Thorpe Arnold is a farming village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Waltham on the Wolds and Thorpe Arnold in the district of Melton, which is approximately northeast of Melton Mowbray 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. In 1931 the parish had a population of 128. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and to form Waltham.

Geography

Thorpe Arnold is situated on the top of a hill to the north-east of the town of Melton Mowbray. It has 35 occupied dwellings (2021). Nearby major cities include

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 ...

, Nottingham , and Peterborough . In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' described Thorpe Arnold as follows:

History

Mentioned in the Domesday Book Survey of 1086, Thorpe (Torp) was a settlement in the Hundred of Framland, Leicestershire. It had an estimate population of 48 households in 1086. The Tenant-in-chief, was held by Hugh de Grandmesnil, Sheriff of Leicestershire and Governor of Hampshire, who was richly rewarded by William the Conqueror for his part in the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

From the 12th century, Thorp is known as Thorp Arnold, having taken the first name of its new owner, Arnold (or ''Ernauld'', Latinised to ''Hernaldus'') de Bois (French: "from the wood/forest") ( Latinised to ''de Bosco'' ("from the wood/forest")), a vassal of the Earl of Leicester. His successors also used the first name Arnold. The death of Hernaldus de Bosco (Arnold de Bois) in 1255, a Warden of the Forest, is recorded by Matthew Paris in his ''Historia Anglorum'' (1250-1259), folio 170 verso. His arms were ''Argent, two bars and a canton gules''. Arnold I de Bois and his son Arnold II de Bois took an active part in the political life of England and Normandy. Arnold II supported Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and was rewarded by the earl with a grant of numerous manors in Leicestershire (including Thorpe Arnold, Brentingby, Evington, Humberstone and Elmesthorpe) and in Warwickshire (Clifton-on-Dunsmoor and Shrewley). The "de Bois"

Book of Hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

made at Oxford in 1325/30 for Hawise de Bois survives in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (MS-M700). In the 17th century, Thorp Arnold was owned by sir Martin Lister, English politician, whose stepdaughter Frances Thornhurst became the mother of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

John Towne John Towne (1711?–1791) was an English churchman and controversialist, archdeacon of Stow from 1765. Life Born about 1711, was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1732 and M.A. in 1736. Towne became vicar of Thorpe ...

(1711?–1791) was vicar of Thorpe Arnold before becoming the Archdeacon of Stow 5 September 1765 – 15 March 1791.

Sport

Thorpe Arnold Cricket Club is an English amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

club that has been based at the ground east of the village on Waltham Road since 1922. The foundation of the club is unknown, but the earliest known photograph of the club dates back to 1902. In 1931, the club entered the Melton & District League, and in 1947, Thorpe Arnold Cricket Club formed its very first junior team. Thorpe Arnold CC have 2 senior XI teams that compete on Saturdays in the Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League, a Midweek senior XI team in the Burrough and District Evening League, a Sunday XI team that play friendly matches in and around the local district, and a long established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Leicestershire Youth League.

References

External links

Waltham on the Wolds & Thorpe Arnold Parish Council

Local History Group reveling a timeline for Thorpe Arnold

Thorp Arnold News

Thorpe Arnold Short Term Forecast
Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton {{authority control