Thringstone
Encyclopedia
Thringstone is a village in north-west Leicestershire
, England about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Coalville
. It lies within the area of the English National Forest
and is part of the East Midlands
region.
Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick
. A 'township' is an obsolete term which once referred to a subdivision used to administer a large parish. The township of Thringstone, based on a feudal (manorial) division of land carved out during the Anglo-Saxon period, comprised Thringstone village (then known as South Thringstone) and the hamlets of Peggs Green and Rotten Row in an area known as North Thringstone. Thringstone became an independent and autonomous civil parish in 1875, though this was dissolved in 1936 when outlying parts of the parish were transferred to other surrounding parishes and the remainder was transferred to the Civil Parish and Urban District of Coalville. Thus the geographical arera known as Thringstone today bears little resemblance to that known as Thringstone before the Second World War and today, Thringstone remains an electoral ward, within the civil parish of Coalville.
is a geological structure, not exposed at the surface, known as the Thringstone Fault. Formed during prehistoric volcanic times, the fault runs from Bardon Hill
to Ticknall
and forms an abrupt boundary to the eastern part of the Leicestershire
and South Derbyshire
coalfield.
) personal name, Traengr (this area having come under the Danelaw
during the 9th century) with the Anglo-Saxon
suffix, tun, meaning 'farm' or 'village' - hence Traengr's tun. Another source suggests that 'Thring' may mean land that was difficult to work.
Thringstone is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086 as the Derbyshire
village of "Trangesbi".
A water-mill existed here in the 13th century and survived till about 1935. Some dilapidated outbuildings and the old dry mill race remain. Grace Dieu Priory
was built at about the same time.
In 1309 the Manor of Thringstone passed into the hands of one Robert Tebbe. In 1360, it is recorded that Adam, son of Robert Tebbe, was the owner of the Manor and water-mill of Thringstone. In 1391, Henry Tebbe of 'Threnguston' had a violent quarrel with the Benedictine priory of Upholland in Wigan
. Tebbe who farmed part of the Whitwick tithes, refused to pay. Tebbe was arrested, but on paying a fine was pardoned and released.
In 1462, King Edward IV granted land at Thringstone to Richard Hastings having previously been in possession of John Beaumont. However, the manor was back with the Beaumont family by 1494, when we find that Thomas Beaumont was in possession of it and by 1550 it had passed to another John Beaumont. In 1552, this Beaumont, who had been given the office of Master of the Rolls, was 'discovered to have grossly wronged the King', having purchased for himself lands with royal funds, amongst a host of other dishonest deeds. Beaumont subsequently surrendered his possessions to the King and in 1553, the Manor of Thringstone was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. It was this same John Beaumont who, in 1534, had abused his position as one of the commissioners appointed to visit Gracedieu Priory following its dissolution, by buying the nunnery buildings at his own valuation. When his misbehaviour at the Treasury was uncovered twenty years later, Gracedieu was also granted to the Earl of Huntingdon, though Beaumont's widow managed to regain possession of it in 1574.
The Manor of Thringstone is recorded as having been the property of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon in 1640.
A return of the year 1564 states that there were in that year 26 families in Thringston (sic), 17 in Whitwick
and 25 in Swannington
. The district had been devastated by the Black Death
a century before, and this accounts for the very small population.
In 1846 it is recorded that "J Boultbee, Esq, is lord of the manor; but the greater part of the soil belongs to E.Dawson, Esq, and the Cropper, Piddocke, Green and other families".
In 1871, the Lord of the Manor is recorded as having been T.Boultbee, Esq.
became concerned with the Framework knitting industry. The work was carried by journeymen to and from the manufacturers in Loughborough
and Shepshed
. In 1844, Thringstone is recorded as having 160 frames.
In 1776, the workhouse at Thringstone was noted as being capable of receiving thirty persons.
The expansion of the local coal mining industry, beginning in the first third of the 19th century, induced still further demographic change and the population had grown from a figure of 901 in 1801 to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% was non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas.
