Knipton

Iron Ore Quarrying

Iron Ore was quarried in two areas of Knipton. Both quarrying areas have now been smoothed over and the fields are at a lower level than the roads.

Southern Quarries

These were an extension of the quarries at Woolsthorpe and Harston. Quarrying began east of the road from Knipton to Croxton Kerrial in 1924, ceasing in 1943. A quarry on the west side of the road operated between 1941 and 1946. The quarries used steam and diesel quarrying machines. The ore was taken away by steam operated narrow gauge tramway to a tipping dock on the standard gauge railway at Harston where it was tipped into standard gauge wagons for transport. In 1956 quarrying began again where it had finished in 1946. By that time the narrow gauge tramway had been replaced by a standard gauge one worked by steam engines which left the wagons in the sidings at Harston from where British Railways locomotives took them away. From 1960 onwards the ore from some of the quarries was loaded into lorries and taken either to the tramway or the sidings at Harston. The tramway was lifted in early 1964 but the lorry worked quarries continued for some while. However production at Knipton had finished by the end of 1964.

Northern Quarries

Quarrying began at High Leys close to the Belvoir Road in 1949. That quarry closed in 1951 when another quarry opened closer to the village on the east side of the road. That closed in 1955 when quarrying began on the opposite side of the road. Quarrying ceased there in 1958. Diesel quarrying machines were used.The ore was taken by steam worked narrow gauge tramway to a tipping stage at the terminus of British Railway's Eaton Branch where it was loaded into standard gauge railway wagons for transport to the iron works.

Manners Arms

The village public house is now the Manners Arms, named after the Duke of Rutland. Formerly it had been The Marquis of Granby, now long since closed, on the village street. The Manners Arms is housed in a late 18th-century brick building, known throughout its existence as the Red House, with three bays and two and a half storeys. It retains its slate roof and 19th-century plate glass sash windows and shutters, while internally it features an original closed string staircase with a ramped handrail and turned balusters.

Originally part of one of the very few freehold pieces of land dating back to the Anglo-Saxon times and therefore not part of the Belvoir estate, the land was used for various purposes, including the site of a maltings and squatters cottages. The current building was built between 1774-1790 as a private home for Rev Robert Jones, the 5th Duke's Chaplain. On his death the house passed to his son and upon his death to his wife. Her son who was the estates clerk, mortgaged the building in 1802 for £350. Unable to service the debt, he sold the building and mortgage to the 5th Duke for £750. The house was modified in the late 1920s as the intended Dower house for Violet the 8th Duchess, but the Dowager decided to live at Eastwell Hall. The next plan was to subdivide the house into 5 flats, but this failed to materialise. When converted instead to a public house in the late 20th century, it was called the Red House Inn, but was renamed The Manners Arms in 2005 by the 11th Duke of Rutland in recognition of his family.