The

Domesday 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 ...

manor of Bromkinsthorpe was situated outside the West Gate 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 ...

, on the alluvial west bank of the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicest ...

. Its location is now covered by the area around Braunstone Gate, Leicester, and for much of the medieval period was a liberty within the parish of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, and hence, part of the Borough of Leicester. Bromkinsthorpe was bisected by the Roman road later known as

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...

, which led from

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

via

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. It is presumed this road formed an early north western frontier to the Roman province of Britannia following the original invasion. Whilst there was a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

in what later became Bromkinsthorpe, the first mention of the manor was 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. At that time it was held by

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 ...

along with 64 other manors in Leicestershire. He held six

carucates The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...

in Bromkinsthorpe outright, with another two that formed part of the Soke of

Ratby 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 populati ...

in west Leicestershire. In the Domesday Book the manor was recorded as belonging to Leicester, although it is not clear what this statement signified. There was also a link with the manor of Smeeton in south Leicestershire as four sokemen from there were 'attached' to Hugh de Grandmesnil's land in Bromkinsthorpe. Later, Bromkinsthorpe became part of the Earls of Leicester holdings. Two manors were recorded at Bromkinsthorpe in the 13th century. One was Walsh or Danet's Hall. The second was Westcotes. Both of these manors and their tenants are clearly documented thenceforward. Inhabitants farmed the open field strips surrounding the two manors. Some records suggest these strips formed one of the great open fields of Leicester. Others indicate that Bromkinsthorpe itself had three great open fields. The abbey of St Mary de Pratis, Leicester held considerable land in Bromkinsthorpe. The inhabitants also had rights in

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 & Russel ...

, for which they were compensated when it was deforested in 1628. The manors were largely enclosed by the end of the 17th century. During the 18th century, urban Leicester encroached the manors, with some large houses, complete with extensive grounds and orchards built. These were demolished in the 19th century when new high-density housing was built that obliterated the rural aspect of Bromkinsthorpe. The manors were thus subsumed into the rapidly expanding Borough of Leicester.

References

External links

Bromkinsthorpe on "British History Online"
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Leicester