Swithland is a

linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. 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 authorit ...

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 Eaves. It has a village hall, a parish church and 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 wa ...

, the ''Griffin Inn''. The village is known for the slate that was quarried in the area.

History

Swithland was originally held by

Groby Groby (pronounced "GREW-bee") is a large English village in the county of Leicestershire, to the north west of the city of Leicester. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 6,796. Description The village has expanded vastly since t ...

. Part of the village had become held by the Danvers (originally called D'Anvers) family by 1412, and between 1509 and 1796, the whole village was held by the Danvers family.C. N. Hadfield (1952), ''Charnwood Forest – a Survey'', Edgar Backus, pp. 59–60. The village includes the 13th-century St Leonard's parish church, which retains the original

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

s and has an 18th-century west tower built for Sir John Danvers.Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960) ''The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Agnes Scott, Sir John Danvers (actually installed on Danvers's instruction six years before his death) and five of his children. The churchyard of St. Leonard's includes the tomb of Sir Joseph Danvers, 1st Baronet (1686–1753), which was built half inside the graveyard and half outside (on Danvers' estate) to allow his favourite dog to be buried with him (the dog being buried on unconsecrated ground). Swithland was designated a conservation area in 1993, and includes 31

listed building 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 ...

s, including the Grade I Mountsorrel Cross, and several Grade II buildings, including the school, which was built in 1843, and a cottage from 1842.Swithland Conservation Area
, Charnwood Borough Council, retrieved 23 July 2010-07-23 The village pub, the ''Griffin Inn'', originally the ''Griffin Hotel'', was built about 1700 and has been put to several uses in its history, including a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

, and village

mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

. Most recently, it has had the inclusion of local producer Deli sourcing 80% of their products from within 40 miles. An annual village fair was held in Victorian times outside the pub on the Feast of St Leonard in November.Stevenson, Joan (1982) ''A Family Guide to Charnwood Forest'', Sycamore Press, , pp. 41–42.

Swithland Estate

The Swithland Hall estate was held by the family of Danvers until 1796 but after the death of Sir John Danvers (the last male of his line) it passed to his son-in-law, Augustus Richard Butler, second son of the second Earl of Lanesborough, who adopted the surname of Danvers-Butler and afterwards inherited the title of Earl of Lanesborough. The original Swithland Hall, which stood at the eastern end of the village as it is today, on the site now occupied by Hall Farm, was destroyed by fire in 1822, although part of the hall's boundary wall, including two towers are still in existence, both of which are in Main Street.Whitelaw, Jeffery W. (1996) ''Hidden Leicestershire & Rutland'', Countryside Books, , pp. 124–125.Gerrard, David (1996) ''Leicestershire & Rutland Past: A Guide to Historic Places and People'', Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, , p. 108. The current hall, a Grade II listed building, was partially completed in 1834 and finished in 1852,Swithland Hall, Main Street, Swithland (Grade II)
, Charnwood Borough Council, retrieved 23 July 2010. on a different site to the south-east, in what was then known as Swithland Park, by John George Danvers Butler, sixth Earl of Lanesborough.J. B. Firth (1926), ''Highways and Byways in Leicestershire'', London: Macmillan; pp. 63–66. The estate includes the Mountsorrel Cross that originally stood in Mountsorrel that dates from about 1500 and was moved to its current location in Swithland Park in 1793 by Sir John Danvers, who replaced it with the Buttermarket Cross that still stands there.Bob Trubshaw (1995), ''Little-known Leicestershire & Rutland'', Heart of Albion Press, , pp. 94–100. Swithland slate gravestone,Swithland churchyard

Swithland slate gravestone,Swithland churchyard

Industry

Slate quarrying in the area dates back to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times,McWhirr, Alan
The Roman Swithland Slate Industry
, Leicester Archaeological & Historical Society, retrieved 2010-07-24. and was an important activity within the village between the 13th and 19th centuries.Swithland Sense of Place
, Leicestershire County Council, retrieved 2010-07-24. Until the mid-19th century, Swithland slate was much in demand for roofing. From the later 17th century until well into the 19th century, slate from Swithland was widely used for gravestones in Leicestershire and neighbouring counties, especially Nottinghamshire. The slate has a poorer cleavage than Welsh slate, but is often exquisitely carved. A distinguishing mark of Swithland slate is the rough texture of the uncarved face. Some gravestones were carved by members of the Hind family of Swithland, but many others were carved by masons elsewhere, to whom the raw slate was sent.Paul Dare (1925), ''Charnwood Forest and its Environs'', Edgar Backus, pp. 96–97. One gravestone type found mainly in a group of villages in the Vale of Belvoir is called a "Belvoir Angel". Slates from Swithland for roofing were once commonly used, but demand fell in favour of slates from Wales, which were thinner and lighter.John Ashurst and Francis G. Dimes (1998), ''Conservation of Building & Decorative Stone'', Butterworth-Heinemann, , pp. 141–142. Since then the quarry has reverted to nature, with the slate pits now flooded and sometimes used by

divers Diver or divers may refer to: *Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water *Practitioner of underwater diving, including: **scuba diving, **freediving, **surface-supplied diving, **saturation diving, a ...

. A memorial stone stands in the centre of the village. The land to the north and south of the village is used for

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

, both arable and dairy. Swithland Spring Water, based at Hall Farm, sells locally bottled

spring water A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust ( pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh ...

, which is collected from a spring beneath the farm.Swithland Spring Water moves upmarket to attract new business
, thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk, 11 September 2009, retrieved 2010-07-24.

Local attractions

Swithland Reservoir Swithland Reservoir is a reservoir in the English county of Leicestershire. It is north-east of the village of Swithland from which it takes its name, north-west of Rothley and approximately south-west of Mountsorrel Quarry. It is part of the ...

, completed in 1896, is the largest reservoir in Charnwood; it is situated to the north-east of the village. It is accessible via the causeway road to the east of the village and with a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

that can be reached by Kinchley Lane from Mountsorrel, and is a popular site for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, as well as for walking.

Swithland Wood Swithland Wood and The Brand is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire. Swithland Wood is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade II. The Brand is designated a Precambrian site in the Ge ...

, to the south-west of the village, is near to

Bradgate Park Bradgate Park () is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, northwest of Leicester. It covers . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithland. The River Lin runs ...

. This large area of woodland around a former slate quarry is a popular walking, riding, and hunting spot.

Great Central railway line

Towards the Rothley end of the village runs the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

, the last main line ever built linking the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(apart from the

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

line under construction in 2021). When the Great Central line opened on 15 March 1899, it was planned for Swithland to have its own station, the Great Central having visions of turning the area into a tourist spot. This never came into fruition, but a bricked-over stairway under the bridge of the railway provides evidence that these plans were taken into serious consideration.Disused Stations: Swithland
, disused-stations.org.uk, retrieved 2010-07-24. A small set of railway exchange sidings were built at this location, but the nearest passenger station was at Rothley. The preserved

is restoring these sidings to working order. The railway line extends to

Leicester North Leicester ( ) is a city, 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 lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

to the south, and Quorn & Woodhouse and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

to the north, crossing Swithland reservoir by a two-part viaduct.

References

External links

Swithland village websiteSwithland
at the Leicestershire Villages website
Swithland Church website
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Charnwood Slate mines in England