By far the greatest and most radical geographical and social changes to the village came during the 20th century, beginning in the years after the First World War. In April 1936, Thringstone Civil Parish was dissolved and outlying parts of the township were transferred to Belton (68 acres), Coleorton (98 acres), Osgathorpe (482 acres), Swannington (70 acres) and Worthington (12 acres). The remainder of Thringstone (142 acres) was transferred to the Urban District and Civil Parish of Coalville. Additionally, in 1885, the parish had been reduced to enlarge Coleorton Civil Parish with the area known as "Rotten Row".
Thus, the old parish of Thringstone had been a much larger geographical area than that known as Thringstone today, having also included the hamlet of Peggs Green
. The village proper that we now refer to simply as 'Thringstone', was at that time referred to as 'South Thringstone', with outlying parts known as 'North Thringstone'. The boundary changes, disolving an ancient manorial division of land, meant that two notable landmarks formerly classed as being in Thringstone ceded to other villages - namely the Stordon Grange moated farmhouse (to Osgathorpe) and the Thringstone Smock Mill (to Swannington, and now known as the Hough Windmill)
Following the Second World War, Thringstone village was extended massively due to homogeneous estate housing developments. The Booth Road area was begun in the forties, followed shortly afterward by the Hensons Lane prefabs. The Woodside Estate was completed in 1964, bringing a large influx of Scottish and Geordie families into the village, who came as a result of northern colliery transfers. This estate is characterised by its Caledonian road-names such as 'Melrose Road' and 'Elgin Walk' ('Shrewsbury Walk' is the anomaly, named in honour of Thringstone's longest serving vicar, who died in 1958). The Carterdale complex was also begun in the sixties and the Glebe Farm estate came in the seventies, with the Springfield development arriving in the eighties.
In effect, Thringstone has become a geographical and political extension of Coalville (within living memory, it had been relatively isolated), though thanks to contiguity with Gracedieu Wood and the preservation of other greenbelt areas, it has managed to retain an individual geographical identity and has not become absorbed into the urban sprawl of Coalville to the same degree as parts of Whitwick, Snibston and Hugglescote.
, three-storeyed, C18th); Saint Andrew's Church, Main Street (by St Aubyn, 1862; the tomb of Charles Booth in the church yard is also a listed monument); Lily Bank Farmhouse (C17th/18th) and Lily Bank Dovecote to the rear (C18th). Some of these, and other houses and buildings of interest in the village, have recently been provided with blue plaques.
and Nottinghamshire
fields even for the Leicester
market owing to poor transport facilities. Toward the end of the 18th century Joseph Boultbee, the tenant of collieries at Thringstone, and others fought to change this and were successful in getting opened the Charnwood Forest Canal
between Thringstone and Nanpantan
in 1794.
Horse-drawn tramroads were built to transport coal mined at Swannington
and Coleorton
to the canal wharf at Thringstone Bridge, and once at the Nanpantan
terminus the coal was re-loaded on to a a further stretch of tramroad to take it to the main navigation at Loughborough
. These railroads are said to have been the first in the world to use the standard gauge, and a deep cutting left by one of its branches can still be found in the field at the back of the Glebe Road housing estate in Thringstone.
The cost of three transhipments of coal between trucks and barges meant that the Leicestershire
pits were still unable to compete with their Derbyshire
rivals and in February 1799 the canal's feeder reservoir at Blackbrook burst its banks following exceptionally severe frosts, causing much damage to the canal
and surrounding countryside.
That proved to be the last straw for the Leicestershire
coal-owners and the getting of coal hereabouts was to remain a modest concern until the arrival of the Leicester and Swannington Railway
some thirty years later.
The expansion of the local coal-mining industry from around 1830 onward had a big impact on population. The population of Thringstone in 1801 was 901. This had grown to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% were non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas. The coal-mining era came to an end in North West Leicestershire
during the 1980s.
ornaments manufactured by John Tugby in around 1850 at Pegg's Green, which was then in Thringstone parish. The alabaster
came from Derbyshire
.
