Snarestone

Last updated

Snarestone
Leicestershire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Snarestone
Location within Leicestershire
Population312 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference SK345095
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SWADLINCOTE
Postcode district DE12
Dialling code 01530
Police Leicestershire
Fire Leicestershire
Ambulance East Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Leicestershire
52°40′56″N1°29′20″W / 52.6821°N 1.4888°W / 52.6821; -1.4888

Snarestone is a small rural village in North West Leicestershire, England. [1] [2]

Contents

It lies on the edge of the National Forest and is 5 miles (8 km) from the market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It has a population of approximately 300 people and 120 households, increasing to a population of 312 in 128 households at the 2011 census. [3]

The village is surrounded by farmland and open countryside. It is positioned at the foot of a slight hill that gently rises to a height of 115 metres. Other topographical features include the River Mease and the terminus for the Ashby Canal. Both of these waterways are sites of special scientific interest (SSSI). Based on the 2011 census data, it is the centre of population density for the island of Great Britain. [4]

Village Features

View down Main Street in Snarestone village (looking toward Appleby Magna) Snarestone.jpg
View down Main Street in Snarestone village (looking toward Appleby Magna)

Although Snarestone is a Leicestershire village it has a Derby postcode and is 3 miles (5 km) from the county boundary of North Warwickshire. The village has an active Parish Council that meets throughout the year and publishes a regular newsletter.

Snarestone's amenities include two public houses, a primary school, a church, a blacksmiths, an antique reclamation yard, an allotment, a post box and a traditional red telephone kiosk.

The village has various types of housing from thatched roof cottages, semi-detached houses, self-contained flats to large detached properties, complete with private tennis courts. Most settlements in the village extend along Main Road and Quarry Lane. There is another minor road (Derby Lane) that connects to neighbouring Shackerstone.

The village is served by an ADSL enabled telephone exchange that is capable of providing broadband access to the internet at speeds of up to 80 Mbit/s.

Refuse and recycling collections take place on a bi-weekly rota and a mobile public library makes regular stops in the village on alternate Fridays.

The area to the south of Snarestone is Crown Estate land and belongs to (but is not the private property of) the British Monarch. Much of this land is agricultural and is the site of a former Georgian country house (Gopsall Hall). It is reputed that George Frideric Handel composed his Messiah oratorio here in 1741.

Transport

Snarestone is 2 miles (3 km) from junction 11 of the M42 motorway and is less than 30 miles (48 km) from the five surrounding cities of Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Coventry, and Derby.

Other nearby roads include the A444 that runs to Coventry and the B4116 Ashby Road to Atherstone.

East Midlands Airport is situated 13 miles (21 km) to the north and Birmingham Airport lies 23 miles (37 km) to the south.

There is also a bus from Measham to Fenny Drayton which runs through Snarestone and provides connections to Shackerstone, Atherstone and Twycross. The bus though is not frequent with only 6 services both ways each day except Sunday.

There was also a railway station on the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway but it was closed in 1931 and to freight in 1970. The nearest railway stations are Atherstone, Hinckley and Leicester. There is also a section of the former line still open from Shackerstone to Shenton via Market Bosworth known as the Battlefield Line. There was at one time interest expressed to reopen a new station at Snarestone on the Battlefield Line to serve Measham and the newly restored Ashby Canal. This has since been abandoned due to costs and the land being privately owned. Only the goods shed and station masters house remain as private residence.

Ashby Canal

Snarestone is linked via the Ashby Canal to the national network of canals. The canal crosses through the village and terminates in fields just to the north. The 22-mile (35 km) canal meanders through a gentle rural landscape and is free of locks.

Section of Ashby Canal near Snarestone AshbyCanalSnarestone.jpg
Section of Ashby Canal near Snarestone

The canal is popular with leisure boaters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts. Hedgerows and reeds offer an ideal habitat for many species of plant and animal including herons, kingfishers, moorhens as well as numerous coarse fish including bream, roach, chub and pike. A stretch of the canal between Snarestone and Carlton has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), mainly because of the aquatic plant life and varieties of dragonfly attracted to the area.

In 2005, the Government approved plans to restore a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stretch of the canal to provide Snarestone with a green route into the heart of the National Forest. The proposals also included a canalside wharf for the new terminus at Measham.

