Glenfield is a large village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Glenfields, in the Blaby district of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England. At the 2011 Census, Glenfields had a population of 9,643. The village is directly to the west of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and is just off junction 21A of the M1. It is the site of the headquarters of

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Leicester. The county coun ...

, and of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. It also gives its name to Glenfield Hospital, although the hospital is actually across the city border in Leicester. The heart of the community is around the Square, with St Peter's Church (CofE), the church hall, the ruins of the former church, the Methodist Church and Hall and the public library just inside Station Road, and Park House (parish council), the Memorial Hall, Scout Hut, playground, Glenfield Primary School and the nursery school all located just inside Stamford Street. The Hall County Primary School is located on Glenfield Frith Drive. Situated close to the Hall school is Faire Road commonly known for the row of shops situated there.

History

The name "Glenfield" means "clean field", possibly suggesting that it was clear of weeds. Glenfield is mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, at which time it lay in

Guthlaxton Guthlaxton is an ancient hundred of Leicestershire. Its jurisdiction was in the south of the county, and covered Lutterworth and Wigston Magna. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, it was one of Leicestershire's four wapentakes, and covered ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

and contained 12 households. The village was greatly enlarged between the 1920s and the 1950s when the Faire Estate was built. In the 1980s and 1990s, another large estate was built on former farmland behind Ellis Park. Glenfield was the site of the first station from Leicester West Bridge on the Leicester and Swannington Railway, opened on 17 July 1832 as the world's third steam railway. Just before reaching the station, the line passed through Glenfield Tunnel, which was built by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

and was, at 1 mile 36 yards, the world's longest railway tunnel at the time. The Glenfield end of the tunnel can still be seen. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1,590. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished to form "Glenfields".

Parish facilities

Glenfield has its own village newspaper, ''The Glenfield Gazette''. The parish council owns several areas of recreational land, including Ellis Park, Station Park and the Playing Fields. Near to the A50 and the boundary with Groby is the "Millennium Green", which is managed by a local trust. The Gynsills Nature Area can be found at the junction of Gynsill Lane and Stelle Way. A small area of mature trees and a pond, once part of the Gynsills Estate parkland, is now an area promoting biodiversity and nature conservation. The area known as "The Square" was once more of a road and contained many more shops, mostly owned by the Stockley family. These were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to accommodate the roundabout and the maisonettes were built in place of the grocers, post office and butcher's shop.

Notable residents

The Australian pioneer and explorer

Charles Throsby Charles Throsby (1777 – 2 April 1828) was an English surgeon who, after he migrated to New South Wales in 1802, became an explorer, pioneer and parliamentarian. He opened up much new land beyond the Blue Mountains for colonial settlement ...

was born in Glenfield in 1777. Stamford Street was the home of painter Bryan Organ. Salcombe Drive was the home of the pundit Graham Barnfield. Leicester Road was the home of Alderman Bertram Powell, Lord Mayor of Leicester 1959–60, from the late 1930s to his death in 1969. During the late 1990s Leicester City players Robbie Savage and Pontus Kåmark lived in Glenfield. The British dramatist and playwright

David Campton David Campton (2 May 1924 – 9 September 2006) was a prolific British dramatist who wrote plays for the stage, radio, and cinema for thirty-five years. Biography Campton was born in Leicester, in 1924. He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School ...

was a resident of Liberty Road, Glenfield up until his death in 2006. Footballers David Nugent and Chris Wood lived in Glenfield when playing for Leicester in the mid-2010s.

Commercial

Although Glenfield is mainly residential there are a few businesses located in the area, notably the Widdowson Group and others located on the Mill Lane Industrial Estate.

Transport

Glenfield is away from

, and from the Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre. Glenfield railway station served the village between 1832 and 1928. The nearest railway station is now

Roads

The M1 can be easily accessed at Junction 21A to the south of the village (southbound only), which makes Fosse Shopping Park accessible. The M1 North can be reached in minutes along the A50 towards Markfield, Groby and Coalville. The A46 leads around the north of Leicester, with access to Anstey and then the A6 to

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

Bus

The village is currently served by First Leicester service 13 and Centrebus 40 CircleLine buses.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Blaby