Buckminster and Sewstern, in north-east Leicestershire, are
two small villages within a single parish, and although both were established
before 1086, they have developed different characters.



Buckminster was purely an agricultural village until the
1790s, when Sir William Manners enlarged a small park, built a mansion and
began to create an estate village. Many of the houses are of red brick, and
were built for estate employees by the 9th earl of Dysart between 1878 and
1935, as part of a programme of village improvements. All the land, residential
and commercial properties in Buckminster were held in 2017 by the Tollemache
family, descendants of Sir William and Lord Dysart.



In contrast, Sewstern's houses are individual in character,
and mostly built from local limestone. Before the 20th century, many had large
paddocks to the rear. The village is near the presumed ancient route known as
Sewstern Lane, and a wide range of trades were followed between the 14th and
19th centuries, until the age of the railways ended the passing trade.



Land in both villages was quarried for ironstone in the 20th
century, then reinstated for farmland, resulting in fields that are several
feet below the level of the roads and property curtilages. This book explores
the similarities and differences between the two villages over more than a
thousand years of recorded history.