Catthorpe is a village and

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 ...

in the

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...

district of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England. It is located beside the River Avon and close to the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa *A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Francistown ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

, and hence close to the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

Dow Bridge Dow Bridge is a location in the English Midlands where the A5 road (the former Roman Watling Street) crosses the River Avon. It is the point where the three counties of Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire meet, forming a tripoint. ...

formed by Leicestershire,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

; the nearest towns are

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, in Warwickshire around to the southwest, and

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a 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 north of Rugby, ...

around to the north. At the 2001 Census, the parish had a population of 179, falling slightly to 173 at the 2011 census. The name 'Catthorpe' is made up of 'thorpe' meaning 'outlying farm/settlement' and 'Cat'. 'Cat' was probably added after Isabel le Cat and Simon Mallore donated the land to

Leicester Abbey The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinians, Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Be ...

. Catthorpe gives its name to the nearby

Catthorpe Interchange The Catthorpe Interchange is a major intersection at the southern end of the M6, the western end of the A14 and junction 19 of the M1 near the village of Catthorpe in Leicestershire, England. It was developed in 1994 when the link to the A ...

road junction formed by the M1 and M6 motorways and the

A14 road A14 may refer to: * Aero A.14, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft built after World War I * Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System 14 ( ATC code A14) ''Anabolic agents for systemic use'', a subgroup of the ATC Classification Syst ...

, which was known to be regularly congested owing to its non-standard design. The A14 passed under both motorways; these underpasses were built in the 1960s for the former A427, which passed through Catthorpe. Between 2014 and 2016 the interchange was the subject of a major redesign to reduce the congestion and improve safety by providing free-flowing links and removing direct access from the local road network. Between 1850 and 1966 Catthorpe was served by the nearby

Lilbourne railway station Lilbourne railway station was a railway station serving Lilbourne and nearby Catthorpe in Leicestershire, England. It was on the Rugby and Stamford Railway between and . In 1846, the directors of the London and Birmingham Railway gained Parl ...

on the now dismantled Rugby to Peterborough Line Catthorpe briefly came to national attention in 1999 when the Latvian alleged war criminal

Konrāds Kalējs Konrāds Kalējs (26 June 1913 – 8 November 2001) was a Latvian soldier who was a Nazi collaborator and an alleged war criminal during World War II. He gained notoriety for evading calls for his prosecution across four countries, more than o ...

was revealed to be living at Catthorpe Manor, a nursing home near the village. Catthorpe Church - geograph

The parish church, dedicated to St Thomas, dates from the 14th century and is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, but is currently on

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

as being in a 'vary bad' state due to masonry defects and heritage crime. There is a village pub called the Cherry Tree and farm shop and restaurant, both are located on Main Street.

References

External links

Information on the M1/M6/A14 junction at Catthorpe

Local site

Leicestershire villages
Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District {{Leicestershire-geo-stub