Another bauble firm was Peters and Son, who came to Thringstone from Coleorton
in 1870 and set up their works in what became the "Bauble Yard". They also kept the Star Inn on Main Street. They made plates, jugs, views, egg-cups and other trinkets which were sold at the local monastery. Others were exported to America and some sold at fairs and at the seaside and the industry flourished for some years. It eventually came to an end around 1900 in the face of cheap imports from the European continent
Saint Andrew's Church is a small cruciform structure built entirely in 1862 from Charnwood Forest
stone in the Early English style. The building is from the designs of James Piers St Aubyn
(1815–1895) and has an unusual plan, consisting of a broad nave
with shallow transepts and a round-ended sanctuary, with a round-ended vestry on its north side. A small bell-cote containing one small bell sits at the western end of the nave
roof and a south porch was added in 1911, in memory of the first vicar, Edwin Samuel Crane, MA, designed by Thomas Ignatius McCarthy of Coalville.
The church was paid for by grants and public subscription, zealously elicited by Francis Merewether, MA (Vicar of Whitwick
and Rector of Coleorton
) and cost £750 12s, building work being undertaken by the firms of Messrs William Beckworth of Whitwick and Elliott of Ashby-de-la-Zouch/Burton. Merewether was a theologian of markedly low church views who preached and wrote prolifically against Ambrose de Lisle's Roman Catholic mission
and was incensed by such developments as the founding of Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in his parish and the opening of a Roman Catholic day school at Turry Log, within the township of Thringstone, in 1843. There can be little doubt that, quite apart from the rapid population growth that affected the area following the opening of large collieries, Merewether was motivated to build the church (and also a school) to help counteract the perceived papist revival. Merewether - along with Sir G H Beaumont (ninth Baronet
of Coleorton
Hall) - was the chief benefactor of Saint Andrew's Church, each donating £100.
Until 1875, the building acted as a chapel of ease to Whitwick
and was served by curates under the jurisdiction of the Whitwick
vicars. Thringstone became an independent ecclesiastical parish on October 29, 1875, since which time there have been eight incumbents. It is interesting to note that, whereas historically, the church at Thringstone came under the cure of the mother church at Whitwick
(retaining the title, Whitwick Saint Andrew-cum-Thringstone until the 1980s), a recent merging of Thringstone with Whitwick
to form a united benefice has resulted in the Vicar of Thringstone (Alan Burgess) also becoming Vicar of Whitwick
.
The church is one of forty-two nationally in the patronage of Her Majesty The Queen (in Right of Her Duchy of Lancaster
).
The church contains some stained glass by Kempe and Co, including the War Memorial Window, unveiled in 1920 by Lt Col Tom Booth DSO of Gracedieu Manor. This window was originally intended as a personal memorial to Theophilus Jones, the Thringstone headmaster and depicts St Alban (Britain's first Christian martyr). This subject would almost certainly have been chosen to parallel Mr Jones' equally unenviable place in British history: he is commonly believed to have been the first soldier to be killed on home soil during the first world war
, being killed during the German Bombardment of the Hartlepool
s, December 16, 1914. [Other sources suggest that he was amongst the first four to be killed during this particular incident]. By the end of the Great War, a further 26 men from the parish had fallen, and it was decided to dedicate the window to their collective memory. The names of the fallen are commemorated on a brass tablet and a second tablet was added in 1948 to commemorate the four men from the parish who lost their lives in World War II
. Relatively few men from the Thringstone district enlisted in the armed services during the second world war due the country's need for increased coal production.
Another military hero, Thomas Elsdon Ashford V.C was married in Thringstone Church to Betsy Ann Sisson in 1891. Elsdon had been decorated with Britain's highest military honour following an act of bravery whilst serving as private soldier in the Royal Fusiliers in 1880, during the Afghan War.
