Swannington is a former mining village situated between

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

and

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

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. A document of 1520 mentions five pits at Swannington. It was a terminus of the early (1832)

Leicester and Swannington Railway The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...

that was built to carry away its pits' output. The parish church of Saint George was opened in 1825 to serve the townships of Swannington and

Thringstone Thringstone is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England about north of Coalville. It lies within the area of the English National Forest. Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick. The township ...

and is built on a spot reputedly chosen by

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

, a frequent guest of Sir George Beaumont (the 8th Baronet, 1799–1845) of nearby Coleorton Hall. It is possible that the dedication of the church to Saint George is derived from its association with this George Beaumont. A windmill in Swannington called Hough Mill was built near a nature reserve established on the remains of Califat colliery (a 19th-century mine). It has been claimed as the birthplace of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

. Administratively, Swannington is a

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 ...

forming part of the district of

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 ...

in Coalville. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,270. Nearby villages and hamlets include

Whitwick Whitwick is a large village in Leicestershire, England, close to the town of Coalville in the northwest of the county. It lies in an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an ...

Coleorton Coleorton ( ) is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Ashby de la Zouch. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north, Thringstone to the ...

, Ravenstone, Gelsmoor,

Peggs Green Peggs Green is a hamlet within the parish of Coleorton, Leicestershire. For many years it had formed part of the civil parish of Thringstone, until this was dissolved in 1936. It is probable that the hamlet derives its name from that of a former ...

and Sinope.

References

External links

Swannington Heritage Trust
* Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire North West Leicestershire District {{Leicestershire-geo-stub