Swepstone
Encyclopedia
Swepstone is a village and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville.The district contains East Midlands Airport, which operates flights to the rest of Britain and to various places in Europe...

 district of Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about five miles south of Ashby de la Zouch. The parish includes the villages of Swepstone and Newton Burgoland
Newton Burgoland
Newton Burgoland is a hamlet forming part of the Swepstone civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The Swepstone parish also includes a small settlement named Newton-Nethercote, which forms as part of the village....

.

The earliest documentation of the village is found in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 where it appears as Scopestone. Later documentary appearances are given as Swepeston from around 1130 to 1471, and Swepston from 1234. The name is probably derived from the Old English personal name Sweppes, and the suffix tūn, meaning "Sweppi's farm or village".

Swepstone farmers regularly sold their cattle in local market towns. In 1597 three Swepstone farmers, Richard Dudley, William Chilwell and Thomas Burrows were called to give evidence in an archdeaconry court case. It is recorded that the three were drinking together in an alehouse near the market square while their beasts were tethered outside.

The church regularly has fun events and every Christmas they put a star on the church that can be seen for miles around. During spring there are numerous daffodils along the roadside. It is not too far from Ashby and Coalville
Coalville
Coalville is a town in North West Leicestershire, England, with a population estimated in 2003 to be almost 33,000. It is situated on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junction 22 of the M1 motorway where the A511 meets the A50 between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and...

so although it is secluded, it isn't quite the middle of nowhere. Swepstone's only public house is The Odd House, which serves food, and the village Hall sometimes holds coffee mornings.
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