Plungar is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Redmile Redmile is an English village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, about north of Melton Mowbray and west of Grantham. The population of the civil parish, which includes Barkestone-le-Vale and Plungar, was 921 at the 2 ...

, and the Melton 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 about north of the

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 ...

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

and west from

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

. Plungar is adjacent to the

Grantham Canal The Grantham Canal ran 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham through 18 locks to West Bridgford, where it joined the River Trent. It was built primarily for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797 and its profitability steadily ...

and stands in the

Vale of Belvoir The Vale of Belvoir ( ) covers adjacent areas of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, England. The name derives from the Norman-French for "beautiful view" and dates back to Norman times. Extent and geology The vale is a tract ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 205.

History

The Plungar name derives through the c.1130 name 'Plunard', itself from 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 ...

"plume" with the Old English "gara" or Old Scandinavian "garthr", meaning "Triangular plot where plum trees grow" or plum tree enclosure. In 1870 Plungar was a village and civil parish, and part of the district of Bingham. Parish area was with a population of 251, and 59 houses. At the time a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapel was recorded. Several Plungar children were educated at a free school in Barkestone. It had two rooms with a school house for a master and mistress. By 1830 the school had taught 14 children from Barkestone and 12 from Plungar, chosen by parish

churchwardens A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

. The

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

was the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in who ...

. The population in 1830 was 280, including seven farmers, two tailors, two shoemakers, a bricklayer, a shopkeeper, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, a

wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkwr ...

, a lace maker, an auctioneer, and the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

of ''The Anchor'' public house. It also housed a parish

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

and a gentleman.

Oilfield

An oilfield was discovered at the village at the end of 1953 by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (BP from 1954). This was the first onshore UK oilfield to be discovered since the war.

Governance

On 1 April 1936 Plungar and the adjoining civil parish of Barkestone were merged with Redmile, sometimes known as Barkestone, Plungar and Redmile, which had a population of 829 in 2001."Census 2001 Parish profile"
Leicestershire County Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014

Amenities

The Anchor, Plungar, Leicestershire - geograph

The village public house, ''The Anchor'', is close to the Grantham Canal. There is also a village hall. Plungar lies on bus routes to Bottesford or Bingham to the north and Melton Mowbray to the south. All three destinations have railway stations, the nearest being at Bottesford (6.3 miles, 10 km), which has services to Nottingham and beyond, and to Grantham (for

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 ...

) and

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, ...

. The nearest primary school to Plungar is at Redmile. Bottesford has a primary, a secondary and an independent school.

Landmarks

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Helen dates from the 14th century, with additions made in the 15th. The church was repaired in 1829, while rebuilding work in 1855–1856 added a chapel and replaced the south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

. The church was

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

as Grade II* historic building in 1968. Wilson, John Marius. ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1870–72) To the east of the village, in neighbouring

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, is the site of Plungar's disused RAF air base, for No. 38 and No. 90 squadrons. A plaque at Plungar commemorates the crew of six of a Lancaster bomber, which crashed near Plungar in 1943. An

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

to the dead of the First and Second World Wars stands in Harby Road."Frog Lane, Harby Road - Plungar"
War memorials project, Leicestershire County Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014

References

External links

*
Barkestone Plungar & Redmile Parish Council
web site, Leicestershire and Rutland Parish Councils

Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

British Pathe - Oil field in 1954
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Redmile Oil fields of England