Dunton Bassett is a small village 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 lies between

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

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, ...

, and close to

Broughton Astley Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish located in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley, about from the centre of Leicester, and about 14 mil ...

Ashby Magna Ashby Magna is a small English village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The parish has a population of 294, increasing at the 2011 census to 347. It is in the west of the district, and lies midway between juncti ...

Leire Leire is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. The name is thought to originate from the old British name for the river Soar, which has a tributary with a source south of the village ...

. It had a population of 795 at the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, falling to 759 at the 2011 census.

History

The village's name means 'farm/settlement on a hill'. The village was held by Radulfus Basset in 1166. The Great Central main railway line, the last main line to be built from the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was opened on 15 March 1899 and ran just to the east of Dunton Bassett, separating it from the village of

, and a station was provided bearing Ashby's name, although it was much the smaller village of the two. Dunton Bassett gave its name to a short (92 yard) tunnel just south of the station. The line closed on 5 May 1969. In its latter years it had been joined by 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 ...

which ran parallel to it on the eastern side.

Amenities

The village has one pub (the Dunton Bassett Arms), a primary school and village hall. The village hall was donated to the village by Orson Wright, a successful Leicester builder who had been born in the village .The combined village shop / post office closed in 2018.

Sport

Dunton Bassett Cricket Club was established in 1870 and their ground is located on Lutterworth Road, due east of the village. They have two senior teams playing in the

Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League The Everards Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League (Leicestershire Cricket League until 2014) is the top level of competition for the amateur, recreational game of club cricket in Leicestershire and Rutland, England, and since 2002 has been ...

and an active Junior section for ages 4-17 in the Leicestershire Youth League. Willoughby Waterleys Cricket Club also rented use of Dunton Bassett CC facilities from the early 1990s-2015.

References

External links

Dunton Bassett Parish CouncilDunton Bassett Primary School
Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District {{leicestershire-geo-stub