Shearsby is a rural village in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

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 ...

. Shearsby is 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 ...

around nine miles due south of

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 ...

and north east of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, ...

. 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 ...

at the 2011 census was 240.

History

In the early 17th century the Vicar of St Mary Magdelene, and Rector of

Knaptoft Knaptoft is a deserted medieval village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire and lies approximately south of the city of Leicester, England. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the set ...

was John Moore, a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

who wrote ''A Mappe of Man's Mortalite'' in 1617 and often struggled to maintain his principles against the authorities within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. In November 1604 he was brought before the ecclesiastical court for nonconformity, refusing to wear the surplice, and summoned a further four more times in 1605. He was finally discharged by the court in 'hope of conformity'. St Mary Magdelene Shearsby - geograph

Not long after the Inclosure Act of 1773, it was recorded that 1,100 acres of land in and around Shearsby belonged to the lord of the manor, George Turvile, esq. It was during this time that a local printer and author, John Nichols, noted whilst visiting the church of St Mary Magdalene that four church bells were stood in the church chancel. He was to learn that one of these bells originated from the nearby ruined church of

, and that this bell (whilst in transit to the church in

Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England, southwest of the city centre and to the east of the River Soar. It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city since the Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into th ...

, Leicester) was appropriated from its cart by the local villagers while the Aylestone tenants (charged with transporting the bell) stopped to take a drink in the village. On realising the situation, the Aylestone tenants had to leave the village empty handed.

Shearsby Spa

The Bath Hotel outside the village of Shearsby between the main Leicester-

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

road (now the A5199) and

Bruntingthorpe Bruntingthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the census in 2001 the parish had a population of 398. The parish also includes the hamlet of Upper Bruntingthorpe. The population a ...

is the site of a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

that was converted into a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

during the first half of the 19th century. The waters were held to be helpful in treating various ailments. Analysis of the mineral content revealed the major constituents to be

sodium sulphate Sodium sulfate (also known as sodium sulphate or sulfate of soda) is the inorganic compound with formula Na2SO4 as well as several related hydrates. All forms are white solids that are highly soluble in water. With an annual production of 6 milli ...

and

sodium chloride Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35.45 g ...

. Treatment at the spa continued well into the late 1920s as Leicestershire's last spa. Today the 'Bath Hotel and Shearsby Spa' () is what remains of the site.

Buildings

One of the characteristics of the village is the locally hand-made bricks used to build some of the old cottages, which can be identified by their variation in size and shape. There is one

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and 8

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

structures in Shearsby. These include: Cobblestones, Back Lane; Woodbine Cottage, Main Street; Rose Cottage, Mill Lane; and a Milepost, 500 yards north of Shearsby Road (). On Church Lane there is Bean Hill Farmhouse and garden wall, Limetree Cottage, Yeomans Cottage, Wheathill Farmhouse and Little Wheathill. The Church of St. Mary Magdalene is a Grade II* Listed building.

Sport and Leisure

Shearsby Valley Lakes is an established coarse fishery centre which includes 4 lakes, a Tackle Shop and Licensed Cafe on site off Saddington Road. Shearsby cricket: It is not known when Shearsby first took to the field, but a match report in the Leicester Chronicle show's Shearsby winning against Broughton Astley on a match dated 29 August 1870. Today, Shearsby fields an occasional Sunday friendly XI side against neighbouring village teams in and around the area.

References

Links

Shearsby Parish Council - History of Shearsby

History of Shearsby
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Spa towns in England Civil parishes in Harborough District