Great Bowden 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 north-east of and a suburb of

Market 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 adm ...

, although originally the parish of Great Bowden included Harborough. The population is around 1,000, being measured at the 2011 census as 1,017. Places nearby include Market Harborough,

Little Bowden Little Bowden is an area on the edge of Market Harborough and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Market Harborough, in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. As a village it was formerly part of Nort ...

, Sutton Bassett, Foxton and

Thorpe Langton Thorpe Langton (derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for an enclosure, meaning "long town") is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, about four miles north of Market Harborough. The parish had a population of 171 ...

Anglo-Saxon origins

The village was included 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 ...

, under the name 'Bugedone' and was worth 40 shillings per year to the King. 'Bugedone', is a combination of the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

female personal name 'Bucga' and the word 'dun' (meaning 'a hill, a flat-topped hill, an open upland expanse'). It is one of the older villages in Leicestershire since it has

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

origins (it is older than the much larger

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Market Harborough, which lies nearby). Great Bowden was the centre of a large soke, which is known to have existed during the time of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

Parish

The Great Bowden parish included Market Harborough and parts of St Mary in Arden. In 1613, St Mary in Arden was unified with Market Harborough Market Harborough was a separate parish by 1881. The first mention of a parish church in Great Bowden was in 1220. St Peter and St Paul, the current parish church, includes features from the 13th century, but it was considerably altered in the 15th century. In 1886-87 the building was restored by Talbot Brown and Fisher, architects from Wellingborough. The churchyard contain gravestones that date from the 17th century. Greatbowdenchurchweb

Education

The National school was built adjoining the parish church in 1839, and opened on 2 December 1839, In 1930, it became solely a primary school and older children were educated in Market Harborough. The National school building remained in use until the school relocated to Gunnsbrook Close in 1983. On 1 July 2012 the school became an academy.

Listed buildings

There are 73 listed buildings and structures.

Site of scientific interest

Great Bowden Borrowpit Great Bowden Borrowpit is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Market Harborough in Leicestershire. This former railway borrow pit has an unusual marsh, dominated by soft rush, tufted hair grass and cottongrass. Other plan ...

is a site of special scientific interest.

References

External links

Great Bowden Historical SocietyGreat Bowden village website
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District Market Harborough