Blaston

A Village Small Enough to Count

Blaston had 54 residents in the 2001 census. Its 2011 census figures were grouped with Horninghold's because Blaston's population was below 100, but the two remain separate civil parishes. The figures give some measure of how small this south Leicestershire hamlet is.

The village is one street, really. Some of the houses are imposing in a way that suggests money arrived at some point and found nowhere else to go. Rolling south Leicestershire farmland surrounds it on all sides, and the nearest shop is in Medbourne, linked to Blaston by a field track that doubles as a dog walk.

The Publess Walk and Street's Church

Blaston has neither a pub nor shops. For a longer outing, an 11.5-mile circular from Hallaton crosses Cranoe, Medbourne and Blaston on paths and bridleways, including a stretch of the Midshires Way. Allow around six hours for the walk. The Nevill Arms in Medbourne is one of two pubs along the circuit.

St Giles' Church is the village's architectural surprise. George Edmund Street designed the 1878 building while working on the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Inside are two fonts, a painting of St Jerome by Decio Vilares, and two stained-glass panels linked to the old House of Lords. Its bell-cote contains one bell.

Two Parishes and a Domesday Reversal

The surviving lower walls and cinquefoiled west doorway mark St Michael's Chapel, in use before 1389 and largely demolished in 1967. Blaston once had two separate parishes served by chapels less than 500 yards apart. St Michael's was annexed to Hallaton parish, where its parishioners were normally buried.

The Domesday surveyors recorded about 29 households here in 1086, which puts it in the largest 40 per cent of settlements at the time. It has gone the other way since.

Roman Roads and the Midshires Way

Walkers will find the Roman Gartree Road running to the south, connecting Colchester to Chester via Leicester. Pottery from the first to fifth centuries — wine and oil amphorae among it — has turned up in the fields along its route. The Midshires Way, all 225 miles of it from London to the Peak District, passes through the same corridor.

One Bell and the June Show

The Blaston and District Agricultural Show is an annual local event, traditionally held on the final Sunday of June. Back in Blaston, the one main street and surrounding farmland make a quieter scene.