Donisthorpe is a village in the
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
The dist ...
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, historically an exclave of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
.
History
In 1086 Donisthorpe was part of the land given to Nigel of Stafford by
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
. It was then known as "Durandestorp" which has been interpreted as 'the outlying settlement associated with Durand'.
From: ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'', published by S Lewis, London, 1848.
DONISTHORPE, an ecclesiastical district, in the union of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, partly in the parish of Nether Seal, W. division of the hundred of Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, and partly in the parishes of Church-Gresley, Measham, and Stretton-en-le-Fields, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 3½ miles (S. W.) from Ashby-de-la-Zouch; containing about 1700 inhabitants, of whom 344 are in the hamlet of Donisthorpe. The district includes Oakthorpe and Moira; the Moira baths are celebrated for the cure of rheumatism, and there is a convenient hotel for the accommodation of visiters. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield; net income, £150, with a parsonage-house. The impropriate tithes of Donisthorpe have been commuted for £87. The church, dedicated to St. John, was built and endowed in 1838, at an expense of £6000, chiefly by three maiden ladies of the name of Moore; it is a neat edifice, with a tower and pinnacles. A national school was built in 1840, by Sir John Cave Browne Cave, Bart., by whom, also, it is supported
From: ''Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland'' (1899)
DONISTHORPE is a parish, formed in 1838, from the civil parishes of Church Gresley, Measham and Stretton-en-le-Field, and Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Seal, in Leicestershire, with a station on the Ashby and Nuneaton joint line of the Midland and London and North Western railways, 3 miles southwest from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 8 southeast from Burton-upon-Trent and 114 northwest from London, in the Western division of the county, hundreds of Repton, Gresley and West Goscote, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, rural deanery of Repton, archdeaconry of Derby and diocese of Southwell. Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe hamlets form a joint township in this ecclesiastical parish.
This parish, formerly in Derbyshire, was transferred to Leicestershire under the provisions of the Local Government (England and Wales) Act, 1888, by the counties of Derby and Leicester (Woodville &c.) Order, which came into operation Sept. 30, 1897.
The church of St John the Evangelist, erected in 1838, is a building of grey sandstone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of nave, west porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and one bell: the nave was restored in 1889—90, and further restorations were effected in 1891, at a total cost of £700, and again in 1898: there are 500 sittings, 200 being free. The register dates from the year 1838. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £214, including 17 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Southwell, and held since 1885 by the Rev. Edward Bertram Lavies Theol. Assoc. K.C.L. Here are two Primitive Methodist chapels. A cemetery, containing 1 ½ acres was opened in 1875, and is under the control of the Parish Council of Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe and Urban District Council of Moira. There is a colliery, worked by Messrs. Checkland, Son and Williams, and the brewery of G. and W. F. Cooper. The principal landowners are the trustees of the late Lord Donington (d. 1895), Sir Mylles Cave-Brown-Cave bart. of Stretton-en-le-Field, the trustees of the late William Turner, Messrs. W. F. Cooper, S. Greaves, Drewry and some small freeholders. The soil is mixed; subsoil, chiefly clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 1,785 acres of land and 20 of water; rateable value, including Oakthorpe, £6,671; the population of the township in 1891 was 1,678, and of the parish 2,955.
National School (mixed), erected in 1830, for 82 children; average attendance, 82.
Wesleyan School (mixed), erected in 1875 & enlarged in 1894, for 142 children; average attendance, 130.
A
Primitive Methodist
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primiti ...
Chapel was built in 1852 and the Ordnance Survey map of 1884 shows one just north of the Engine Inn, the Mount Zion Chapel that was demolished in 2003. By 1908 there were two Primitive Methodist Chapels together with a
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
chapel.
![The Turks Head public house, Donisthorpe, Leicestershire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/The_Turks_Head_public_house%2C_Donisthorpe%2C_Leicestershire.jpg)
Donisthorpe Colliery closed in 1991. When the pit was operating the village had two post offices, five public houses, and 14 shops including a Coop Store (now the Scout Centre), a VG store, two butchers, a baker, a general store, a betting shop and a chip shop. At the time of pit closure in 1991 Donisthorpe contained four local shops, and a post office. Today the village has one shop (opened in 2014), and two pubs. Donisthorpe Miners' Welfare Centre closed during 2005, and since became a children's
fun centre. The former mine site was developed into a housing estate. The colliery site became the
Donisthorpe Woodland Park
Donisthorpe Woodland Park is located on Church Street, Donisthorpe in North West Leicestershire.
Description
A 36-hectare former colliery
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy cont ...
. Further sites of former employment included a shoe factory and brickyard.
THE GRANGE HOUSE
DONISTHORPE
The house is well known in the local area to be haunted, nearly every visitor to the house speak and report of eerie happenings the most recent being in late 2022 in which the holiday makers actually left in the night as the disturbances had started to become violent.
The house was originally a site that housed slave workers and their families, in the 1940’s a family of four was killed by a house fire in the staff quarters which spread throughout the house.
Two separate encounters, members of the housekeeping have been known to have committed suicide upstairs in the adjoining bedroom.
This is what is believed to be the route course of the ghost sightings.
In May 2021, the local priest who heralds from Donisthorpe performed an exorcism on the house along with the owners. The mass was not deemed a success as Father Murphy (Rev) became unwell midway through the evening, there has not been any evidence to prove this was associated action to do with the ritual.
