Church Langton: St Peter |
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 Originally in the Hanbury Mausoleum, which was in the churchyard and demolished in 1866, this mural tablet is now on the north side of the chancel. It is inscribed
The bust depicts Hanbury in clerical garb with a pile of his written works beside him. To his front is a scroll upon which are inscribed the titles concerning his charitable foundation and society at Church Langton. William Hanbury was born 26 September 1725 in Bedworth, Warwickshire, and matriculated at Magdenlen Hall, Oxford, in January 1745. In 1748, while a deacon at Buckden, his father purchased the advowson of Church Langton to ensure that his son should have a living in his own right. The following year young William was ordained and moved to Church Langton. He was very interested in botany and within a few years had amassed a small fortune from his horticultural activities, money that he put into a charity trust fund. This was used for church decoration and a school for boys, which was built in the village. One of Hanbury's ideas for raising money was a great music festival in the church that was held on the occasion of the establishment of the Trust on 26 and 27 September 1759. The music on the Saturday was of the nature of a Church service with no admission fee, but with a collection taken at the doors. The music on the Sunday, admission one guinea, was a grand performance of Messiah, composed some seventeen years earlier. This, the first performance of Handel's masterpiece in a parish church, was so popular that the doors had to be barricaded to prevent overcrowding.
Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland
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