Kings Newton is a village in South Derbyshire

South Derbyshire

South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote....

. The Holy well

Holy well

A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...

 (pictured) was constructed around 1660, but has been refurbished at the end of the twentieth century.

History

Unlike many villages in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, Kings Newton is not mentioned in the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 and is a "new town". Originally the hamlet was called Newton but the prefix of Kings was added to differentiate it from other Newtons in the surrounding counties.

After the successful campaign at the Battle of Sobraon

Battle of Sobraon

The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab...

, Henry Hardinge was created Viscount Hardinge of Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 and of King's Newton in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, with a pension of £3000 for three lives. Why this small village was chosen for his honour is unclear.

The hall illustrated was built in 1560 and was extensively damaged by fire in 1859. It was fully restored in 1910 by Cecil Paget

Cecil Paget

Sir Cecil Walter Paget CMG, DSO , was a British locomotive engineer and railway administrator.Cecil Paget was the son of Sir George Ernest Paget, Chairman of the Midland Railway Company 1890-1911. He was born at Sutton Bonington, educated at Harrow and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and then joined...

 and his first wife. The illustration is from a book of poetry by local naturalist, John Joseph Briggs, whose poem about the Trent was the title of his poetry book.

Notable residents

• Marjorie Bates
  Marjorie Bates
  Marjorie Christine Bates R.A. was born in Kings Newton, near Melbourne, Derbyshire. She was a painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and Paris and achieved a moderate living from her paintings.-Biography:...
  
  , 20th century artist was born here in 1883.
• John Joseph Briggs
  John Joseph Briggs
  John Joseph Briggs , naturalist and topographer, was born in the village of Kings Newton , Derbyshire on 6 March 1819...
  
  , Naturalist lived here and published a History of Melbourne
  Melbourne, Derbyshire
  Melbourne is a Georgian market town in South Derbyshire, England. It is about 8 miles south of Derby and 2 miles from the River Trent. In 1837 a then tiny settlement in Australia was named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, and thus indirectly takes...
  
  
• Cecil Paget
  Cecil Paget
  Sir Cecil Walter Paget CMG, DSO , was a British locomotive engineer and railway administrator.Cecil Paget was the son of Sir George Ernest Paget, Chairman of the Midland Railway Company 1890-1911. He was born at Sutton Bonington, educated at Harrow and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and then joined...
  
  , locomotive engineer and railway administrator, lived in the Hall 1910-1936