Charnwood Map

Anstey

ANSTEY is a large residential village situated on the Rothley Brook, four miles north-west of Leicester. ANSTEY was primarily an agricultural area for centuries. The first industry was stocking frame knitting and it was later noted for shoe manufacture. Small amounts of Common Land still survive in the village. There are still small businesses and factories but ANSTEY is now largely a commuter village. Despite this, the village is frequently known as "the Gateway to the Forest".

ANSTEY is twinned with PLATEAU EST DE ROUEN in France.

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Barkby & Barkby Thorpe

A small village on the edge of Charnwood. It stands five miles north-east of Leicester and a mile from THURMASTON, close to a tributary of the RIVER WREAKE. It remains a farming village with little industrial development. The farms are mainly arable but few village residents now work on the land, most commuting to work in Leicester. Two brick bridges span the brook, the first built in 1794 by the Trustees of Leicester and Melton Turnpike and the second in 1795 by William Pochin.

BARKBY THORPE, a wholly agricultural parish, is a hamlet lying a third of a mile from BARKBY. Most of the houses and farms still belong to the POCHIN estate. The ABBOT'S POND is found here, built by the Abbots of Leicester to supply fish for the Abbey. There was also a fruit market here, in the aptly named CHERRY FIELD. There are 15 wells in the parish, one of which used to supply the water for BARKBY HALL. Nearby is the site of the lost village of Hamilton.

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Barrow on Soar

Barrow is a residential and industrial village between Leicester and Loughborough. It stands on the east bank of the River Soar and the chief industries are hosiery and knitwear. Boating is also important and the riverbank gives a mooring place to many houseboats. The emblem of the village is a PLESIOSAURUS, after a fossil found here in 1851.

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Beeby

BEEBY is a small, rather remote hamlet. It stands on a tributary of the Wreake north-east of Leicester and 2 miles from BARKBY. It is a mainly farming community sitting in a basin formed by several hills. The village consists of council houses, a few private homes and three farms. Beside the large and pleasent village green there are two further buildings: the Grange and an eighteenth century manor house. Also, alongside the main road through the village, there is an historical well - the STOCKWELL.

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Birstall

BIRSTALL is immediately north of the city of Leicester and stands on the west bank of the River Soar. The village is almost entirely residential but also accomodates the southern terminus of the reopened GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY. This brings quite a number of tourists to the area, especially in summer. The village still has a number of timber framed "cruck" houses.

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Burton On The Wolds

A small farming village, standing on high country to the east of Loughborough. The main road which runs through the centre of the village once carried heavy loads to and from the local gypsum and coal mines. The village itself remains a rural community, combining old and new.

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Cossington

COSSINGTON stands on the level plain between the Soar and the Wreake. Unlike its neighbours SYSTON and SILEBY, it was never industrialised and has a mixture of old and modern buildings, including cruck cottages constructed from SWITHLAND slate and locally made brick. The BABINGTON TRUST owns seven houses in the village which are reserved for needy villagers. Ground used for allotments is also owned by the TRUST. The central village street contains many beautiful old cottages and there is a restored "Village Pound", or "Pinfold". This is now a popular village feature with a garden and is celebrated each year in a midsummer ceremony. One of the parish boundaries is formed by the old FOSSE WAY, now the A46. There is a very popular golf course in the extreme north of the parish.

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Cotes

COTES is now a small group of houses immediately east of LOUGHBOROUGH where the main NOTTINGHAM ROAD crosses the River Soar at COTES BRIDGE. COTES MILL, now a public house, is built on the river bank.

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Cropston

CROPSTON lies just beyond the border of Leicester and has the route of the Leicester Western Bypass to the south of the parish, which is shared with Thurcaston. It also includes part of the track of the GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY. The village is a hamlet of THURCASTON, about a mile distant. The Parish of CROPSTON AND THURCASTON is twinned with PLATEAU DE ROUEN in FRANCE.

East Goscote

EAST GOSCOTE lies in the valley of the RIVER WREAKE, between MELTON MOWBRAY, LEICESTER and LOUGHBOROUGH. Only a few houses remain from before 1965, when work began on the construction of a new village. The site was formerly a military ordnance base.

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Hathern

HATHERN is a working village lying on the A6, three miles north of LOUGHBOROUGH and on the west of the SOAR VALLEY. It stands on the gently rising ground overlooking the Soar valley in the north west of CHARNWOOD. The village has good arable farmland together with beef and sheep farming in the meadows beside the river. The former home of agricultural pioneer ROBERT BAKEWELL lies just inside the present parish boundaries of HATHERN.

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Hoton

A small village on the A60 Loughborough to Nottingham road, near the Nottinghamshire border. It is high farming country but the village retains several timber framed and Georgian houses. Most houses lie on the straight WYMESWOLD to LOUGHBOROUGH road.

