Great Easton 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. The parish had a population of 558 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 671 at the 2011 census.

Overview

The village's name means 'eastern farm/settlement'. The village sits in the Welland Valley in the rolling south Leicestershire countryside. It is located in the extreme south-east of the county and is very close to the borders with

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

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

; it is just south of the

Eyebrook Reservoir Eyebrook Reservoir (or Eye Brook Reservoir) is a reservoir and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which straddles the border between Leicestershire and Rutland in central England. The closest towns are Corby and Uppingham. The reservo ...

. Nearby places are

Bringhurst Bringhurst is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of south-east Leicestershire, England, bordering Northamptonshire and Rutland. Nearby places are Cottingham in Northants, Great Easton and Drayton in Leicestershire ...

and Drayton in Leicestershire, Caldecott in Rutland, and Rockingham and Cottingham in Northamptonshire. The nearest town is

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

in Northamptonshire. The village has public transport services to

town centre,

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

and

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...

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 admi ...

town centre and St Margaret's Bus Station in

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 ...

. The village also formerly had a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team, but after the playing field was destroyed they relocated to

Rockingham Castle Rockingham Castle is a former royal castle and hunting lodge in Rockingham Forest approximately two miles north from the town centre of Corby, Northamptonshire. History 11th – 14th centuries The site on which the castle stands was used in t ...

and now go by the name of Old Eastonians. Newspapers available in Great Easton include the Harborough Mail and the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Radio stations that can be picked up in the village are

Smooth East Midlands Smooth East Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, 107.4 MHz, 97.2 MHz, 106.8 MHz 106.0 MHz which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6am on Monday 26 March 2007. It is owned by Communicorp UK and operated ...

Harborough FM Harborough FM (HFM) is a community radio station covering Market Harborough, South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire in England. HFM was originally formed in November 1994 with the aim to provide a local FM radio station for Market H ...

BBC Radio Northampton BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Abington Street in Northampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a w ...

and

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at ...

. Great Easton is also home to the Opera Minima, which is an opera/theatre group registered as a charitable trust and based at the Old Corset Factory in the village and is sponsored by

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...

, Harborough District Council, Creative LeicesterShire and the Welland Sub-Regional Strategic Partnership. The parish is protected and served by

Leicestershire Constabulary Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire. History Leicestershire Police was formed in 1839. In 1951 it amalgamated ...

(Harborough North Division). The local telephone dialling code is the

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

and Corby code (01536) due to its proximity to Northamptonshire. Great Easton is the largest village and civil parish in South-East Leicestershire, however is only a small village itself. Many people who live in Great Easton commute to work in the nearby towns of Corby and Kettering in neighbouring Northants, to Market Harborough and indeed the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

Local government and politics

Great Easton is a civil parish in the

Harborough District Harborough () is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering , the district is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter o ...

however, as the boundaries of Harborough Parliamentary constituency differ from those of the district, it forms part of the

Rutland and Melton Rutland and Melton is a county constituency spanning Leicestershire and Rutland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Alicia Kearns, a Conservative. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by t ...

Parliamentary constituency. Great Easton is in the Nevill Ward of Harborough District Council and is represented by Cllr Michael Rickman (Con).

''Time Team''

Great Easton was visited by archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' and the finds included 14th century pottery, a brick surface thought to be related to the village's old slaughterhouse and a Chinese "cash coin". It appeared on Channel 4 as part of ''Time Teams Big Dig. The Chinese "cash coin" was placed in the ground for a joke by a local and made the feature in that episode.

References

{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District