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 ...

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council 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 ...

Normanton on Soar Normanton on Soar (), formerly known as Normanton-upon-Soar and known locally as Normanton, is a village and civil parish in the south of Nottinghamshire in England near the River Soar. This historic village is home to one of the last operating ...

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

Kingston on Soar Kingston on Soar is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. Description Setting Kingston on Soar predominantly lies within the Trent Washlands character area, and partially in the Nottinghamshire ...

Rushcliffe Borough Council Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council

West Leake sits on the winding country road from East Leake to Sutton Bonington and has a very simple plan of one main street. It enjoys a unity of form and has a rural feel to it. The village is surrounded by agricultural land, with the village of Sutton Bonington further to the west and East Leake to the East. Further to the south is the A6006 which links the village to the main arterial routes the A60 and the A6.

West Leake stands on relatively flat ground, gently sloping down to the east of the village, at between 40 and 50 metres above sea level. The main rock type below the village is Branscombe Mudstone formation within the Mercia Mudstone Group, which gives the topsoil a clay nature.

White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, written in 1853, describes West Leake as follows:

Leake (West) is a small village and parish, one mile west of East leake, and ten miles south south west of Nottingham. It has 190 inhabitants and 1,380 acres of land, all belonging to Lord Middleton, except the rectory house, with ten acres of glebe.

John Throsby John Throsby (1740–1803) was an English antiquary. Life The son of Nicholas Throsby, alderman of Leicester and mayor in 1759, by Martha Mason, his second wife, was born at Leicester on 21 December 1740, and baptised at St. Martin's Church t ...

, writing during 1790 in his new edition of Robert Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, describes West Leake as:

THE Lordship of the former contains 2000 acres of land, old inclosure. The principal proprietors are Lord Middleton, and — Bird, Esq. The former I believe is lord of the manor. The village consists of about 34 dwellings, one of which is the remains of an old manor-house, a part of it only is inhabited by a villager. The last family, I am told, who lived in it, was that of Chadwick.

Local geography

The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

in Nottinghamshire describes West Leake's geography as follows:

The portion of West Leake along the Kingston brook is alluvium with sand and gravel. To the north east and west of the village are areas of gypsum, with clay and limestone in the eastern part. The village lies about 150 feet above sea level. The land rises to over 300 ft to the north-east and 200 ft to the west at Moulter Hill. In the north the West Leake Hills are 200 to 300 ft. To the east Fox Hill reaches 290 ft. The Kingston brook flows from east to west through the parish, just south of the village. It is joined by other small streams from the north. It flows on to Kingston on Soar where it joins the river Soar. There is a large area of woodland, Crownend Wood and Leake New Wood, to the north of West Leake. In the north-east there are smaller areas of woodland at Oak Wood, Ash Spinney, Crow Wood, Fir Dale Plantation and Foxhill Wood. On the west side near Moulter Hill is Scotland Plantation.

Population

The 2011 census records the population of West Leake as 143. The table below displays the historic number of households, families and people living in West Leake:

Toponymy

The origin of Leake appears to be Laeke (Old Norse – brook or stream), and is consistent with West Leake's position near

Kingston Brook Kingston Brook is a small river in central England. It arises near Old Dalby, Leicestershire on the northern edge of the ridge running from Normanton-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire to Belvoir, Leicestershire. It runs through Willoughby on the Wolds, ...

.

History

Domesday book

West Leake Church Lych Gate and Chestnut Tree - geograph

One of the earliest mentions of West Leake is in the

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

recorded as 'Leche'. The Domesday Book listing is divided into four holdings which encompass what are today East and West Leake. The first property is listed to Henry de Ferrers''Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.779 by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

as Tenant in Chief, and Lord. Ferrers portion was inventoried with 16 villagers. 16 freemen. 1 priest. It included land for 6 ploughlands; 4 lord's plough teams and 17 men's plough teams. Other resources listed include; 50 acresin meadow, Woodland 2 * 1 furlongs. 1 mill, 1 church. The holding was valued at £7 to the lord in 1086. The second listing is for Tenant-in-chief Roger of Bully (Busli) with his lord Arnold (de Bully), valued to the lord in 1086 £0.5. The holding was inventoried to include 2 villagers, land for 0.5 ploughlands, 2 lord's plough teams. 0.5 men's plough teams, and included 8 acres of meadow. Third is a listing for Count Robert of Mortain, Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086. The holding has taxable value of 0.3 geld units, but no other details are shown. The last listing has taxable value 0.1 geld units, and includes 2 freemen, land for 0.5 ploughlands, 1 men's plough team. Robert son of William is listed as Tenant in Chief and Lord in 1086.

Economic history

Agriculture

In 1752 West Leake was home to 12

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

holdings, the largest of which was 300

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s. By 1870 there were 14 farm holdings, with eight of these farms consisting of less than 50 acres. In both 1900 and 1925 the number of farm holdings was listed as 11. By 1960 the number of holdings had increased to 13. Since 2010 only Manor Farm, which was built between 1870 and 1882, remains.

