Shackerstone
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Shackerstone is a village and
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 ...
in the
Hinckley and Bosworth Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in south-western Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Its only towns are Hinckley, Earl Shilton and Market Bosworth. Villages in ...
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 situated on the
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804 ...
and the
River Sence The River Sence is a river which flows in Leicestershire, England. The tributaries of the Sence, including the Saint and Tweed, fan out over much of western Leicestershire from Charnwood Forest and Coalville in the north-east to Hinckley and ...
. According to the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the village of
Barton in the Beans Barton in the Beans is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. There are no shops or pubs in the hamlet, but it contains a Baptist Church and a pos ...
, had a population of 811, including Odstone which had risen to 921 at the 2011 census.


History

In the
Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
the Hall family were prominent in the village. They occupied the hall next to the church, known as Shakerstone Mannor. They sold this property in 1843, 13 years after Henry Edward and Sarah Theodosia Hall (
William Shakespeare Hall William Shakespeare Hall (1825–1895) was a pioneer settler of the Swan River Colony and a well-known justice of the peace, explorer, pastoralist, and pearler. He was also known by some as 'the father of the north'. He was born in London to ...
's parents) had moved the family to the
Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
. During the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Shackerstone was near enough to Ashby de la Zouch to attract the attention of both parties. Parliamentary soldiers from Tamworth and Coventry stole horses, including a mare worth ten pounds from Mr. Hall. The local vicar, the Rev. John Hodges, was ejected from the living in 1646 and brought before the parliamentary
sequestration committee In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees the Sequestration Committee which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents which a ...
for deserting his parish to join the royalist garrison at Ashby for four months. The commissioners charged him with frequenting the village alehouse on Sundays, and of being "a companion with fidlers and singers". In the early eighteenth century, John Nichols records a fine church, a water mill and an absentee parson, Dr Adamthwaite, a prolific and energetic letter-writer, who was vicar from 1779 to 1811. This was a poor parish. By 1789 time the parson complained that he could not afford to live there, residing instead in Hampton in Arden, in Warwickshire some 24 miles away, where he had a
curacy 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 ...
. He claimed that the parsonage had been "miserably beggared" by the previous incumbent who died insolvent in a gaol. The vicarage was "so entirely let down as that no sign remains of there ever having been one". By 1 April 1805, the population seems to have slightly increased, a local census counting 51 families in Shackerstone, 53 families in Odstone and six in Barton, providing a total population of around 375.


Transport

In 1804 the
Ashby Canal The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, ...
was opened and Shackerstone is passed by it on the east. There are public moorings prior to bridge 52, and between bridges 52 and 53 are private moorings. The sharp turn by the station has been known to cause a certain amount of entertainment for the unwary boater.
Shackerstone railway station Shackerstone railway station is a preserved railway station and heritage museum in Leicestershire, Central England. It is the terminus and the headquarters of the heritage Battlefield Line Railway, with the Shackerstone Railwayana Museum, t ...
is on the Battlefield Line Railway, a preserved steam and diesel museum, that runs trains to Bosworth Battlefield. The railway came to Shackerstone in 1873 and continued providing passenger services until 1931, after which only freight ran on the rails of the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The line was finally closed by
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
in 1970 at which point the railway society arrived and has restored the station and reopened the line to Shenton Station, the terminus for Bosworth Battlefield.


Landmarks

During World War II, the remains of the
motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
in the village had an air raid shelter dug into it. It is believed that this still has a rocking chair within it. Located close to Shackerstone was the stately home of
Gopsall Gopsall (or Gopsall Park) is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Twycross, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and ...
Hall home of Charles Jennens, a
librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
and friend of
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
.


Culture and community

From 1994 to 2019 Shackerstone also hosted a large family festival, usually in the first week of September that covered everything from vintage cars to aerobatic stunt planes. The charity event is based around the a number of organising parties: the village, the canal, 4x4 group, an unaffiliated group and the railway. The festival was usually well attended by the public.


References


External links


Adamthwaite documents & Historical records
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth