Queniborough is an English village in the county 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 ...

2.5 miles (4 km) north-east of the town of

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

and of 7.5 miles (12 km) north-east of the city 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 ...

. Its 972 properties housed 1,878 registered electors in 2003. The population increased to 2,326 at the 2011 census. It forms part of the

Leicester Urban Area The Leicester Built Up Area (BUA), Leicester Urban Area, or Greater Leicester is an urban agglomeration defined by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), centred on the City of Leicester in the East Midlands, England. With a population of 559 ...

due to its proximity. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St Mary's has, according to the architectural historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

, "one of the finest spires in the whole of Leicestershire".

History

The place-name 'Queniborough' first appears 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, as ''Cuinburg''. It is listed as ''Quenburg'' in about 1125, in the Leicestershire Survey in

J. H. Round (John) Horace Round (22 February 1854 – 24 June 1928) was a historian and genealogist of the English medieval period. He translated the portion of Domesday Book (1086) covering Essex into English. As an expert in the history of the British p ...

's ''Feudal England''. It appears as ''Queningburc'' in 1236 and as ''Queniburg'' in 1242 in the ''

Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs') which is a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, bu ...

''. The name is thought to be the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''Cwēne-burg'', meaning "the queen's manor". The old part of the village, along Main Street, has a mixture of 16th–20th century houses, some of them thatched. The Grade II*-listed Queniborough Old Hall in Coppice Lane is a large two-storey country house built in 1675–1676 of brick with

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood (borough), 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, Woodhous ...

slate roofs, to an originally H-shaped plan. The newer Queniborough Hall in Main Street was built about 1820 with later additions. It has two storeys of stuccoed brick with a four-bay frontage. Until the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it was still occupied by the Lord of the Manor, but it has now been converted into flats. What is now known as Wetherby House was built about 1850 and is believed to have been known as The Beeches. It stands on Syston Road. The house is built of brick with a pitched Swithland slate roof and is listed as of local interest. There was no school in the village open to ordinary villagers until 1847. The earlier school, in a small building to the rear of No. 28, Main Street, was only for children whose parents worked on the Queniborough Hall estate. Nos 22–28, Main Street were built between 1790 and 1810 as workers' cottages. The schoolmaster lived at No. 28. The row is still occupied, and the old village school, part of No. 28, now serves as a dining room with a vaulted

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior roof that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings can ...

. The school built in 1847 stands beside the ''Horse and Groom'' pub. This was a free school from the outset, available to children of all villagers. It now holds a small swimming pool for the new primary school built in the 1970s. A junior school was built in Coppice Lane and opened in September 1954.

Notable people

George Shingler George Shingler (15 May 1882 – 5 May 1946) was an English cricketer. Shingler was a right-handed batsman whose bowling style is unknown. He was born in Leicester, Leicestershire. Shingler made his first-class debut for Leicestershire a ...

(1882–1946), county cricketer, died in Queniborough.

Buildings and facilities

The two public houses, the ''Horse and Groom'', and the ''Britannia Inn'',Own site. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
/ref> are both in the centre of the old part of the village. Next door to the ''Horse and Groom'' is the Queniborough branch of the British Legion, which has a bar and hall. The village has a butcher/delicatessen and a ladies' and gents' hairdresser. Properties in the newer part of the village, from Queniborough Road to Syston Road, are all from the 20th century. Here there is a post office and corner shop, and a newsagent and general store. At the same end of the village stands a village hall completed in 1973, used for keep-fit, badminton and other activities, and for a pre-school playgroup. The local

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

have a hall of their own. The school hall in Coppice Lane is used by

Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...

, Brownies and

Rainbows A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, and by weight watchers and many other clubs. Winter fairs and other celebrations are also held.

Playing fields

The village has a sports field marked out mainly for football, for which Queniborough has teams in the junior and senior leagues. The King George playing field is a secure playground for young children, with swings and roundabouts. A recent acquisition is a village

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

completed in 2005 within the King George playing field. There is a public footpath to

South Croxton South Croxton (traditionally pronounced "crow-sun" �kroʊsən is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It had a population of 261 in the 2011 census. It is north-east of Leicester city centre. Nearby ...

that follows Queniborough Brook.

References

External links

Queniborough History (leicestershirevillages.com)Queniborough Online - Village website (queniborough.online)
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Charnwood