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Ashby Folville is a village and civil parish in the Melton District of Leicestershire, England, southwest of Melton Mowbray. The civil parish of Ashby Folville was abolished in 1936 and its 1,796 acres (727 ha) were merged with the neighbouring civil parish of Gaddesby. [edit] HistoryThe village of 'Ashby' was recorded in the Domesday Book (of 1086) as consisting of twenty-four villagers, three smallholders, two slaves, one priest and being owned by the Countess Judith, a niece of William the Conqueror. By 1124-29 the manor had passed from Judith to her daughter Maud, Countess of Huntingdon and her husband King David I of Scotland. [edit] The Folville FamilyThe "Folville" element of the placename comes from a family that had its seat there since at least 1137 when its lordship was held of the Honour of Huntingdon by Fulk de Folville. The family name, ultimately derived from Folleville in the French region of Picardy, was attached to several other sites in Leicestershire, including the deserted village of Newbolt Folville. The family were well-established in Leicestershire by the mid 13th century. In 1240 a member of the family donated a large sum to the church at Cranoe. The Folvilles were rebels during both Barons Wars; Sir William Folville (died about 1240) had his lands seized for his part in the First Barons' War in 1216 and Sir Eustace Folville (murdered in 1274) was one of the knights appointed to enforce the Provisions of Oxford in 1258[6] and stoutly defended Kenilworth Castle after the Battle of Evesham in 1265. The family gained renown during the reign of Edward II, when they ambushed and killed the Baron of the Exchequer, Roger de Beler. Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester had been stealing people's lands in Leicestershire, using Roger de Beler as an enforcer, and in 1325 de Beler had threatened the Folville family with violence. By the beginning of 1326 much of the country had turned against Edward and the Despencers and preparations for a rebellion led by Edward's wife, Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer had commenced. The Folville family, headed by Eustace Folville, and encouraged by Sir Roger la Zouch, Lord of Lubbesthorpe murdered de Beler before fleeing to Paris. Following Isabella and Mortimer's successful invasion of England of 1326, Edward III was crowned and rebels were pardoned including the Folville family who were celebrated locally with the Folville Cross, said to be located at the site of de Beler's murder. The Folville Gang flitted in and out of outlawry for many years, but, apart from Richard Folville (brother of Eustace, died 1340–1), vicar of Teigh in Rutland, who was beheaded in his own churchyard, they ended with their freedom intact. The manor of Ashby eventually passed via marriage from the Folvilles to the Woodfords and then Smiths. [edit] Local AdministrationThe parish was part of Melton Mowbray Rural District from 1894 until 1935 when the rural district was abolished and replaced by the Melton and Belvoir Rural District which covered a larger area. A year after the introduction of the new rural district its parishes were reorganized and reduced in number from 68 to 25. In 1974 a new nationwide organization of local government was introduced in which rural and urban districts were replaced by "non-metropolitan" districts. In the northeast of Leicestershire this meant little save for the fact that the principal town of Melton Mowbray, formerly a separate urban district, was now governed by the same body (Melton District or Borough) as the rural area that surrounded it. [edit] Research Tips
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