A project like this involving book and films is a team effort in the best sense of the word. The last year we have spent great deal of time in Kibworth, and this book could not have been written, nor the films it accompanies made, without the help of the people of Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby; to them my heartfelt thanks for their hospitality, generosity and friendship. What Leslie Clarke wrote about their predecessors in 1944 (see p. 402) is still true. Warm thanks are also due to the Warden and Fellows of Merton College, Oxford, and the staff of the Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office at Wigston; we have made many visits to these institutions, whose members have been incredibly generous with their time and access to their wonderful archives; to both not only thanks but our deep appreciation of their role in promoting the humanities today. Julia Walworth, Librarian of Merton College, and Julian Reid, the college archivist, were unfailingly generous with their time and their expertise: it was a true privilege to have access to one of the most extraordinary libraries in the world. Thanks, too, to Robin Jenkins at the Wigston Record Office for his tremendous help, good humour and knowledge, and his generosity in bringing his precious documents out to the places where they were written: at a time of cuts to the humanities such a welcoming and accessible institution shows exactly why history matters to all of us. A very special thanks is also due to the ‘onlie begetter’ of this project, Cicely Howell, who from across the other side of the world, amid all her other commitments, most generously fired off advice and suggestions, and between trips to the outback for her present work in conservation, scanned transcripts of medieval documents and supplied maps from her old Kibworth researches. Thanks as well to George and Pamela Weston, Philip Porter and the members of the Kibworth History Society: founts of knowledge on the story of the village and unstinting in answering our frequent requests for help and advice; to Professor Chris Dyer, who generously gave his time and anchored us in the real lives of our medieval ancestors; likewise to Peter Liddle of Leicester County Council, who offered his unfailing generosity and many memorable insights; to Dr Carenza Lewis and Cat Ranson, who set the ball rolling with a fantastic weekend on the Big Dig and helped us afterwards as the impact of the finds sank home, aided and abetted by Paul Blinkhorn, with his irrepressible verve and great expertise. Thanks also to Charles Phythian-Adams, the staff of the Jewry Wall Museum, Leicester, the National Archives at Kew, the British Library, the Women’s Library, the Harborough Museum and the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
In Kibworth I would especially like to thank everybody who participated in the Kibworth Big Dig and in the History Day, the pupils and staff at Kibworth High School, Martin Brown, Bill Pringle, Clare Edgeworth, John Mulholland, John Sharman, Kibworth Parish Council and Kibworth Cricket Club. I would also like to thank the following individuals: Stephen Butt of BBC Radio Leicester, who helped it all happen on the ground, Abraham Smith and family, Andrew and Bev Southerden, Andy Cooper, Angela Edwards, Anita Harrison at the Leicester Guildhall, Simon Jones, Benjamin Nicholas and the Choir of Merton College, Betty Ward, Wayne Coleman and family, Rose Holyoak, Bryan Porteous, Celia Ponting of the Hallaton Field Work Group, Charles and Pam Tear, Chris Standish, Professor David Carpenter, David McGrory, Dr David Cox, Robert Howard, David and Amanda Churchill, Nick and Janet Davis and family, Debbie Miles-Williams, Pauline Carroll, Deborah Sawday, the staff of the Bewicke Arms in Hallaton, the Mercers’ Company, Edward Garnier MP, Eileen Bromley, Elaine Robb-Murphy, Emma Boyd, Eric Moss, Alison Foster, Fiona Ure of Leicester County Museums, Frank Hargrave, Gareth Owen and the Sealed Knot Society, Glyn Hatfield, West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Gordon Arthur, Dr Graham Jones, Jim and Helen French, Hilary Surridge, Iris Pinkstone, Isobel Cullum, Jamie Whitcomb of the Relay for Life Kibworth, Kibworth Methodist Church, Jane Pudsey from Coventry Archives, Jane May at the New Walk Museum, Janet Briggs of Windmill Farm, Bob and Janet Connelly, Jean Clarke and the Great Bowden Archaeological Heritage Group, Jeremy Taylor of the University of Leicester, Jess Jenkins at the Record Office in Wigston for her great generosity in allowing me to use her unpublished researches, Joan Croxford of the Manor House at Kibworth Beauchamp, Joan Fillingham, John Capps and John and Christine Brammall of the Hallaton Field Group, Judith Bayes (the daughter of Bert Aggas), Professor Judith Jesch of the Nottingham University Centre for Viking Studies, Julian Barker, Julia Aalen at Weald and Downland, Ken and Hazel Wallace of the Hallaton Field Group, Dr Kevin Feltham of the Kibworth Harcourt Conservation Society, Laura Hadland of Leicester City Museums, Lesley Gill of Kibworth Harcourt Parish Council, Linda Butt at De Montfort University, who most generously allowed the great texts of Nichols and Burton to be taken on location, Liz Lacon at Lewes District Council, Liz Mayne at De Montfort University, Liz Doull at Coventry History Centre, Ludger and