Ratby

Last updated
Ratby
Ratby Church.jpg
St Philip & St James Church, Ratby
Leicestershire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ratby
Location within Leicestershire
Population4,468 (2011 Census)
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LEICESTER
Postcode district LE6
Dialling code 0116
Police Leicestershire
Fire Leicestershire
Ambulance East Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Leicestershire
52°38′53″N1°14′31″W / 52.648°N 1.242°W / 52.648; -1.242

Ratby War Memorial Ratby War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 490752.jpg
Ratby War Memorial

Ratby is a commuter village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated to the west of Leicester, and just south of the M1 motorway. (Groby is on the northern side of the M1.) The population of the civil parish was measured in the 2011 census as 4,468. [1] Other nearby places include Field Head, Kirby Muxloe, Glenfield and Markfield. The proximity of Ratby to Leicester causes it to form part of the Leicester Urban Area.

Contents

Name

Ratby is one of three nearby settlements whose name preserves the Brittonic word for "ramparts" (cf. Gaelic rath ), along with Ratcliffe-upon-Soar and the Roman ruins at Leicester, known as Ratae Corieltauvorum. [2] The suffix -by ( /-bi/ ) is Old Norse for a farmstead or settlement.

History

The oldest known human settlement in Ratby was at the Bury Camp on the edge of Ratby, an Iron Age encampment dating back approximately 3,000 years. Later, the Roman army adapted the camp for use as a temporary fort in around 50 AD.

The next oldest structure is the historic Church of St Philip & St James, called Ratby Church, built in four stages from the 13th century to 15th century and restored by Nicholas Joyce in 1881. The church was appropriated to Leicester Abbey in 1291 and afterwards to Nuneaton Priory. [3] There are also some cottages dating back several centuries.

For most of its history, Ratby was a small agricultural village with a few farms and the open 3-field plan until enclosure in the 18th century. From 1346 till the 19th century Ratby was in the hundred of Sparkenhoe. [4] In the 1830s the inhabitants were mainly employed in frame-work knitting; the population at that time was 1025. The chief landowner was the Earl of Stamford and Warrington who was lord of the manor and patron of the vicarage. The parish was enclosed in 1770. [5]

In the 20th century a war memorial called the "Angel of Peace" was constructed after the First World War and unveiled in 1920 by the wartime British Army Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Haig.

Chapel Lane, Ratby Chapel Lane, Ratby, January 2020.jpg
Chapel Lane, Ratby

Facilities

Ratby has a number of facilities that support its status as a highly sought after area within Leicestershire. Ratby Sports Club is home to the local football club and cricket teams. Ratby Primary School is also situated towards the village centre opposite the library. There are a total of three pubs in the village: the Bull's Head, the Plough Inn, and the Railway at the other end of the village. Other amenities are a hairdressers, the village barber shop, several beauty shops, a cake shop, a post office and village hall.

There is currently a review of the library by the county council. It is possible that the library will close if a volunteer group has not been found to run it. Ratby is only 1 mile from Junction 21a of the M1 motorway and situated 5 miles from the city centre of Leicester, with frequent Arriva Fox County bus services to and from the city.

In addition to all of these facilities the village is home to Ratby Cooperative Brass Band. The band rehearse in their own room on Taverner Drive and are highly regarded in the brass band movement particularly for their excellent work with youth. The band has around 150 members. Ratby band was founded in its present form in 1906, although records suggest that a band existed in the village many years before that date. It is not the oldest brass band in England, the Stalybridge Old Band was founded in 1809.

Location

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lutterworth</span> Town in Leicestershire, England

Lutterworth is an historic market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located 6.4 miles north of Rugby, Warwickshire and 12 miles south of Leicester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenfield, Leicestershire</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Glenfield is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Glenfields, in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. At the 2011 Census, Glenfields had a population of 9,643.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kegworth</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Kegworth is a large village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, in the East Midlands region, England. It forms part of the border with Nottinghamshire and is situated 6 miles north of Loughborough, 12 miles southwest of Nottingham, 12.5 miles southeast of Derby and 17 miles north of Leicester. The population of Kegworth as of the 2011 census was 3,601.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oadby</span> Town in Leicestershire, England

Oadby is a town in the borough of Oadby and Wigston in Leicestershire, England. Oadby is a district centre 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Leicester on the A6 road. Leicester Racecourse is situated on the border between Oadby and Stoneygate. The University of Leicester Botanical Garden is in Oadby. Oadby had a population of 23,849 in 2011, and like its neighbour Wigston is made up of five wards. The Borough of Oadby and Wigston is twinned with Maromme in France, and Norderstedt in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicester Forest East</span> Village and civil parish in Leicestershire, United Kingdom

