Dunton Bassett is a small village in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It lies between Leicester and

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby ...

, and close to

Broughton Astley Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish located in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley, about from the centre of Leicester, and about 14 mi ...

, Ashby Magna & Leire. It had a population of 795 at the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, falling to 759 at the 2011 census.

History

The village's name means 'farm/settlement on a hill'. The village was held by Radulfus Basset in 1166. The Great Central main railway line, the last main line to be built from 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 ...

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 ...

, was opened on 15 March 1899 and ran just to the east of Dunton Bassett, separating it from the village of Ashby Magna, and a station was provided bearing Ashby's name, although it was much the smaller village of the two. Dunton Bassett gave its name to a short (92 yard) tunnel just south of the station. The line closed on 5 May 1969. In its latter years it had been joined by the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be