Events and Attractions

Every year in November the Globe Inn hosts a large bonfire and firework display to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. The event has gained local popularity and attracts many visitors from outside the village. In the Spring and Autumn the residents of Snarestone often race rubber ducks on a nearby stream to raise funds for village improvements. Most years the villagers also organise a summer fete with street parades and various entertainments (the last one took place in 2007).

Other nearby attractions include Twycross Zoo, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Conkers Visitor Centre, Snibston Discovery Park, Bosworth Battlefield, Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail, the National Forest and a railway preservation society (The Battlefield Line) that has its own rolling stock, museum and track.

Every February during half-term locals of the village perform an amateur pantomime at the primary school. The money raised goes towards charity. For 2010 the money was donated to the Haiti Appeal.

Brief history

The village appears in the Domesday Book as Snarchetone and was the farmstead of a man called Snar(o)c.

At the time of Domesday Snarestone amounted to a single carucate of waste land. This small area of land was held in 1086 by Robert the Dispensator (or Robert the Bursar). Robert was steward to William the Conqueror and the land was granted by Robert's successor (Henry de Hastynges) to an Adam Stake.

At some time during the thirteenth century the land passed to the Charnell family who held it for the following five centuries. The estate was partitioned in 1796, and half came to Charles Powell Leslie II via his wife Anne (née Ryder). The other half came to Colonel Samuel Madden via his marriage [5] to Katherine (née Ryder). Snarestone was sold some time after Madden's death in 1814 (probably in the 1830s after the death of his father-in-law, the Rev. Charles Dudley Ryder). [6] Snarestone passed in 1846 to Lady Anna Maria Leslie.

Snarestone's chief crops were wheat and barley. Bricks were made in the village during the nineteenth century and a coal mine was sunk in 1875 but found only water. The Ashby Canal opened in 1804 and still runs underneath a section of Main Street (formerly Long Street) via a 400-yard (366 m) tunnel.

By 1846 Snarestone had a population of 404 people. The Census of 1891 recorded 302 people and by 1901 this figured had dropped to only 265 people.

The village church is dedicated to St. Bartholomew and has a register dating back to 1559. The church was rebuilt in 1752 and enlarged in 1834 to a capacity of 150 sittings.

In 1766 there were four alehouses in Snarestone. Records from 1772 reveal that George Gadsby was the landlord of a Crown Inn but the names of the other alehouses is not known. By 1785 the village had two pubs and by 1795 the Crown Inn was the only survivor of these early establishments. The Gadsby family had a long association with the Crown Inn that lasted until 1820. The pub still exists today as the Odd House. George Gadsby (pub landlord) was the only son of George Gadsby (died 1748) who inherited the family farm and later diversified into becoming a pub landlord. Originally the Gadsby family were yeomen who had lived in Snarestone for generations. George (pub landlord) had six sisters, one of whom was Hannah Foster who married local farmer Frances Foster of Appleby Magna, both of whom are buried in the graveyard with an existing headstone.


Richard Roberts is also recorded as the landlord of the Square and Compass between 1855 and 1861 but its history is obscure. The Globe Inn first appears in the trade directories from 1870 onwards and still operates under the same name.

Railway Past

Between 1873 and 1967 Snarestone was a stop on the Ashby to Nuneaton railway line. The station building no longer exists although evidence of platforms can still be found. The goods shed and station master's house remain but have been converted into private households.

Information on the regions railway heritage can be found in The Battlefield Line Museum in neighbouring Shackerstone. The museum contains photographs of Snarestone station prior to its closure in the 1960s. Although the Heritage Battlefield Line hopes to one day (though eventually) extend their services towards Snarestone within the near future, (Even though a new site maybe required as part of this plan).

The neighbouring village of Newton Burgoland also claims to have the oldest public house in Leicestershire (The Belper Arms) which was built circa 1290.

