Kibworth

thumb|St Wilfrid's Church, Kibworth Harcourt Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibworth Beauchamp had a population of 5,433 and Kibworth Harcourt 990. The villages are roughly divided by the Midland Main Line. Kibworth is close to Foxton Locks, Market Harborough, and Leicester.

==History== thumb|Kibworth Beauchamp High Street In 1270 Walter de Merton, the founder of Merton College, Oxford, bought a large part of the parish of Kibworth Harcourt from Saer de Harcourt, who had been forced to sell the estate after giving his support to the unsuccessful "Second Barons' War" led by Simon de Montfort. Much of the parish has remained the property of Merton College, Oxford to the present day. There is a stained-glass window depicting Walter de Merton in the bell tower of the parish church, St Wilfrid's, of which the warden and scholars of the college are joint patrons with the Bishop of Leicester. The church is a Grade II* listed building.