Lindley Hall Farm is a farm in

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 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 ...

, in close proximity to

Fenny Drayton Fenny Drayton (once Drayton-in-the-Clay) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Witherley, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. OS Explorer Map 232: Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000): It lies ne ...

and

Higham on the Hill Higham on the Hill is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The population at the 2011 census was 840. The village's name means 'hom ...

. The farm is owned by Stephen Farmer. It has been best known as the geographical centre of England since the Ordnance Survey's investigation in 2002. A plaque has been erected by the Ordnance Survey denoting the geographical central point and disputing the historically believed idea that Meriden was the geographical centre.

History

It is unknown when the farm was established, but it was named after the nearby former Lindley Hall, which was once present on the Leicestershire countryside near

. Five years following the death of the Lindley Hall estate's owner (Lieutenant Commander Francis Eyre RN), Lindley Hall and the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

chapel beside it were ultimately demolished, being one of the

country houses An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and estates in the Nuneaton area to fall victim to

redevelopment Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses. It represents a process of land development uses to revitalize the physical, economic and social fabric of urban space. Description Variations on redevelopment include: ...

. However, the remains of the old chapel and hall remain at Lindley House, which is built at Lindley Park on the former site of Lindley Hall. Having been in ownership of the Farmer family, Lindley Hall Farm used to be a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

. However, after an outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

, all of the farm's animals were killed, leading to the farm halting the production of

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

. Following this, the farm would go on to cultivate

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

Gallery

File:Lindley Hall from Lake Tiny (cropped).jpg, "Lindley hall from Lake Tiny", J._M._W._Turner File:Lindley Hall before demolition.jpg, Lindley Hall, Leicestershire, prior to demolition. File:Demolition_of_Lindley_Hall.png, Lindley Hall in the process of being demolished, 22 May 1925. File:Lindley Chapel.png, Lindley Chapel, which was demolished alongside Lindley Hall on 22 May 1925.

Geographical centre of England

In October 2002, using global satellite positioning, the Ordnance Survey initiated a study to find the geographical centre of England, challenging previous myths that the geographical centre of England was located in places such as Meriden in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, approximately 11 kilometres to the south of Lindley Hall Farm, which had traditionally claimed to be the geographical centre of England, having a 500-year-old monument claiming the title. They found that the geographical centre was located on a field in Lindley Hall Farm, with the new OS grid reference being ''SP 36373.66, 96143.05''. However, the

islands of England This is a list of islands of England (excluding the mainland which is itself a part of the island of Great Britain), as well as a table of the largest English islands by area and by population. Islands by type and name Offshore and inshore islands ...

were used along with the English mainland to calculate the centre point. There is also a plaque erected by the Ordnance Survey in one of the farm's fields, reading: "In 2002 the Ordnance Survey defined this spot as the Geographical Centre of England", along with the coordinates and grid reference underneath.

Tourism

Due to Lindley Hall Farm being private property,

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

access for the proposed geographical central point of England has been restricted. Upon receiving requests to build

tearooms A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

on the site of the farm to attract "

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

tourists", Margaret Farmer (former co-owner of the farm, aged 80 at the time) responded with "I think we are a bit old for this". However, the current owner of the farm, Stephen Farmer, wishes for the farm to be turned into a tourist attraction, as well as Steve Wegerif, chairman of Hinckley and Bosworth Tourism Partnership, saying that it "seems only right" that the centre of England is located in the farm and that it was "fantastic for the centre to be officially recognised and have it marked in the county."

Disputes over status

Despite the Ordnance Survey claiming that the geographical centre of England is Lindley Hall Farm, several places are continuing to claim this status. Meriden, the historical geographical centre of England, continues to uphold its status with a plaque describing itself as the centre of England, having made this claim for the past 500 years. Additionally,

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

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 ...

makes the same claim, having a sign upon entrance stating "Welcome to Morton, the centre of England." The

Midland Oak The Midland Oak is an oak tree that grows in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The count ...

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

is also said by many to be the geographical centre of England, however, it is not known where the basis for this claim came from.

References