Nearby Towns

Surrounding Villages

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This population estimate is based on figures from the 2001 Census provided by the Office for National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics website and uses the Snarestone CP (Parish) area which excludes surrounding villages.
  2. ^ BBC News Story
  3. ^ A Dictionary of British Place-Names. A. D. Mills. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Domesday Book
  5. ^ The History and Antiquities of Leicester, John Nichols Vol. lV Pt. ll
  6. ^ Leicestershire Trade Directories
  7. ^ White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Leicestershire, William White
  8. ^ Leicestershire Census Data, Leicestershire County Records Office
  9. ^ Trade Directories, Kelly, Leicestershire Libraries and Information Service
  10. ^ Trade Directories, Alehouse Recognizance Books
  11. ^ Belper Arms Website

Related Research Articles

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

Moira is a former mining village about 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in North West Leicestershire, England. The village is about 3 miles (5 km) south of Swadlincote and is close to the boundary with Derbyshire. The population is included in the civil parish of Ashby Woulds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashby Canal</span>

The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a 31-mile (50 km) long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, and a number of tramways were constructed at its northern end, to service collieries. The canal was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1846, but remained profitable until the 1890s, after which it steadily declined. Around 9 miles (14 km) passed through the Leicestershire coal field, and was heavily affected by subsidence, with the result that this section from Moira, southwards to Snarestone, was progressively closed in 1944, 1957 and 1966, leaving 22 miles (35 km) of navigable canal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The National Forest (England)</span> Environmental project in central England

The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. From the 1990s, 200 square miles (520 km2) of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and southeast Staffordshire have been planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with newly planted areas to create a new national forest. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood.

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

Donisthorpe is a village in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, historically an exclave of Derbyshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Leicestershire</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The towns in the district include of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock. Notable villages in the district include Donington le Heath, Ellistown, Hugglescote, Kegworth, Measham, Shackerstone, Thringstone and Whitwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinckley and Bosworth</span> Borough and non-metropolitan district in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton, Leicestershire</span> Civil parish in Leicestershire, England

Carlton is a small rural parish located East of the river Sence in Leicestershire, England, around 2.2 miles North of Market Bosworth. According to the 2011 Census, Carlton has a population of 305 However, from 2014 it is estimated that there are around 330 people living there with a total of 283 registered electors. There are four roads in Carlton:

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

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.

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

Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, 4+12 miles (7.2 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the National Forest. Historically it was in an exclave of Derbyshire absorbed into Leicestershire in 1897. The name is thought to mean "homestead on the River Mease". The village was once part of Derbyshire before being transferred to Leicestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battlefield Line Railway</span> Heritage railway in Leicestershire, England

The Battlefield Line Railway is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England. It runs from Shackerstone to Shenton, via Market Bosworth, which is a total of 5 miles (8.0 km). Shenton is near Bosworth Field; this is the location of the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, immortalised in Shakespeare's Richard III, giving the railway its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A511 road</span> Road in Leicestershire and Derbyshire

The A511 road is a 21-mile (34 km) stretch of mainly single-carriageway road which runs northwest from Markfield in Leicestershire, England to Foston in South Derbyshire.

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

Shackerstone is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal and the River Sence. According to the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the village of Barton in the Beans, had a population of 811, including Odstone which had risen to 921 at the 2011 census.

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

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.

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

Gopsall is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Twycross, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and Snarestone. In 1931 the parish had a population of 13. Gopsall was formerly an extra-parochial tract, from 1858 Gopsall was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Twycross.

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

Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Swadlincote, 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and 13 miles (21 km) south-southwest of Derby. It had a population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated within the National Forest area, it is near the villages of Netherseal and Lullington as well as being close to the border with Leicestershire. It is one of the southernmost settlements in Derbyshire.

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

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.

Shackerstone railway station is a preserved railway station and heritage museum in Leicestershire, Central England. It is the terminus and the headquarters of the heritage Battlefield Line Railway, with the Shackerstone Railwayana Museum, tea room, shop, loco shed and main rolling stock located here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway</span>

The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway was a pre-grouping railway company in the English Midlands, built to serve the Leicestershire coalfield. Both the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wished to build a line on similar alignments, and they agreed to build jointly. Construction began in 1869 and the railway was opened in 1873. It linked Moira and Coalville with Nuneaton. Mineral traffic was busy, and the line formed a useful link for through goods trains. Some long distance passenger operation took place over the line, but it was never successful in carrying passengers.

National Cycle Route 63 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from Burton on Trent to Wisbech.

References

  1. OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) : ISBN   0 319 24028 2
  2. Map Details Archived 21 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 11 April 2013
  3. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Introduction Leslie Papers (PDF), November 2007, p. 47, retrieved 22 September 2015
  6. Introduction Madden Papers (PDF), November 2007, p. 8, retrieved 22 September 2015