![Braunstone Village sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Braunstone_Village_sign.jpg)
Braunstone is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
and is the largest parish within the district of
Blaby in Leicestershire, England, now known as the Town of Braunstone or more commonly, Braunstone Town. In 2007 the population was around 15,000. There are around 7,500 households including
Thorpe Astley. At the 2011 census the population of the civil parish had increased to 16,850.
Braunstone is mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086, giving a population of "two
sokemen __NOTOC__
The term ''soke'' (; in Old English: ', connected ultimately with ', "to seek"), at the time of the Norman conquest of England, generally denoted "jurisdiction", but its vague usage makes it probably lack a single, precise definition.
A ...
and four
villeins
A villein, otherwise known as ''cottar'' or '' crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them ...
".
The village remained a small settlement (population 238 in 1921) until 1925 when the
Leicester Corporation
Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently contro ...
compulsorily purchased the bulk of the Winstanley Braunstone Hall estate.
It is just outside the city boundary of
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, and the part of the old civil parish now inside the city boundary is also called Braunstone. This part of the parish, which contains a large
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
was detached in 1935 from the Blaby district and Braunstone Parish to become part of the
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
of Leicester, hence the present split. The use of the name Braunstone Town is more recent, and is an attempt by
Braunstone Town Council to distinguish their village from the council estate of the same name.
Braunstone Town is adjacent to the
M1 motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...
(junction 21) and is adjoined by the Meridian Business and Leisure Parks, and the
Fosse Shopping Park
Fosse Shopping Park is one of Britain's biggest out-of-town shopping parks and it is situated in Enderby parish, in Blaby district, on the southern edge of the city of Leicester, England.
The retail park is in an area of mixed industrial an ...
and
Grove Triangle
Grove may refer to:
* Grove (nature), a small group of trees
Places
England
* Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village
* Grove, Dorset
* Grove, Herefordshire
* Grove, Kent
*Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village
*Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...
retail outlets.
Although the parish doesn't have a railway station of its own,
Leicester station is close. Leicester
PlusBus
Plusbus is an add-on ticket, which can be purchased with National Rail train tickets in the United Kingdom. It allows unlimited travel on participating bus and tram operators' services in the whole urban area of rail-served towns and cities.
...
, is a scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together at a saving.
History
![Shakespeare Braunstone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Shakespeare_Braunstone.JPG)
The name 'Braunstone' means 'the farm/settlement of Brant'.
The earliest dated human find recorded is a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
axe (about 1000
BC) found in 1893.
Next came the building of the
Roman road from
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, through the site of the Narborough Road South to the High Cross near
Sharnford
Sharnford is a village and civil parish in Blaby (district), Blaby of Leicestershire. The parish has a population of about 1,000, measured at the 2011 census as 985. The village is about four miles east of Hinckley, and is near to Aston Flamvil ...
. It is also evident that the Vikings of the early or later period had settlements in or near Braunstone, hence the nearby names of Viking origin –
Lubbesthorpe
Lubbesthorpe is a hamlet and parish in the district of Blaby within Enderby on the outskirts of Leicester, on the west side of the M1 motorway and the River Soar. ,
Countesthorpe
Countesthorpe is a large village and civil parish in the Leicestershire district of Blaby, with a population of 6,393 (2001 census, falling slightly to 6,377 at the 2011 census. It lies to the south of Leicester, and is about from the city ...
,
Enderby,
Elmesthorpe
Elmesthorpe (''sometimes spelt Elmersthorpe, Elmsthorpe or Aylmersthorpe'') 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 ...
,
Cosby,
Kilby
Kilby is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. Kilby is the easternmost village in the district, and is south east of Leicester. Kilby civil parish includes the former parish of Foston and it's deserte ...
,
Kirby
Kirby may refer to:
Buildings
* Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States
* Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England
* Kirby House (disambiguation), various houses in England and the Unit ...
etc. Throughout the above period Braunstone was covered with forest as were most county areas surrounding – in what was known as
Leicester Forest
Leicester Forest was a Royal Forest that existed to the West of Leicester.
Site and history
The forest occupied an area fourteen miles long and four miles wide between the River Soar and Rothley Brook, and covered 5,000 acres.Fox, Levi & Russell, ...
. But like most forests these were composed of a series of large woods containing small early settlements or hamlets inter-connected by rough trackways – from which most of our public field paths owe their origin.
