NETHER and OVER SEAL form a parish, containing
two hamlets respectively so named, in the hundred of Goscote, county of
Leicester, about 5½ miles S.W. from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The
parish church, is dedicated to St. Peter. At Over Seal a new church
was erected in 1841, and dedicated to St. Matthew ; the workmanship of
the interior, which is very chaste, is ornamented with a large painted
window, and furnished with a self-acting organ. The living of Seal
is a rectory in the patronage of the Rev. John Morewood Gresley.
In 1842 a national school was established at Over Seal.
The population of the foregoing parish, in 1841, was 1,281. Directory
Listing
Extracted from: Slater's Directory of Derbyshire, 1850 (on microfiche
publ. by the Derbyshire Family History Society)
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SEAL (NETHER) is a manor and pleasant village on the north side of the river Mease, containing about 560 inhabitants and 2381A. 3R. 10P. of land, at the north-west extremity of Leicestershire, nearly 6 miles W.S.W. of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where this county is joined by those of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It supports its poor as a township, conjointly with Over Seal, and its PARISH comprises also part of Boothorpe hamlet, in Blackfordby chapelry, as noticed at page 445 ; and part of the hamlet of Donisthorpe. The total population of the parish is 1569, and its area about 4530A., extending eastward to the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, near Moira Colliery and Ashby Wolds. Netherseal, in some old writings, is called Seal Magna, and has been variously spelt Seile, Sela, Sheile, Seeyle, &c. The soil is chiefly a strong but fertile clay, and a great part of it belongs to Sir Thomas Gresley, Bart., of Cauldwell Hall, Derbyshire, who is also lord of the manor. Sir George J.B. Hewett, Bart., John Curzon, Esq., and several smaller owners have estates here. Nether Seal Hall, the seat of Sir Thos. Gresley, Bart., is at present occupied by E.W. Robertson, Esq. It is an ancient stone building with additions of brick. The Gresley family is of great antiquity, and the baronetcy was created in 1611, the present baronet being the tenth in succession. Grange Wood House, a stone mansion pleasantly situated one mile N. of the village, is the seat of Thomas Mowbray, Esq. ; and the Old Hall is the residence of Captain Henry Bagot. The four common field and other meadow and pasture lands of Nether and Over Seal were enclosed under an agreement dated July 2nd, 1755, and the enclosure was confirmed by an Act of Parliament passed in 1799. The manor of Nether Seal has been held by various families, and was sold by the Gresleys to the Morewoods in 1627 ; but in 1680, by the marriage of Francis Morewood with Sir Thomas Gresley it passed again to his family. The Church (St. Peter) is a large ancient structure in the early English style, with a tower containing five bells and a clock. The latter was purchased in 1861 at a cost of £100. The living is a rectory valued in K.B. at £17. 8s. 11½d., and now at £970. Sir Thos. Gresley, Bart., is patron, and the Rev. Nigel Gresley is the incumbent, and has 71 acres of glebe. The tithes have been commuted for £970 per annum. The Rev. John Morewood Gresley, M.A., is the curate. A new School and Rectory House are about to be erected here. The present school is attended by about 60 children, and is supported by subscription. Here is a General Baptist Chapel, built in 1840. The ALMSHOUSES were founded by Richard Johnson, who in 1697, left £150 for their erection, and endowed them with property now yielding an annual income of £116, and consisting of 35A. 3R. 14P. in Nether Seal, and a house, called the Friars, and several closes of land, at Lichfield. The Almshouses have a garden attached to them, and are divided into six tenements for as many poor men or women, who each have a weekly stipend of 5s., and a gown and three tons of coal yearly. They are selected from the oldest and poorest parishioners belonging to the Church of England. The rector and the lords of the manors of Stretton-en-le-Field and Chilcote are the trustees. The poor parishioners have a distribution of bread every Sunday from the rent of "Stanley's Poor Land," purchased with £200, left by Sir Thos. Rich in 1666. They have also 22s. a-year, left by John and Eliza Ramsor in the 21st of Charles II., and a yearly rent-charge of 5s., left by Thos. Capenhurst in 1755. The interest of £50, left by Zachary and Rebecca Johnson in 1669 and 1678, is applied in apprenticing poor boys. Directory Listing
SEAL (OVER) is a manor and pleasant village, 4½ miles W. by S.
of Ashby-de-la-Zouch ; containing about 530 inhabitants, and 1127 acres
of land, mostly a high district, joining the Ashby Wolds. It maintains
its poor jointly with Nether Seal ; and between the two villages is a hill
called Cadborough, supposed to have been an ancient British station,
probably in connexion with that of Seckington, in Warwickshire. On
the south side of the hill is a valley, called Dead-Dane Bottom
; and in an adjoining field is a tumulus, where human bones have been turned
up by the plough. Over Seal, called also Little and Spital
Seile, was one of the lordships given, in the reign of Henry III, by
William de Meisham, in marriage with his daughter, to Wm. de Appleby, together
with a park, a wood, and a mill, called Woodlandes. The services
of this and another manor, the same Wm. de Meisham, about 1250, gave to
Merevale Abbey, Warwickshire. A third manor was afterwards held by
Lucian de Deserto, and a fourth by the Vernons, of Haddon, Derbyshire.
But in the early part of the 13th century, all these manors were held under
Wm. de Ferrariis, Earl of Derby. In 1205, a curious agreement was
made between Lucian of "Scheyl Minor" and the rector, respecting the maintenance
of a resident chaplain, on his estate, to celebrate mass in the
chapel there, three days a-week. In the 16th century, Sir Wm. Gresley,
of Drakelowe, bought this manor, and in the following century, it passed
to the Morewoods, of Netherseal. The manorial rights over the whole
of Over-Seal now belong to Thos. Mowbray, Esq., but part of the soil belongs
to John Curzon, Esq., and several smaller owners. The ancient chapel
was "quite decayed and gone," when Burton wrote, in 1622 ; but in 1840-1,
a new Chapel of Ease was erected here by subscription, and dedicated
to St. Matthew. It is a neat structure, in the early English style,
with a tower and one bell, and has 289 sittings, of which 293 are free.
It has an organ, a carved stone altar, a font of Caen stone, carved with
emblems of the four Evangelists ; an eagle for the Bible ; service books
of a costly description ; and a beautiful stained glass window. Its
only monument bears a long inscription in memory of the late Elizabeth
Pycroft, who died Dec. 19th, 1840. This charitable lady gave
the site and burial ground, and also contributed liberally towards the
building, on which she laid the first stone, Aug. 27th, 1840. The
communion plate, altar table, and velvet covering were the offerings of
her relatives. The chapelry is annexed to Nether Seal rectory, and
the Rev. John Morewood Gresley, M.A., is the curate. The chapel-yard
comprises three quarters of an acres ; and in the north-west corner is
planted a descendant of the celebrated Royal Oak of Boscobel. Adjoining
it is a school, erected by the lord of the manor in 1841, and supported
by subscription. It is attended by about 50 children. The General
Baptists and Primitive Methodists have chapels here, the former built in
1840, and the latter in 1860. Directory
Listing
extracted from: History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the Counties
of Leicester and Rutland, by William White, 1863 (on microfiche publ. by
the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society)
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***
FORTHCOMING ATTRACTION ***
Extracted from: History, Topography and Directory of Derbyshire,
by T. Bulmer and Co, 1895, pp. Transcription by kind courtesy
of Sonia Addis-Smith
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