Other industries

From around the mid 18th century until the early 20th century basket making took place in the village. Many of the baskets were sold in London, with some being sold to Parliament. The village, in the late 19th century, had a "blacksmith, butcher, joiner and stone mason". The village has also historically had two

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

s; the first opened in 1891, but later closed. The second post office was opened in 1896, but closed in 1977.

Religious history

Background

The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

in Nottinghamshire describes West Leake's religious background as follows:

There was a priest and a church at Leake in 1086. At that time there was no distinction between West or Little Leake and East or Great Leake. By c.1200 there were two churches. The one at West Leake was dedicated to St Helena and the one at East Leake to St Leonard. The latter was later changed to St Mary.

During the 14th century West Leake, a closed village, became less important while East Leake, an open village, grew. However, the two churches belonged to the same benefice and were not divided until 1876. Henry Balfour Hamilton became the first rector of West Leake in 1882 after the death of the previous incumbent. ...

When the benefice was separated into two in 1876, Lord Belper purchased the advowson of West Leake. In 1933 West Leake was united with Kingston on Soar and Ratcliffe on Soar. For some time the rector of Gotham was also priest-in-charge of the combined benefice. In 1992 West Leake became part of the East Leake benefice, which consists of East Leake, West Leake, Stanford on Soar, Costock and Rempstone. The patronage of the united benefice, at the time of writing, is held jointly by the bishop, the Southwell & Nottingham Diocesan Board of Patronage, Lord Belper and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Other church denominations

The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

in Nottinghamshire describes West Leake's other church denominations as follows:

In 1603 no nonconformists were reported to be in West or East Leake, but in 1676 there was one Dissenter in West Leake. Between 1689 and 1698 Samuel Wilkinson’s house was licensed for occasional nonconformist meetings at Leake where John Whitlock, Richard Bateson and John Hardy were preachers. The number of hearers was claimed to be 113, with four gentlemen and most of the rest yeomen and farmers. In 1851 it was reported that a group of 19 General Baptists met for evening worship in a house and a group of 55 Wesleyan Methodists met for evening worship, also in a house. There has never been a purpose-built nonconformist meeting house in West Leake although many of the surrounding parishes had both Baptist and Methodist chapels. ...

In 1603 no Catholics were reported in West or East Leake. In 1693 the churchwardens presented Mr John Wyld for being a recusant. He was presented again in 1694 when he was described as schoolmaster. There has never been a ost-reformationRoman Catholic place of worship in West Leake: the nearest church is at East Leake.

Heritage

Listed buildings

St. Helena's Church (Grade II*)

St Helenas Church, West Leake (geograph 3356684)

The parish church is St. Helena's Church, West Leake. The church was designated Grade II* on 13 October 1966. A church has been located on the site of St. Helena's since Saxon times. The oldest part of the present church is the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

north wall which dates back to the 12th century. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is noted for being unusually long. The chancel was enlarged and the south aisle built, to create a chapel, in the 14th century. The church does not have a tower but does have a 19th century

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d west

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

which houses two bells. The gabled south porch dates back to the 19th century. The church was extensively restored and the organ chamber rebuilt in 1878. The church has a two manual pipe organ by J.M. Grunwell of Derby, dating from 1878. White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, written in 1853, describes St. Helena's Church as follows:

The church is a low, ancient edifice, dedicated to St Helen, with chancel, side aisle, and ivy mantled belfry, in which are two bells. The rectory is a pleasant mansion, occupied by the Rev. John Bateman, and stands at the west end of the church. In 1850 a school was erected for the use of the parish. The feast is held on the Sunday after Martinmas.

John Throsby John Throsby (1740–1803) was an English antiquary. Life The son of Nicholas Throsby, alderman of Leicester and mayor in 1759, by Martha Mason, his second wife, was born at Leicester on 21 December 1740, and baptised at St. Martin's Church t ...

, writing during 1790 in his new edition of Robert Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, describes St. Helena's Church as:

The Church, which is dedicated to St. Helen, has a nave, side aisles, two bells, and is a low structure. In the chancel wall is a mutilated figure of a Lady, in stone.—Here is a monument to the memory of Thomas Mansfield, Esq. once lord of the manor; he died in 1741–2. ''Evelyn'', (it says) ''his nephew, had gratitude for his memory, and erected it''. Edward Bigland, Rector, died in 1650.—Thomas Mansfield, Esq. died in 1741. Another Thomas Mansfield, Esq, has a monument to his memory, who died in 1706.— George Chadwick, Esq. died in 1722.—Robert Hemington, M. A. died in 1774, aged 64: He was son of Lieut. Col. Hemington, of the first Regiment of Foot Guards.— In a nich of the north wall, near the pulpit, lies an old figure in stone, well preserved; and near the door is one seemingly much older. The monument for Richard Mansfield, mentioned by Thoroton, remains. The arms are over the monument (see ''Willoughby''.) In this church is a light little font; but there stands, near it, some offensive lumber. The earliest Register begins in 1616. Bap. the five first years 18, buried 20.—The last five years bap. 21, buried 14. Increased bap. 3, decreased burials 6.

