Heather ( ) is a village west of

Ibstock Ibstock is a former coal mining town and civil parish about south of Coalville in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 5,760 at the 2001 census increasing to 6,201 at the 2011 census. The town is on 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 ...

, England. The population of the

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 ...

was 949 at the 2001 census reducing to 920 at the 2011 census. 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 ...

of 1086, its name is recorded as ''Hadre'', meaning "the heathland". There was an Iron Age settlement immediately north west of the village. As part of an open cast coal mining application, this was excavated in 1990. It identified a settlement from the late 2nd century BC through to early second century A.D.

History

The village's name means 'heathland'. The parish church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was "established" in the 12th century as a chapel for the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

of the adjacent

Heather Preceptory Heather Preceptory (pronounced: ; ''He-ther'') was a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller, established in the village of Heather, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. History Heather preceptory was established as a preceptory (monastery) of the Kni ...

which was founded before 1199.HEATHER HOSPITALLERS PRECEPTORY
, ''English Heritage: PastScape'' The current church dates from the early 14th-century, and is a Grade II* Listed Building.

Coal mining and brickmaking

The coal mine at Heather opened in 1874 though some coal had been worked there even earlier. Brick making followed during the 20th century. In the 1970s and 1980s two huge open cast coal mines were opened up. The Coalville Farm opencast coal mine, between 1982 and 1996, extracted around eight million tons of coal. This area was subsequently restored to become the Sence Valley Country Park. Following the refusal of a 1990

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

application for massive further open cast works, its successor,

UK Coal UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that con ...

applied for consent for a much smaller scheme. To the north of the village, it was the called the Long Moor open cast coal mine. Over a three-year period from 2007 to 2010 they extracted 725,000 tons of coal. Following restoration, the mine site was acquired by the Woodland Trust. With adjoining agricultural land this was promoted as the

Flagship Diamond Wood The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood (initially known as the Flagship Diamond Wood) is a woodland in Leicestershire, UK created in 2012. Covering , it is the centrepiece of a wide-ranging Jubilee Project by the Woodland Trust to mark the 2 ...

of their campaign to create 60 new woods of 60 acres or more. It is a new woodland called Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood, and celebrated the 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Village life

Heather Parish Church is dedicated to St John Baptist. The Anglican parishes of Heather and Ibstock are now the responsibility of the same clergyman (Rector of Ibstock). The village is famous for its Scarecrow and Music Festivals, usually held around July/August. Heather was for 63 years the home of David Taylor, Labour MP for

from 1997 until his death in 2009.The Guardian, David Taylor Personfile
accessed 14 April 2012

References

*Walker, Roy S. (1983) Heather Over the Years: based on the reminiscences of Ethel Gilliat, 1892–1983. Leicester: Leicestershire Museums, Art Galleries and Records Service

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire North West Leicestershire District

History

Coal mining and brickmaking

Village life

See also

References

External links