Barwell | |
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Location within Leicestershire | |
Population | 9,022 |
OS grid reference | SP444968 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Leicester |
Postcode district | LE9 |
Police | Leicestershire |
Fire | Leicestershire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, [1] Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that used to drink from the well near a brook in Barwell. [2] It was originally known as Borewell, but later became "Barwell", the name in use today. The brook is now called the River Tweed, and is a tributary of the River Trent.
The village has two churches; Barwell Methodist Church in Chapel Street, and St Mary's Church, Barwell in Church Lane. St. Mary's was built in 1220. A board inside the church lists all of the rectors up to the present day, beginning with William in 1209. [3]
The village has successful football clubs Barwell FC and AFC Barwell as well cricket teams and a large indoor bowling complex.
The Queens Head is the oldest public house, and second oldest building in the village. In 1902 the pub was owned by one Sarah Ann Powers. It was later owned by the Haines family. In recent years, the old pub roof has naturally deformed so that it is no longer straight. In the 1980s the front of the building was completely restored and returned to its original style after years of Victorian style black and white.
This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2011) |
It was on the lands of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, a rich and powerful magnate who had fought alongside Canute in his wars against Wessex. In old English, "wella" is the word for stream and "bar" the name for boar, and so this clearing in the woods was known in the Saxon tongue as Barwelle. In 1043, Earl Leofric and his wife, Godiva, established a Benedictine Abbey at Coventry and gave the Abbot and his twenty-four attendant monks, lands for their upkeep. Barwelle, along with nineteen other villages passed into the domains of the Abbot of Coventry.
Following the Norman Conquest, Barwelle was still held by the Abbey of Coventry. By 1086, there were 14 villagers with a priest, and 3 smallholders with 2 ploughs; a plough being a plot of land that can be cultivated by one team of oxen. There was a meadow 1 furlong by 1 furlong (201 by 201 m) in size and woodland 3 furlongs by 1 league (604 by 5556 m). The value of which was 30 shillings (£1.50).
The manor of Barwell which is described in Domesday Book as "ancient demesne", was later given to Hugh de Hastings, a steward and favourite of Henry I, and held in fee along with many other local manors from the priory of Coventry for the service of a single knight's fee.[ citation needed ]
In 1564 there were 48 families living in Barwell, according to a church census.
John Nichols describes an interesting tale of a wych-elm called "The Spreading Tree" or "Captain Shenton's tree" (pg. 476). As recounted, Captain Shenton who served in the royalist army returned to his house at Barwell with several other officers after the battle of Worcester. Hearing that the parliamentarians were looking for him he sank his portmanteau and valuables in the moat which surrounded the house, and sought refuge in the tree. Despite being close enough to overhear his enemies discussing the price on his head the bold Captain Shenton escaped capture and kept his estate, passing it on through his daughters. The tree was apparently held sacred for many years by the Powers family for preserving their ancestor.[ citation needed ]
In June, 1646 the inhabitants of Barwell and surrounding villages made several submissions to the county committee for losses and free quarter from the local parliamentary garrisons. In June, 1646 Mr Gearey from Barwell claimed that Captain Ottaway from the Coventry garrison took a gelding worth five founds and that William Capenkwist and Thomas Bacon, his servants, had taken a mare worth one pound (Exchequer SP 28/161).
After a long and confusing list of owners, the manor of Barwell was purchased in 1660 by a certain John Oneby. Barwell was well known for its market gardeners that traditionally supplied the Leicester market with fresh produce. Nichols provides an interesting illustration of the church and its adjoining parsonage house (p. 477) pulled down in 1746 and rebuilt.
Until recent times, Barwell, together with neighbouring Earl Shilton, was a centre for shoe production in the East Midlands. The area is also known for hosiery, especially in nearby Hinckley.
Barwell and neighbouring Earl Shilton were the site of a meteor event when, on Christmas Eve 1965, the villages were showered with fragments [4] from an object about the size of a traditional Christmas turkey. No one was hurt, although some minor damage to buildings and property occurred. [5]
One meteorite went through the front of a car, destroying its engine. When the owner of the car attempted to claim on his insurance company, they replied that it was an "Act of God" and would not pay. Outraged, the owner went to the priest of the local church and asked for the money, saying "If it was an Act of God, the Church should pay for his car." The owner never received any money to repair his car. [6]
Professor Sylvester-Bradley, Geology Dept Leicester University, confirmed that the fragments were from a chondrite and appealed for further specimens. Locals were requested not to wash any pieces found, but to wrap them in newspaper and hand in at the local police station. [4]
A piece of the meteorite is on display at the Herbert Museum, Coventry.
