Swannington, Leicestershire

Last updated
Swannington
Hough Mill, Swannington.jpg
Hough Mill, Swannington. Currently undergoing restoration.
Leicestershire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Swannington
Location within Leicestershire
Population1,270 (2011 Census)
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town COALVILLE
Postcode district LE67
Police Leicestershire
Fire Leicestershire
Ambulance East Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Leicestershire
52°44′27″N1°23′07″W / 52.74093°N 1.38526°W / 52.74093; -1.38526

The remains of the engine house at the top of Swannington incline SwnningtonIncline01.jpg
The remains of the engine house at the top of Swannington incline

Swannington is a former mining village situated between Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. A document of 1520 mentions five pits at Swannington. [1] It was a terminus of the early (1832) Leicester and Swannington Railway that was built to serve the townships of Swannington and Thringstone and is built on a spot reputedly chosen by William Wordsworth, a frequent guest of Sir George Beaumont (the 8th Baronet, 1799–1845) of nearby Coleorton Hall. It is possible that the dedication of the church to Saint George is derived from its association with this George Beaumont.

A windmill in Swannington called Hough Mill was built near a nature reserve established on the remains of Califat colliery (a 19th-century mine). It has been claimed as the birthplace of Robin Hood. [2]

Administratively, Swannington is a civil parish forming part of the district of North West Leicestershire in Coalville. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,270. [3] Nearby villages and hamlets include Whitwick, Coleorton, Thringstone, Ravenstone, Gelsmoor, Peggs Green and Sinope.

Related Research Articles

<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">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.

The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tunnel over a mile in length, and two rope-worked inclined planes; elsewhere it was locomotive-operated, and it carried passengers.

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

Whitwick is a village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, close to the town of Coalville in the northwest of the county. It lies in an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington.

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

Stoughton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The population at the 2011 census was 351.

Ellistown and Battleflat is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, just south of the town of Coalville. Most of the parish's population lives in the village of Ellistown in the western part of the parish. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,626.

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

Bardon is a civil parish and former village in North West Leicestershire about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of the centre of Coalville. The parish includes Bardon Hill, which at 912 feet (278 m) above sea level is the highest point in Leicestershire. With the population remaining less than 100, information from the 2011 census was included in the civil parish of Ellistown and Battleflat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osgathorpe</span> Village in England

Osgathorpe is a small village which lies in a fold of the hills in North West Leicestershire, England, and is about a quarter of a mile from the A512 Coalville to Loughborough Road. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 411.

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

Snibston is an area and former civil parish east of Ravenstone, now in the parish of Ravenstone with Snibstone, in the North West Leicestershire district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. Originally rural, part of Snibston was transformed into a coal mining village by the opening of coal mines by the Snibston Colliery Company in the early 1830s. This industrial part of Snibston was subsequently subsumed into the developing town of Coalville, though small rural areas of Snibston survive within the civil parishes of Ravenstone with Snibston and Hugglescote and Donington le Heath. In the part of Snibston within the latter civil parish stands the 13th-century church of St Mary, noted as the smallest church still in use for regular worship in England. The main Snibston Colliery was sunk in 1831, and after its closure the Snibston Country Park with the Snibston Discovery Museum was built on part of the colliery site. Part of the park is Snibston Grange Local Nature Reserve.

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

Thringstone is a village in the North West Leicestershire district, in Leicestershire, England. About 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Coalville, it lies in the English National Forest.

The Charnwood Forest Railway was a branch line in Leicestershire constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883. The branch line ran from Coalville to the town of Loughborough.

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

Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Ashby de la Zouch. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north, Thringstone to the east, and Swannington to the south-east.

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

Hugglescote is a village on the River Sence in North West Leicestershire, England. The village is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville, and its built-up area is now contiguous with the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peggs Green</span> Hamlet in Leicestershire, England

Peggs Green is a hamlet within the parish of Coleorton, Leicestershire. For many years it had formed part of the civil parish of Thringstone, until this was dissolved in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Stenson</span>

William Stenson (1770–1861) was a mining engineer born in Coleorton, Leicestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbold Coleorton</span> Hamlet in North West Leicestershire, England, UK

Newbold otherwise Newbold Coleorton is a large hamlet in the parish of Worthington, Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the North West Leicestershire district, approximately midway between the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and the village of Whitwick, just to the north of the B5324 route.

Hugglescote and Donington le Heath is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It includes the villages of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath, each of which is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 4,446.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hough Windmill</span> Windmill in Swannington, Leicestershire, England

Hough Windmill is a tower windmill in Swannington, Leicestershire, England built in the late 18th century on the boundary with the village of Thringstone. The mill served a coal mining community. The structure is surrounded by the remains of ancient shallow coal mines and local maps show many footpaths and tracks made by the miners who walked between them. The mill and surrounding area is owned by the Swannington Heritage Trust.

The Califat Coal Mine began in 1852, when William Worswick signed a lease with Wyggeston Hospital, Leicester. The Coleorton No 2 Colliery was then sunk. It was named after the town of Calafat, now in Romania, then in the Ottoman Empire, which was under siege by Russian forces. The site has been subject to various excavations and restorations since the 1960s.

References

  1. Victoria County History of Leicestershire, vol. III (1955), p. 32
  2. www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk
  3. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 June 2016.

52°44′27″N1°23′07″W / 52.74093°N 1.38526°W / 52.74093; -1.38526