Braunstone is mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
(1086
AD) where it is referred to as BRANTESTONE or BRANSTUN
"Braunstone – six plough lands, all but for oxgangs, in Braunstone which is the reign of The Confessor had been valued at twenty shillings, were worth sixty shillings at the general survey and were then held by the son of Robert Burdet. The land was equal to four ploughs, one was in Demesne, and four Bondmen; and two socmen and five villains, with one border, had two ploughs. There was a wood five furlongs long and three broad, and there were of meadow.
Two socmen abiding in Braunstone had five oxgangs of land in Lubbesthorpe; and jointly with ten villains and six borders in that lordship had two ploughs and five ploughing oxen.
The above lands were held by Robert Burdet under
Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil (1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle ...
, one of William I’s most powerful barons.
Notes: A ploughland or carvcate = about 80 to of land.
Socmen = Scandinavian Villan = Peasant or serf.
NOTE: A copy of the Domesday Book is displayed at the Civic Centre.
The first Lord of the Manor was de Grandmesnil. At this time the village consisted of 8 households and was worth about 60 shillings.
The Harcourt or Horecut family held the over-riding interest in the estate from the 13th to the 16th Century. A survey taken in 1299 showed a growth to 24 households in the village.
The fourteenth century saw several outbreaks of the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in the area. Its effect on Braunstone is not recorded, but nearby
Glenfield was seriously affected. At this time the Leicester Forest extended into Braunstone as far as Bendbow Spinney.
Several portions of Braunstone were sold off in the late 16th Century. of arable land were sold to the Manners family in 1579 and a further went to the Bennett family ten years later. of land were converted to pasture in 1596 by the Hastings family who owned the estate at that time.
Woodlands were gradually converted to pastures, mainly for sheep – being then the more profitable husbandry. Leicester Forest was fully enclosed in 1628. Villagers of Braunstone were compensated for the loss of Forestry Rights.
The 18th Century was a period of prosperity for Braunstone. The largest estate of the time was owned by Abraham Compton and comprised 68 ewes, 25 lambs, 14 cows, 6 heifers, 4 calves and 6 pigs.
In 1750 James Winstanley III tried to sink a pit on the manor. His attempts were thwarted when his bore hole was filled with stones by intruders, thought to be from local mining districts.
![Rendezvous at Braunstone Charles Loraine Smith](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Rendezvous_at_Braunstone_Charles_Loraine_Smith.jpg)
In the 1820s Braunstone was known as a place to go fox-hunting.
Charles Loraine Smith
Charles Loraine Smith or Charles Loraine (1 April 1751 – 24 August 1835) was a sportsman, artist and politician. He inherited his family seat in Enderby, Leicestershire while still a boy. He was a keen horseman and his paintings of animals are ...
painted a set of parodies known as the "Smoking Hunt" which pokes fun at the fashionable sport of hunting here.
Braunstone remained a village with various tenanted farmsteads until, in 1925, the Leicester Corporation compulsorily purchased the bulk of the Winstanley Braunstone Hall estate for £116,500.
Braunstone’s population rose from 238 in 1921 to 6,997 in 1931.
In 1935 the part of Braunstone on the city side of Braunstone Lane became the North Braunstone Ward of the City of Leicester, and the parish of Braunstone in compensation had part of Lubbesthorpe added to its boundary. It mostly consists of
council housing
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
built between 1925 and 1940.
Braunstone Town Council
The Braunstone Town Council is the
parish council level local council of the parish of Braunstone Town. The Town Council was established in 1977 when the former parish council resolved to change its status to that of a town council.
The Town Council has 21 elected members (i.e.
councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
) who are elected for terms of office of four years.
St Peter's Church
![St Peters Braunstone 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/St_Peters_Braunstone_1.jpg)
The first record of a church is 1168: the earliest parts of the existing church date from the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is built of limestone and consists of a short square tower, nave and chancel. It was re-roofed in 1867 and had some minor refurbishment in the 20th century. In 1937 Braunstone became a parish in its own right, and St Peter's became the parish church with its own vicar.
[
]
Arms
References
External links
Braunstone Town Council
Leicestershire Villages Website
St Peter's Church
Mosaic Church
{{authority control
Braunstone, Leicester
Civil parishes in Leicestershire
Towns in Leicestershire
Blaby