysical survey conducted in 2004. Can you help interpret the findings?

• Much Budon Mutterer: We report ‘live’ on the results of the inquiry into the 1264 axe murder at St Mary in Arden!

• The Domesday Manors: A translation of the 1086 Domesday Book entries for Great Bowden, with an interpretation and glossary.

• When is a Cruck Cottage not a Cruck Cottage: The answer to the question we asked concerning a local garage.

• Great Bowden Workhouse to St Lukes Hospital: Traces the history of the site and buildings on Leicester road, from workhouse to NHS hospital (and providing accommodation for the Jarrow marchers and a safe place for World War II Public Record Office documents along the way).

• Windmills on Bowden Ridge: Spaced out across the hill top above the open fields.

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