Leicester Forest East (LFE) is a large suburban village in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester, straddling the M1 motorway. It is part of the Blaby district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaby</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Blaby is a town in the Blaby District in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre. At the time of the 2011 census, Blaby had a population of 6,194, falling slightly from 6,240 in 2001. Given Blaby's proximity to the city, it is part of the Leicester Urban Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narborough, Leicestershire</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Narborough is a large village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England, around six miles southwest of Leicester. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 8,498.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodhouse, Leicestershire</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Woodhouse, often known to locals as Old Woodhouse, is a small village and civil parish in the heart of Charnwood, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,319, including around 300 term-time boarders at the Defence College. The parish includes the larger village of Woodhouse Eaves. The parish of Woodhouse was formed in 1844. The village is located between the larger Woodhouse Eaves and Quorn villages, the village contains a mixture of small cottages and large modern houses. It is a commuter village for both Leicester and Loughborough, as well as further afield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleckney</span> Human settlement in England

Fleckney is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between Market Harborough and Leicester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ullesthorpe</span> Human settlement in England

Ullesthorpe is a small village and civil parish situated in the Harborough district in southern Leicestershire. Ullesthorpe is noted for its historic background with a mill, disused railway station and traces of a medieval settlement evident on the edge of the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeby</span> Village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England

Beeby is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of 115 according to the 2011 census. It is situated north-east of Leicester, nearer to the villages of Keyham and Hungarton in the neighbouring district of Harborough and lies along the Barkby Brook. This small rural hamlet can be succinctly described as "a series of scattered houses that remain of the shrunken medieval village". The parish also includes the hamlet of Little Beeby, which consists of several houses within the settlement and is located 200m south east of the All Saints Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnesby</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Arnesby is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. Arnesby contains approximately 142 households with a population of about 357. The village is situated 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Leicester, on the Welford Road, between Kilby and Shearsby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catthorpe</span> Village and civil parish in England

Catthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is located beside the River Avon and close to the A5 road, and hence close to the tripoint at Dow Bridge formed by Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire; the nearest towns are Rugby, in Warwickshire around 4 miles (6.4 km) to the southwest, and Lutterworth around 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north. At the 2001 Census, the parish had a population of 179, falling slightly to 173 at the 2011 census, further decreasing to 156 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enderby, Leicestershire</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Enderby is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the southwest outskirts of the city of Leicester. The parish includes the neighbourhood of St John's, which is east of the village separated from it by the M1 motorway. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 6,314.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockerston</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Stockerston is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, located on the border with Rutland, by the Eye Brook. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 35. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census and is included in the civil parish of Horninghold.

The Leicester Built Up Area (BUA), Leicester Urban Area, or Greater Leicester is an urban agglomeration defined by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), centred on the City of Leicester in the East Midlands, England. With a population of 559,017 at the time of the 2021 census, Greater Leicester BUA is the eleventh largest in England and thirteenth largest in the United Kingdom. It comprises Leicester itself and its suburbs, all of which are contiguous with or situated in close proximity to the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diseworth</span> Human settlement in England

Diseworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Long Whatton and Diseworth, in the North West Leicestershire district, in the English county of Leicestershire. It is south of East Midlands Airport and off Junction 23A of the M1 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratae Corieltauvorum</span>

Ratae Corieltauvorum or simply Ratae was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Leicester, located in the English county of Leicestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isley cum Langley</span>

Isley cum Langley is a civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, lying immediately south-west of East Midlands Airport. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 64. At the 2011 census the population of the civil parish remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Breedon on the Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Stretton, Leicestershire</span> Village in Leicestershire, England

Little Stretton is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire that lies approximately 5.53 miles (8.90 km) southeast of the city of Leicester. The parish includes the deserted medieval village of Great Stretton (or Stretton Magna, a Scheduled Ancient Monument that is located 0.7 miles to the west of the village. The Gartree Road, a Roman Road, runs through the parish, adjacent to both Little and Great Stretton, and is the reason for those settlements' names. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Stretton means "strēt" for a Roman road; and "tūn" for a settlement or an estate. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 92, with approximately 36 households.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  2. Thompson, James. The History of Leicester, from the Time of the Romans to the End of the Seventeenth Century, Appendix A: RatæRoman Leicester, pp. 443 ff. J. S. Crossley (Leicester), 1849.
  3. Curtis (1831); p. 145
  4. John Curtis (1831) A Topographical History of the County of Leicester. Ashby-de-la-Zouch: W. Hextall; p. 145
  5. Curtis (1831); p. 145

52°38′53″N1°14′31″W / 52.648°N 1.242°W / 52.648; -1.242