Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt. At the 2011 census, Kibworth Beauchamp had a population of 5,433 and Kibworth Harcourt 990. The villages are divided by the A6. Kibworth is close to Foxton Locks, Market Harborough, and Leicester.
History
In 1270 Walter de Merton, the founder of Merton College, Oxford, bought a large part of the parish of Kibworth Harcourt from Saer de Harcourt, who had been forced to sell the estate after giving his support to the unsuccessful "Second Barons' War" led by Simon de Montfort. Much of the parish has remained the property of Merton College, Oxford to the present day. There is a stained-glass window depicting Walter de Merton in the bell tower of the parish church, St Wilfrid's, of which the warden and scholars of the college are joint patrons with the Bishop of Leicester. The church is a Grade II* listed building. A village school was founded in 1709, and endowed by Sir Nathaniel Edwards. Kibworth Harcourt was the birthplace of the writer/reformer Anna Laetitia Barbauld and her brother John Aikin. Their father, John Aikin, kept a dissenting academy there and served as minister of a nearby Presbyterian chapel. The family moved in 1757 to Warrington. On 23 July 1825 the ancient tower and spire of St Wilfrid's collapsed.
''Michael Wood's Story of England''
In September 2010, Kibworth was the central feature of Michael Wood's Story of England, a documentary aired on both BBC Four, BBC Two, and repeated on the UKTV channel Yesterday, and PBS America, presented by Michael Wood about the history of England framed through Kibworth. A book of the same name was published by Viking. The series was likened to Who Do You Think You Are? for a whole community. Villagers have created a new website and successfully requested a grant of £48,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to continue the legacy of the TV series by creating a Kibworth Guide Booklet, several interpretation panels around the three villages, ongoing study materials for the three tiers of local schools, and an Archive.
Facilities
Kibworth has a number of shops, a community newspaper, and since 2002 new shops, including a branch of Co-op UK. New housing continues to be built on the edge of the village, causing periodic controversy. The Bookshop, which opened in the High Street in 2009, won a regional award for Independent Bookseller of The Year in 2012.
The localcricket club won the ECB National Club Cricket Championship in 2004. The association football club, previously Kibworth and Smeeton, was renamed in 2018 as Kibworth Town, merging the younger and senior teams together. The village also has clubs for snooker, tennis, golf, bowls and dance. Kibworth is also home to Kibworth Rugby Stars, a children's rugby club serving ages 18 months to 6 years.
Notable residents
In birth order:
John Aikin, Unitarian preacher, schoolteacher and father of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, lived and taught in Kibworth in 1730–58.
Anna Laetitia Barbauld, poet, essayist, children's author and daughter of John Aikin, was born in Kibworth Harcourt.
John Aikin, physician, biographer and brother of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, was born in Kibworth Harcourt.
James Beresford, Anglican cleric and humorist, was rector of Kibworth from 1812 until his death in 1840.
