BELTON, a parish in the western division of the
hundred of GOSCOTE, county of LEICESTER, 5 miles
(S.W.byS.) from Kegworth, containing, with the extraparochial
liberty of Grace-Dieu, 664 inhabitants. The
living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Leicester, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's
books at £8. 18. 4., and in the patronage of the Marquis
of Hastings. The church is dedicated to St. John
the Baptist. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan
Methodists. A considerable fair for horses is held here
annually, on the Monday next after Trinity week. A convent
for nuns of the order of St. Augustine was founded
at Grace-Dieu, in the reign of Henry III., the revenue
of which, at the dissolution, was £101. 8. C2. Sir John
Beaumont, author of a poem entitled "Bosworth Field,"
brother of Francis Beaumont, the celebrated dramatist,
was born at Grace-Dieu, in 15S2-.