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Loughborough

LOUGHBOROUGH is located in the SOAR VALLEY on a river terrace slightly above the flood plain. This would have given the earliest settlers an accessible water supply whilst also protecting the town from the worst of the winter floods. LOUGHBOROUGH developed as a market town in the Middle Ages and then grew as a centre for hosiery production after the industrial revolution. The town has one of the largest universities in the country which is renowned for its sports activities. LOUGHBOROUGH is also well known for its bell making, high-tech industries and of course its diverse arts and cultural background. Loughborough is twinned or linked with towns in France, Germany, Belbium, India and Poland.

Many of the photographs in Loughborough were taken by the Bornali Shongo group based at the Moira Centre.

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Mountsorrel

MOUNTSORREL is situated on the west bank of the River Soar and for many years was virtually cut in half by the heavy traffic on the A6 which runs through the centre. This problem has been largely eradicated by the opening of the A6 bypass and the village is a now a much more peaceful and safer place. MOUNTSORREL is the home of one of the largest granite quarries in Europe.

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Newtown Linford

NEWTOWN LINFORD lies at the southern entrance to BRADGATE PARK. It is surrounded by rocky hills and woods and is one of the chief sources of SWITHLAND SLATE. The tourism generated by nearby BRADGATE PARK has led to a number of highly popular cafes and hotels in the area, as well as a pub and social club.

At the junction of Markfield Lane and Main Street was once a ford, from which the village derives its name. The River Lin rises beyond ULVERSCROFT and flows alongside the Main Street before passing through BRADGATE PARK and into CROPSTON RESERVOIR. The cricket field behind the church is acknowledged as one of the most attractive in the country and has featured in several books on the subject of village cricket grounds.

NEWTOWN LINFORD is twinned with PLATEAU DE ROUEN in France and BRADGATE in Iowa, USA.

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Prestwold

PRESTWOLD lies east of LOUGHBOROUGH in the hilly country across the Soar. There is, however, very little of the old village still standing in the area. All that now remains are a chuch, a few houses and some farms surrounding PRESTWOLD HALL.

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Queniborough

QUENIBOROUGH lies seven miles north-east of Leicester on the Melton Mowbray road and runs along the line of the Queniborough Brook. The MAIN STREET is the oldest part of the village and has several timber framed houses, leading to the church. There are many well preserved buildings from the 17th to the early 19th centuries. Historically, QUENIBOROUGH was a thriving farming community and there are still several farms in and around the village.

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Quorn

QUORN (or QUORNDON) is a largely residential village, lying either side of the old A6 to the west of the River Soar and a couple of miles south of LOUGHBOROUGH. Many tourists are attracted to the area by the GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY. An avenue of LIME TREES on the STAFFORD ORCHARD was planted as a memorial to the American Paratroopers stationed in the village during the SECOND WORLD WAR. There have been several return visits by the surviving veterans.

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Ratcliffe on the Wreake

RATCLIFFE lies between the banks of the River Wreake and the route of the A46 (The old Roman Road, the FOSSE WAY). This also forms one of the parish boundaries.

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Rearsby

REARSBY lies across the Wreake from RATCLIFFE, on the main Leicester to Melton road. It has grown as a residential centre in recent years.

Rearsby was documented with the help of The Rearsby Guides, and Guide Leader Sarah Kennedy. A workshop was held in Rearsby Village Hall where the Guides learnt about various forms of image-making such as photograms and sun prints. After the workshop the group were asked to take photographs of their parish, with the three themes of the Clickit! project in mind.

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Rothley

ROTHLEY is built around Rothley Brook, a tributary of the River Soar. It lies halfway between LEICESTER and LOUGHBOROUGH and is a large, popular residential village. The village lies half a mile to the west of the A6 and its present centre is CROSS GREEN. Originally, however, the village was centred on the cruck cottages of TOWN GREEN. There are many newcomers to the village and local industry comprises two or three light engineering works and computer based firms.

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Seagrave

SEAGRAVE lies in the remote, high farming country between the Soar and the Wreake valleys. It is a village which blends old and modern housing. Part of the parish boundary is formed by the FOSSE WAY, now the A46.

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Shepshed

CHARNWOOD'S second town stands in the extreme North West of the Borough. It is separated from Loughborough by the M1 motorway. Although the footware and hoisery industries have declined somewhat, SHEPSHED has recently expanded as a residential centre. SHEPSHED is twinned with DORMONT in FRANCE and KOTTURU in INDIA.

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Sileby

SILEBY is situated on the eastern side of the Soar Valley between the A6 and the A46 (FOSSE WAY), and also between LEICESTER and LOUGHBOROUGH. It was once renowned as a centre of boot and shoe manufacture but its industrial base is now much more varied. Much of the village is modern residential development but several older buildings survive, especially towards the centre. The village is connected to the mainline rail network via the IVANHOE LINE. Boats can be hired from SILEBY MARINA for trips on the Soar.

