Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Church Langton Conservation Area

The Conservation Area includes: the wedge of paddock land to the south between Church Causeway and Stonton Road which provides a setting for Leadclune Court; the area of pasture land in the north across which from the Melton Road are seen views of the church with its tall tower, a group of 19th century red brick cottages and The Old Rectory grounds. It also extends along Stonton Road from the Hanbury Schools to include the present school and some of its playing fields. It excludes the houses of 1970s date opposite the Hanbury Schools and the interwar housing by The Causeway.

The character of the Conservation Area stems from the arrangement of St. Peters Church, the Old Rectory and Leadclune Court. The centre is the extensive open space of The Old Rectory garden with high red brick enclosing walls. Close to these are greens such as those by the churchyard entrance opposite Leadclune Court and in front of the Old Rectory.  The Conservation Area is dominated by the Old Rectory (c1778) set between the churchyard with its fine lime trees and the Green. The Old Rectory Listed Grade II* is one of the finest houses in the District and, according to W.G. Hoskins “... the most magnificent Rectory in England”. Its secluded large walled garden with fine trees includes a mature Cedar of Lebanon.

In addition to the buildings of the village core there are three distinct clusters of buildings, each adding to the character of the area:-

i) the buildings around the Green and on the Melton Road. These include two long low farmhouses of red brick and Swithland slate on the west side of the Melton Road each with an intact yard behind, with many of the farmyard buildings having Swithland slates;.

ii) the buildings in Church Lane. These include a group of 19th century farm cottages (red brick and slate) close to the churchyard and a farmyard with barn in front at an angle to the road with wide verge in front. This building forms the abrupt visual entrance to the settlement from the north;

iii) the Hanbury Schools (1873) incorporating teachers houses and schools comprise an elaborate long range in decorative brickwork set back behind a wide range and open to the verge;

From a historic perspective the influence of the Hanbury family is great in Church Langton. The Revd. William Hanbury junior built the Old Rectory and a later Hanbury was responsible for the construction of the Schools. The Revd. William Hanbury senior organised music festivals at the Church between 1759 and 1761 which included the first production in an English Church of Handel’s Messiah.

Church Langton Conservation Area map