In December 2016, Leicestershire County Council unveiled a plaque in Barwell, marking the meteorite event that happened within the village. The plaque was originally nominated by Barwell Parish Council and was later accepted by the County Council as part of their Green Plaque Awards Scheme. [7] The plaque is situated towards the southern part of the village, close to the site of the original meteorite fall. [8]
The inscription on the plaque reads:
On Christmas Eve 1965, one of the largest meteorite falls recorded in British history landed close to this site Its flaming arrival was followed by a sonic boom, before the 4.5 billion-year-old rock exploded into hundreds of pieces
The local council launched a community house in 2009 to help tackle anti-social behaviour. [9] As part of the scheme, the House hosts a number of events throughout the year. [10]
Since 2017, the Barwell Bloomers have been brightening up the village with planters and hanging baskets.
Barwell takes part in the longest continuous cricket fixture in the world, when they play Coventry and North Warwickshire in their annual match. The match traditionally took place in 'Wakes Week'. The fixture began when the pastors of Coventry church and Barwell church arranged a game. The game was even played throughout the war, when representatives from each team would come and bowl an over at each other.
The village has a senior football team - Barwell Football Club. Following the demise in 2013 of Hinckley United Football Club this became the largest football side in the area.
In addition to the senior team, AFC Barwell is another football team which plays in the village. AFC Barwell has achieved community charter standard status [11] and operates in the Earl Shilton and Hinckley area as well as Barwell. AFC Barwell offers football coaching and matches to around 300 children, both girls and boys, between the ages of 3 and 18 years old. AFC Barwell teams play in matches at weekends and train twice a week.
Since 2013, AFC Barwell's home has been a purpose-built Sports Complex located off Dovecote Way, Barwell. The £700,000 building was built by Barwell Parish Council with most of the grant funding coming from the Football Foundation. [12]
Between the 19th and late 20th centuries, Barwell was a busy industrial village consisting of numerous shoe, hosiery and knitwear factories. These once large factories have all ceased trading. Competitive pressure from abroad was partly to blame; other factors included the 1965 Credit Squeeze which affected shoe and hosiery firms. [17]
Nevertheless, Barwell still retains several industrial estates, including Dawsons Lane, Stapleton Lane (Stapleton Lane industrial estate has been demolished by the local council and is now a residential area with approximately 30 new houses) and the larger Moat Way, which ostensibly specialise in warehousing and distribution. Examples include the parcel company Crowfoots Carriers employing around 100 people, Bachmann Industries Europe who design products locally, but have them manufactured in China by their parent company, Kader Industries.
Some smaller and specialist manufacturers still remain, such as Labelsco, which produces labels for the pharmaceutical industry. [18]
Arriva Midlands operate their Hinckley local bus services from a depot within the village alongside the ArrivaClick operations serving nearby New Lubbesthorpe.
Kirby Muxloe is a large village and civil parish that forms part of the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. Located to the west of Leicester, its proximity to the city has resulted in its inclusion in the Leicester Urban Area. The Leicester Forest East parish border runs along the Hinckley Road A47. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 4,523, which had increased to 4,667 at the 2011 census.
Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in Leicestershire, England. The council is based in Hinckley, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Earl Shilton and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The Bosworth in the borough's name refers to the small market town of Market Bosworth, near which the Battle of Bosworth Field was fought in 1485.
Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough. Hinckley is about halfway between Leicester and Coventry and borders Nuneaton in Warwickshire. Watling Street forms part of the Hinckley/Nuneaton border.
Earl Shilton is a market town in Leicestershire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) from Hinckley and about 10 mi (16 km) from Leicester. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 10,047.
Market Bosworth is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle of the Wars of the Roses.
