Located in the county of Leicestershire, and around 15 miles southeast of Leicester, is the town of Market Harborough.

Geographically Market Harborough lies at the southern border of Leicestershire, just opposite Northamptonshire. The River Welland runs through the town just five miles from its source. Market Harborough was originally a Saxon settlement called 'hæfera-beorg', meaning 'oat hill'.

A weekly market started in 1204 leading to relative prosperity in the town. During the same century construction began on what is now St Dionysius' Church in the centre of town. In 1614 the Old Grammar School was built. This very distinct timber-framed building stands on wooden stilts. This was so that it would double up as a buttercross at ground level, i.e. an outdoor market for dairy and eggs, while the school functioned on the first floor. Today the Old Grammar School functions as a museum, in addition to being somewhat of an emblem of Market Harborough itself.

During the English Civil War Market Harborough became the headquarters of King Charles I's army. After they Royalists laid siege to Leicester in 1645 with the aid of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, they marched south, looking to send supplies to their own besieged headquarters in Oxford. They set up camp in Market Harborough before clashing with the Parliamentarians in the nearby village of Naseby. The ensuing Battle of Naseby ended in victory for Parliament, who would go on to retake Leicester just days later in what proved to be a decisive blow to the Royalists.

In the 18th century Market Harborough enjoyed quiet prosperity as a cloth weaving town as well as a resting post for stagecoaches en route to Leicester. In the following century it received its first rail connection in 1850 with a link to Rugby in Warwickshire, followed by links to Leicester and London in 1857.

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Filmed: 8th July 2021

Link to the walk on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/5rFzyNdpdJP9ohjZA

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 St Mary's Road
0:09 St Mary's Place
2:11 Northampton Road
3:14 The Square
4:14 High Street
4:31 St Dionysius' Church
4:38 The Old Grammar School (built 1614)
4:58 Church Square
5:20 High Street
9:28 Church Street
10:38 Church Square
12:03 Adam and Eve Street
13:14 St Mary's Road