Place:Bardon, Leicestershire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia, Leicestershire

Bardon is a civil parish and former village in the North West Leicestershire District about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of the centre of the town of Coalville. The parish includes Bardon Hill, which at 912 feet (278 m) above sea level is the highest point in Leicestershire.

Granite was being quarried from Bardon Hill by 1622. In 1832 the Leicester and Swannington Railway was opened, passing close by the then village of Bardon. A branch was built to the quarry and continues to carry granite from the quarry to this day. Bardon Hill railway station was near the parish church. The station was closed in the 20th century but the railway through it remains open for freight as part of the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line.

In 1921 Bardon had a population of 511. In the 1990s the village was demolished to allow the quarry to be expanded. The parish now has a very small population.

Bardon Hall

Bardon Hall is a mid-19th century Tudor revival house built in about 1830 or 1837. It was designed by the architect Robert Lugar for Robert Jacomb Hood. An earlier moated house, the Old Hall, was situated in a shallow valley in Bardon Park, south of Bardon Hill. The hall had been the property of members of the Hood family since the 1620s. The last male member of this family, William Hood, died in 1835 without issue. Hood left the estate to his cousin, Robert Jacomb, on condition that Robert assumed the surname of Hood.

The Old Hall was demolished in about 1840 for Robert Jacomb Hood, who described it in his memoirs as "too dilapidated for residence, and the situation was low, damp and unhealthy" The moat that surrounded it still remains.

In 1864 the whole estate was sold to William Percy Herrick of Beaumanor Hall. To improve access Herrick had a 2 miles (3 km) private carriage road built, leading to the Ashby de la Zouch road.

The Hall is Grade II listed, and is the head office of Aggregate Industries, the owners of Bardon Hill Quarry.

Research Tips

• The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Rural District page includes a map illustrating the civil parishes of the district. Bardon is #2 on the map.
• From this Findmypast page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• For both of the above sites, a subscription is charged. Transcriptions of these records may also be available free of charge on the FamilySearch website.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Leicestershire.