Other strange encounters have been recorded such as blurry figures appearing in group photo, particularly cold spots, mirrors moving by themselves and even physical bruising on one female who was celebrating her 50th birthday at the house.
Geography
Donisthorpe is south-west of
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
, south of
Swadlincote
Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...
and from the
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
border, at the heart of
The National Forest
The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. From the 1990s, of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and southeast Staffordshire have been planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodl ...
. A former mining village, it is just under due east of Church Flatts Farm (near
Coton-in-the-Elms, Derbyshire), the furthest point from coastal waters on the British mainland.
The
historic county boundary between Leicestershire and Derbyshire is the
River Mease
The River Mease is a lowland clay river in the Midlands area of England. It flows through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and forms the administrative border between these counties for parts of its length.
The ri ...
, which runs less than south of Donisthorpe, with the village centre previously on the southern (Derbyshire) side, which formed part of an
exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of Derbyshire. Together with
Measham
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, 4½ miles (7.25 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the Natio ...
and
Oakthorpe
Oakthorpe is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England.
In 1086, Oakthorpe was part of Derbyshire and was amongst several manors given to Nigel of Stafford by William the Conqueror. Until 1897 Oakthorpe, and its neighbours Measham and Do ...
, the village became part of Leicestershire in 1897 when
administrative counties
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
were established and now lies within the civil parish of
Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe
Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe or Oakthorpe, Donisthorpe and Acresford is a civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2336, increasing to 2,637 at the 2011 cens ...
.
The Derbyshire
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Swadlincote
Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...
, four miles to the north, is usually given as the nearest town for the purposes of the
postal service
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
, though the village is marginally closer to Ashby, to the north-east. Surrounding villages include
Moira,
Oakthorpe
Oakthorpe is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England.
In 1086, Oakthorpe was part of Derbyshire and was amongst several manors given to Nigel of Stafford by William the Conqueror. Until 1897 Oakthorpe, and its neighbours Measham and Do ...
,
Overseal
Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, south of Swadlincote, west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and due south-southwest of Derby (16.5 miles by road). The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated withi ...
,
Netherseal
Netherseal (or 'Netherseale') is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire,OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) : ,
Acresford
Acresford is a hamlet in North West Leicestershire, it shares civil parish authorities with Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe and forms part of the border with South Derbyshire
South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, Engla ...
and
Albert Village
Albert Village is a small post-industrial village in Leicestershire, England and is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the town of Swadlincote. The area's heritage is in coal-mining and pottery manufacture, both locally defunct. ...
.
Transport
Donisthorpe was served by the
Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway
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 simi ...
which opened a
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
near Church Street in a deep cutting including three arch bridges. The line also had sidings to the colliery at Donisthorpe.
The station allowed passenger travel to
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
, Moira,
Burton-Upon-Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...
,
Nuneaton
Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...
,
Hinckley
Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...
and
Coalville
Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...
until 13 April 1934 when the line was closed to passengers. The line remained open to goods traffic until 1971, when the section from
Measham
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, 4½ miles (7.25 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the Natio ...
to
Shackerstone
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 v ...
was closed by British Rail. The stub as far as Measham via Donisthorpe remained open to serve the colliery until 1981 when the stub near
Overseal
Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, south of Swadlincote, west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and due south-southwest of Derby (16.5 miles by road). The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated withi ...
Junction was closed and lifted. The site was still traceable after closure of the stub but has since been filled in and forms a footpath from Moira to Spring Cottage via Donisthorpe and Moira.
The village is north of the northernmost junction of the
M42 motorway
The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth on the way, serving the east of the Bi ...
(Junction 11), where it becomes the A42 towards
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...
and
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
.
Landmarks
St John the Evangelist Church was erected in 1938. It is a listed Grade II building, and within the ecclesiastical parish of Donisthorpe and Moira with Stretton-en-le-Field, Archdeaconry of Loughborough in the Diocese of Leicester. The last dedicated vicar vacated his position in 2006; the church is now part of a team ministry based in the nearby village of Measham. The vicarage house at Donisthorpe was sold but is also a Grade II building circa 1838
The church hall is opposite the church. It was originally the village school, donated by Sir John Cave, later converted to the church hall, and subsequently fell into disrepair and sold. The building has been converted to a private house.
Donisthorpe Memorial Park was opened as a War Memorial on 17 April 1920 by John Turner, High Sheriff of Leicestershire. The Grade II listed war memorial gateway was erected around 1922; subsequent names were added for the Second World War.
Donisthorpe Cemetery is registered with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as having casualties (nine in total) from both the First and Second World Wars.
The late 17th-century timber framed thatched house, 58 New Street, was assessed in 1983 as a Grade II listed building. The house was badly damaged by fire in May 2011.
Donisthorpe Hall is early 18th Century and Grade II listed.
The Grange, 69 Church Street, a Grade II listed building, was thought to date from 1761 with early 19th-century additions.
A survey in 2010 showed the building was built in the early 18th century, not 1761 as shown on the rainwater head. It has a fireplace dating from 1690 to 1730.
The
Ashby Canal
The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a 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, ...
runs down the east side of the village.
Sport
Donisthorpe has two Sunday League men's football teams which play their home games at Ramscliffe Avenue. Founded in 2009 they currently play in the Burton & District Sunday Football League.
References
External links
*
Surname Database - Explanation of surnameGENUKI pageDonisthorpe Colliery - Northern Mine Research SocietyDonisthorpe Methodist Chapels - My Primitive Methodists
{{authority control
Villages in Leicestershire