APPENDIX IV.
THE ENDOWED LANDS OF THE SCHOOL.

In the Middle Ages, Kibworth Grammar School held land and
property in Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Harcourt, Smeeton
Westerby and Carlton Curlieu. In the feoffment charter of 1559
Richard Bryan and William Parker stated that the school estate
consisted of:

    " all those messuages, lands, tenements,
    meadows and pastures lying in the town and
    fields of Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Har-
    court, Smeeton Westerby and Carlton Curlieu ".

The actual extent and situation of the lands before the
seventeenth century cannot be discovered.   An inquisition of
1615 showed that the schools lands and property were as follows:

    Kibworth Beauchamp -- 3 yardlands, 3 closes of pasture,
                          3 messuages and 2 cottages.

    Kibworth Harcourt  -- 1 1/4 yardlands, 2 closes, 2 messu-
                          ages and 3 cottages.

    Smeeton Westerby   -- 1 1/2 yardlands, 2 closes and 2
                          cottages.

No mention is made of any property in Carlton Curlieu.
Evidently, this was lost to the School some time in Elizabeth's
reign.

In the seventeenth century, therefore, the school lands mainly
consisted of a large number of strips scattered in the open fields
of the three villages. These amounted in all to 5 yardlands. A
yardland was roughly 30 acres, and so the School owned some 160
to 170 acres.

As with many English villages, the open fields of Kibworth
were enclosed in the eighteenth century.   It was in 1779 that
enclosure took place there, and then the School was allocated the
following blocks of land:

    Kibworth Beauchamp (1) land around the School, 18
                           acres.

                       (2) Moss Farm, on the footpath
                           leading from Kibworth to
                           Fleckney, 54 acres.

    Kibworth Harcourt, Bridge Farm, down the Wistow Lane,
                       48 acres.

    Smeeton Westerby, Smeeton Hill Farm, beween Gumley
                      and Smeeton, 43 acres.

The School still owns the three farms mentioned above and
the area around the School, some 160 to 170 acres—practically the
same amount it held in the early seventeenth century.

Although the acreage of School property has remained much
the same, the money derived from the rents has varied, as we can
see from this table:—

    1615  ...  £ 31          1905  ...  £271
    1686  ...  £ 36          1907  ...  £256
    1726  ...  £ 51          1914  ...  £246
    1841  ...  £252          1930  ...  £195
    1884  ...  £335          1936  ...  £180
    1885  ...  £342

Until 1877, the Governors had more or less complete control
over their own finances.   Then, under the Scheme of 1877, the
Official Trustee of Charitable Funds took charge of the School's
finances.  When the State took over the School in 1909, all
property and funds had to be handed over to the local education
authority. The County did not use the endowment fund to meet
expenses for the general running of the School.   It has always
been set aside as a reserve for the use of the Governors to meet
special needs. Thus, of late years, it has been used to pay for the
preparation of further playing fields for the School, and for the
construction of a concrete practice wicket.