In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Belvoir like this:
BELVOIR, an extra-parochial tract in the district of Grantham and county of Leicester; on the verge of the county, near the Grantham canal, 7 miles W by S of Grantham. Acres, 170. Real property, £1,780. Pop., 171. Houses, 18. Belvoir Castle here is the seat of the Duke of Rutland, and one of the most magnificent structures in the kingdom. The original building was a fortress erected soon after the Conquest by Robert de Todeni, standard-bearer to William; and was several times burned down or otherwise destroyed. ...
The present pile is a modern, castellated, hollow quadrangle, restored by Wyatt; measuring 252 feet along the east front, and containing a noble apartment called the Regent's gallery, 127 feet long, filled with the choicest productions of art. It stands on an isolated and perhaps artificial hill; and commands a view of 30 miles, over a picturesque extensive vale, called the vale of Belvoir. The Prince Regent, afterwards George IV., visited it in 1814; and Crabbe, the poet, lived in it as chaplain. A great fire destroyed part of it in 1816, including a famous picture gallery, with damage estimated at £120,000. A priory of black monks stood near it, founded about 1076, by Robert de Todeni; and was given, at the dissolution, to Thomas, Earl of Rutland, and Robert Turwhit.
Belvoir through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Belvoir has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Melton. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Belvoir and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Belvoir, in Melton and Leicestershire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/10612
Date accessed: 24th May 2013
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