Other listed buildings

In addition to St. Helena's Church there are four other listed structures in West Leake, all

Grade II 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 ...

listed: 55, Main Street; Lychgate at Entrance to Churchyard of Church of St Helena; Sundial in Churchyard of Church of St Helena, Single Metre South of the Chancel; and The Old Rectory. The

lych gate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

at the entrance to the churchyard of St. Helena's church dates back to 1919 and serves as a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

memorial; it is a timber construction with a roof of

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. It is in the old Charnwood Forest, between Cropston, Woodhouse and Woodhouse ...

slate. The Old Rectory is dated 1723; the emblem of the

Stanhope family Stanhope may refer to: In arts and entertainment * Stanhope essay prize, at Oxford University * Stanhope College, a fictional college attended by Supergirl People * Stanhope (name), a surname and given name * Earl Stanhope, a hereditary title ...

is thought to be visible on the west wall. White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, written in 1853, describes the rectory as "a pleasant mansion". When, in 1933, West Leake was united with Kingston on Soar and Ratcliffe on Soar, the rectory was sold into private ownership.

Other heritage

Former school (current village hall)

A school was built in 1850 by the owner of the village

Lord Belper Baron Belper, of Belper in the County of Derbyshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1856 for the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper, Edward Strutt, Chancellor of the Duchy o ...

, of the neighbouring parish

Kingston on Soar Kingston on Soar is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. Description Setting Kingston on Soar predominantly lies within the Trent Washlands character area, and partially in the Nottinghamshire ...

. It was noted by local writers that until the Elementary Education Act of 1880 absenteeism was great as children stayed away to labour with their parents. Local writers state that Lady Belper, concerned with the poor living standards of children in the village, provided bread and cheese in the school. The school still operated in 1895, but by 1904 children in the village attended schools outside the village. In 1966 the school was donated to the village, by Lord Belper, for use as a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

.

Former post offices

The village has historically had two

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

s. The first post office, located at the junction of Main Street and Dark Lane, was opened in 1891, but soon closed. A second post office, located next to the school in a thatched building, was opened in 1896, but later closed in 1977.

The Star Inn

There is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called ''The Star'' which is situated just outside the village, on the other side of the Kingston Brook on Melton Lane (and therefore in the parish of

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

).Beer in the Evening
The Star The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

for Sutton Bonington states that " was also known as Pit House because it was used by miners from the gypsum ‘pits’."

Dew pond

A dew pond is situated on the hill above the village towards West Leake hills.

Local government and elections

Parliamentary elections

The Member of Parliament for the

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

constituency of

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

, of the Conservative party, who has held the seat since 1970. Ken Clarke stood for reelection at the

2017 General Election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

and was reelected with a reduced majority of 8,010. The

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

for Rushcliffe was 78%, which was the ninth highest in the country.

Local government

County council

For

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

elections the parish comes within the Leake & Ruddington electoral ward, which has two council seats. The most recent election was in May 2017, when Andy Brown and Reg Adair, both of the Conservative party, won the two available seats.

Borough council

For the election of a councillor to

Rushcliffe Borough Council Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council7 May 2015 when Ronald Hetherington, Margaret Males and John Thurman, all of the Conservative party, won the three available seats. The next Borough election will be on 2 May 2019.

Parish meeting

West Leake does not have a parish council, but instead has a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

. Meetings take place "Annually in May".

Amenities

The

Village Hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

is located on Main Street and serves as a social amenity. The building is managed by a charity called West Leake Village Hall. There is 6:00pm

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

Evensong service at St. Helena's Church every second and fourth Sunday of the month; there is also a 6:00pm service of

Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

on the third Sunday. The nearest pub is The Star, known locally as The Pit House, which is just located in the neighbouring civil parish of Sutton Bonington. West Leake has one

postbox A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail inten ...

, located on Main Street.

Gallery

File:The Star at West Leake - geograph.org.uk - 10395.jpg, The Star pub (actually located in the civil parish of

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

) File:Church of St Helena, West Leake (geograph 3822680).jpg, St. Helena's Church (Grade II*) File:Map of Nottinghamshire OS Map name 049-NE, Ordnance Survey, 1883-1899.tiff, An old map of West Leake File:Chestnut Tree at West Leake - geograph.org.uk - 9655.jpg, The

chestnut tree The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

on the village green File:West Leake from track on Fox Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1298823.jpg, Fields surrounding West Leake

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Nottinghamshire Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Rushcliffe