Ruth Fremmer of St Wilfrid’s church in Kibworth for their tremendous hospitality, thoughtfulness and willingness to support this project in their very busy lives, Lynne Beasley-Reynolds of Kibworth Parish Council, Marcus Lynch at St Mary’s Guildhall, Margaret Bonney at the Wigston Record Office, Mark and Deborah Parr of Priory Farm, Mark and Vanessa Stanbridge of Beauchamp Grange Farm, Martin Featherstone at Anglia Battlefield Tours for a truly memorable trip with the High School to the Somme, Beaumanor Hall, Mary Ireland of Priory Farm, Fred Hartley, Matty Holmes, Maureen Bullows, Dr Maureen Jurkowski of the English Monastic Archives Project at UCL, who was so generous in sharing her exciting research on the Lollards and suggesting new leads, Michael Hawkes, Michael Kilgarriff, who splendidly oversaw the re-creation of the 1880s Penny Concerts, everyone at the Kibworth Last Minute Theatre Company for their sterling work in performing the concerts and other moments from the theatrical past of the village, Michael and Liz Vicars at Newstead Farm, Neil Christie of the School of Archaeology & Ancient History (at the University of Leicester), Neil Finn at ULAS, Oliver Creighton, Martin Carver, Neil and Jane Beasley, Professor Nicholas Orme for coming to Wigston to explore early education in the village, Nicolas Bennett at Lincoln Cathedral, Nicky and Bob Tully, Norman Harrison of Kibworth History Society, Pat Grundy at the Wigston Record Office for her great support and assistance and her transcripts of many of the documents, especially the Tudor wills from Kibworth, Jeanette Ovendon, Patrick Rooke, Paul Stone of Kibworth CE Primary School, Paul Carter at the National Archives for his advice and help and a memorable day on the Poor Law documents, Peter Clowes at the Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, Peter and Eunice Hayes at St Wilfrid’s church, Philippa Britten, Richard Clark of Leicestershire County Council, Dr Richard Jones, Richard Moore, Richard Pollard of Leicestershire County Council, Richard and Mary Green of the Last Minute Theatre Company, Richard and Julia White, Robert and Vanessa Lawson and Susie Purling and Richard Clowes for their many kindnesses, Dr Robert Peberdy of the Victoria County History, Robin Hollick, Roger Bland of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Dr Roger Highfield of Merton, Roger Whiteway, Rosemary Culkin of the Great Bowden Archaeological Heritage Group, Rosemary and Ian Williamson of Manor Farm, Sally McDonald, Sarah and Lino Poli at the Boboli restaurant, Simon Clarkson, Stephanie and Neil Paull of the Vikings Reenactment Group, Stephen Poyzer and Anne Robinson and all at the Kibworth Chronicle, Steve Pollington for his memorable readings of Old English, Dr Sarah Salih, Stuart Rose, Robert Haigh, Roy Hendell, Colin Cree and all the farmers of Laxton – what a pleasure to film with them again after so long – John Stevens, Wendy Scott and Lyn Sturgess for their help at the History Roadshow, John Wadland, Paul Thompson, Arthur Hazilrigg, Charles Stops, Alan Axon, John Billings, the Simons family, Sherry Nesbitt, John and Penny March, James Ryan, Stuart and Emma Kendall, Terry and Alison Iliffe, Tim Porter, Tim Allen at English Heritage, Chris Baldwin, Bob Holman, Kathy Flower-Bond and all at Weald and Downland, Jean Robinson and Anne Whykes at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Benedict Coffin, Sandra Orchard and all at the Viking Society, Bill Sykes and Gareth Owen and all at Sealed Knot, the Simon De Montfort Society in Evesham, William Jacob of St Giles-in-the-Fields, Dr Turi King at the Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Ted Smith and the Kibworth Brass Band, the Kibworth bellringers, Debbie at The Bookshop, Kibworth, the staff of the King’s Head in Smeeton, Ash at Raitha’s Restaurant, Mary at the Deli, Robin and Emily at the Old Swan, the staff at the Coach and Horses, and everyone who has helped make this project happen: my apologies if I have inadvertently omitted anyone. Working together on this project has been a pure pleasure: to all, my heartfelt thanks.
On the book, I must thank Tony Lacey and Ellie Smith and everyone at Penguin who had faith in this idea and who saw this book through in record time; to Mark Handsley and Pru Cave, who edited a very difficult text so well; and a special thanks to James Evans, who researched the later films in the series and stepped into the breech as film and book deadlines collided to draft my Civil War, eighteenth-century and Victorian chapters – without his help this book would never have been finished in time, or so well.
Finally the members of the crew who made the films of The Story of England were, at Mayavision, Jasmine Allodi, Gerry Branigan, Callum Bulmer, Stephen Butt, John Cranmer, Matt Currington, Howard Davidson, Ben Davis, Wayne Derrick, Mick Duffield, Freya Eden-Ellis, James Evans, Peter Harvey, Elizabeth Herrick, Lauren Jacobs, Aleksandar Nikolic, Tamsin Ranger, Kevin Rowan, Andrew Smith, Sally Thomas, Jon Wood and Aaron Young; and, at Envy, Marc Corrance, Bob Jackson, Jannine Martin and Vicki Matich. Martin Davidson and Janice Hadlow at the BBC backed this project from the start, and Richard Klein and Cassian Harrison saw it through. To have achieved this complex series in just over a year has been little short of miraculous: thanks to one and all.