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South Croxton

SOUTH CROXTON (pronounced CROW-SON) is at the extreme eastern end of Charnwood and lies on the QUENIBOROUGH brook. It is a farming community whose houses and village pub lie mostly on the main street which winds its way up a hill. The VILLAGE HALL, purchased by the village in 1964, was originally the village school.

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Swithland

SWITHLAND is a very pleasant residential village on the edge of the CHARNWOOD FOREST and is close to the reservoir and woods that share its name.

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Syston

SYSTON stands north-east of Leicester on the Melton Mowbray road, close to the River Wreake. It has excellent transport links, including the IVANHOE LINE and is a thriving village which combines industry with residential aspects. A large carnival is held annually on CENTRAL PARK and the village has strong twinning links with DEVILLE DE ROUEN in FRANCE, after which DEVILLE PARK is named.

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Thrussington

THRUSSINGTON lies close to the banks of the RIVER WREAKE and one of the parish borders is formed by the OLD FOSSE WAY (now the A46). It is a small farming village in a hilly country which stretches north to meet the FOSSE. Most of the houses cluster round the village green close to the church.

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Thurcaston

THURCASTON lies just beyond the border of Leicester and has the route of the Leicester Western Bypass to the south of the parish, which is shared with Cropston. It also includes part of the track of the GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY. The main "working" part of the village is found between Leicester Road and the church on Anstey Lane and there are many traces of the earlier life of the buildings. One such is the pump beside a pond in the forecourt of Thurcaston House which marks the site of the farmhouse. There is a development of retirement bungalows on the corner of Anstey Lane. The Parish is twinned with PLATEAU DE ROUEN in FRANCE.

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Thurmaston

THURMASTON is located in the SOAR VALLEY to the north of Leicester and is very close to being completely swallowed up by its larger neighbour. The village is a mixture of suburban housing and industry. One half of the village is separated from the other by the dual carriageway of the A46.

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Ulverscroft

ULVERSCROFT is an extensive agricultural, parish which extends across the CHARNWOOD FOREST. It is well wooded with many rocky outcrops. There is no village here now but houses and farms are scattered across the parish. There are also several elegant 19th century houses built by members of the GIMSON family. The most prominent feature of the parish is the semi-ruined PRIORY.

The ULVERSCROFT area contains several nature reserves. One of these contains a footpath which starts from Copt Oak farm on Whitcroft Lane and is a pleasant - though often rather muddy - approach to the Priory.

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Walton on the Wolds

This is a high standing village to the east of the SOAR VALLEY and is the centre of a farming parish. It lies about four miles from Loughborough and most of the houses are grouped around the village green. The village still has many working farms and is a conservation area, although some new houses have been built.

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Wanlip

WANLIP is located in the water meadows on the west bank of the Soar. It is a small, remote community although the parish extends to BIRSTALL. A major local industry is gravel quarrying.

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Woodhouse

The two picturesque villages of WOODHOUSE and WOODHOUSE EAVES are in the centre of the Charnwood Forest, close to BEACON HILL. WOODHOUSE (often called OLD WOODHOUSE) is dominated by BEAUMANOR HALL and the Parish is also home to the nine hole CHARNWOOD FOREST GOLF COURSE, the oldest in the county. The houses on the main village street of WOODHOUSE are mostly built of stone and many have reddish slate roofs characteristic of the Hanging Stone area.

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Woodhouse Eaves

WOODHOUSE EAVES is a picturesque village lying on the northern edge of CHARNWOOD FOREST, four miles south of LOUGHBOROUGH. It has many beautiful stone cottages, most of which are roofed with SWITHLAND slate. It is in essence a "daughter" village to WOODHOUSE itself, which is usually called "OLD WOODHOUSE" to avoid confusion. The unusual name "EAVES" probably comes from the village's position at the edge or "eaves" of the forest. It is unusual for forest villages in that it has a wide range of shops - including a book shop which also sells coffee, for once, the American's didn't think of it first! Although relaxed and unhurried, WOODHOUSE EAVES is a working village with a varied, vibrant population, rather than just a picturesque dormitory.

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Wymeswold

WYMESWOLD is situated to the north-east of LOUGHBOROUGH in open countryside. It is a typical WOLDS village, built in the hollows of the undulating landscape. It is a conservation village and has many fine Georgian buildings, some of which are thatched. The northern boundary of the parish forms the county boundary with Nottinghamshire and also divides the Sees of Canterbury and York. The eastern boundary is now defined by the FOSSE WAY (A46) but prior to 1974 the true border was Kingston Brook. The RIVER MANTLE, which has its source close the the parish boundary, flows through Brook Street. Half of the parish land is devoted to arable farming and there are few major industries.

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