Sutton Cheney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dadlington and Sutton Cheney, in the borough of Hinckley and Bosworth, in the county of Leicestershire, England, near the county border with Warwickshire. In addition to the village of Sutton Cheney itself, the civil parish also contains the villages of Dadlington and Shenton, a number of farms, and the location of the Battle of Bosworth. Its closest large towns are Nuneaton and Hinckley. Its closest market town is Market Bosworth.
Desford is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of England, 7 miles (11 km) west of the centre of Leicester and around 7 miles north east of Hinckley. Situated on a hill approximately 400 feet above sea level, the parish includes the hamlets of Botcheston and Newtown Unthank and a scattered settlement at Lindridge. The population at the 2021 census had increased to 4,592. Desford is in the Doomsday Book of 1086 but the name itself is older than that meaning Deor's Ford suggesting an Anglo Saxon origin. Another suggestion is that it means 'ford frequented with wild animals'.
Fosseway Radio was an Independent Local Radio station based in Leicestershire, and owned by Lincs FM Group. It served the south-west of that county, as well as North Warwickshire. It was based on Castle Street in Hinckley. The name of the station referred to the nearby Fosse Way, which marks the frontier of Roman Britain. It runs between Lincoln and Leicester, then on to Bath and Exeter. In Leicestershire, the best-preserved section is a 4-mile stretch close to the market town of Hinckley, from High Cross to Stoney Bridge near Sapcote.
Anstey is a large village in Leicestershire, England, located north west of Leicester in the borough of Charnwood. Its population was 6,528 at the 2011 census. This figure is expected to increase due to the building of a new housing development off Groby Road. The village is separated from Leicester by the Rothley Brook, Castle Hill Park and the A46, and it borders the villages of Glenfield, Groby, Newtown Linford, Cropston and Thurcaston as well as the suburb of Beaumont Leys and Anstey Heights. To the north-west lies Bradgate Park.
Hinckley and Bosworth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Luke Evans, a Conservative.
Sapcote is a small village in the south west of Leicestershire, England, in the Sparkenhoe Hundred. It has a population of approximately 3,260, measured at the 2021 census The well-known inland scuba diving site Stoney Cove is nearby.
Stapleton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Kirkby Mallory, Peckleton and Stapleton, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in south-west Leicestershire, England, about ten miles south-west of Leicester city centre. Its population was 427 people at the 2001 census. In 1931 the parish had a population of 252. Stapleton was formerly a chapelry in Barwell parish, from 1866 Stapleton was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1935 and merged with Peckleton.
Elmesthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated to the south-east of Earl Shilton, near to Hinckley on the A47 road. In 2004, the parish had an estimated population of 520, reducing to 509 at the 2011 census.
Stoke Golding is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England, close to the county border with Warwickshire. According to the 2001 census, the total population was 1,721 in just over 700 houses. The population at the 2011 census was 1,684 in 723 households. The village is 16 miles (26 km) from the city of Leicester, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Hinckley and 4 miles (6.4 km) from Fenny Drayton. The village is bordered on one side by the Ashby Canal, well-used for recreational purposes.
Shenton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dadlington and Sutton Cheney, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, situated 2.20 miles (3.54 km) south-west of Market Bosworth. Shenton was formerly a chapelry and township of the parish of Market Bosworth. The settlement is almost entirely agricultural, containing several farms. Much of the land has been in the same family since William Wollaston purchased the manor in 1625. It is essentially a privately owned estate village and has seen comparatively little modern development. It has been designated a conservation area. The settlement lies either side of the Sence Brook, which is crossed by a picturesque Victorian bridge. The area is fairly flat, and subject to flooding. In 1931 the parish had a population of 154.
The River Sence is a river which flows in Leicestershire, England. The tributaries of the Sence, including the Saint and Tweed, fan out over much of western Leicestershire from Charnwood Forest and Coalville in the north-east to Hinckley and almost to Watling Street in the south and south-west. Its watershed almost coincides with Hinckley and Bosworth Borough of Leicestershire, which was formed in 1974 by amalgamation of Market Bosworth Rural District and Hinckley Urban District. It flows into the Anker, which in turn flows into the River Tame. It is part of the wider River Trent catchment, which covers much of central England. In 1881, Sebastian Evans wrote that the usual names for this river were Shenton Brook and Sibson Brook.