In 2003, the building's impressive truss rafter roof was restored to its original appearance, having been substantially boarded over in 1952 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The roof and the building's semi-circular sanctuary combine to afford an extremely attractive interior, whilst externally, the building's simple pointed style and use of local granite is also aesthetically pleasing and the building is perhaps most commonly described as, 'pretty'.
A recent planning application to extend the church on its north side by the addition of kitchen and toilet facilities has been approved by North West Leicestershire
District Council. It is hoped that the proposed appendages will be carried out responsibly, keeping apertures in character with the lancet style of the building.
The churchyard contains the graves of at least twenty-three men and boys who lost their lives through accidents in the local coal mining industry. Youngest of these was John Albert Gee (aged 13), who - along with 34 others - lost his life in the Whitwick Colliery Disaster of 1898. Also in the churchyard is the final resting place of the Rt Hon Charles Booth
PC (1840–1916), the philanthropist and pioneer of old age pensions. Mr Booth was a regular worshipper at St Andrews Church and two of his daughters were married here He is buried with his wife, Mary Catherine (1847–1939), who was one of the distinguished Macaulay family and their simple, recumbent marble tombstone carries a beautiful inscription, raised in lead, summarising Booth's work and which is often sought out by visitors. The tomb was designated a listed monument in 2002, along with the church building itself. Elsewhere, a plaque to Booth's memory can be found in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral
London. Booth purchased a copy of Holman Hunt's famous painting, The Light of the World and presented it to the cathedral in 1904. Holman Hunt's widow was among hundreds of mourners at Booth's funeral in 1916.
Buried in the graveyard are the first two Vicars of St Andrews Church - Edwin Samuel Crane MA (1845–1907) and his eventual son-in-law, Cheverton Shrewsbury MA (1872–1958), whose combined incumbency spanned a remarkable 81 years.
The large red-brick, six-bedroomed parsonage house (by Henry Robinson of Derby, 1878–79) was demolished in 1999 and the site has since been developed by the Badgers Croft complex, which includes a modern vicarage.
This arrangement was continued until about 1964, at which point the old Wesleyan chapel was sold off for industrial usage. The Loughborough Road Church was then used by the amalgamated congregations and still exists as the Thringstone Methodist Church. This premises was extended by the addition of a hall and connecting corridor at the rear in 1975. The former Wesleyan chapel was occupied by a number of knitware companies before opening as The Chapel Fitness Centre in 1996
This venture, which became known as the 'Thringstone House Club', proved so successful that in 1911, Booth engaged his cousin, the architect Harry Fletcher of London, to add the imposing two-storeyed hall to the rear of the premises and founded The Thringstone Trust, a registered charity, which states that the institute and its grounds shall be used in perpetuity for the benefit of the inhabitants of Thringstone and the surrounding parishes of Whitwick
, Swannington
, Worthington
, Osgathorpe
, Coleorton
and Belton
. Booth bestowed an endowment of £3000 and a further endowment of £400 was later made by Mrs Booth for the women's section.
By 1950, trust monies left by the Booth family were not sufficient for all that was needed in changed times. Moreover, members of the Booth family had moved out of the area and it was impossible for them to maintain an active status as trustees. Thankfully, a way forward was found and the trusteeship of the institute was transferred to the Leicestershire County Council
. The institute is now known as the Thringstone House Community Centre and a member of the Booth family (James Gore Browne) remains as honorary president of the institute, which proudly lays claim to be the oldest of its kind in the country.
The centre is administered according to the aims and objects of the Thringstone Community Association and has a strong educational focus and a clear sense of having a community development role.
Architecturally, the community centre buildings have a great deal of character, comprising a gabled, white-washed 17th-century farmhouse fronting The Green, with at the rear, a large two-storeyed hall overlooking a rural valley traversed by the Thringstone Brook. The hall carries a louvred ventilation turret on its western gable and this - together with brick buttresses erected to reinforce the north and south walls in the late 20th century - has given the building a distinctly ecclesiastical appearance.
Today, there is a great deal of involvement from local people. It has a bar which is open every evening and provides a setting where people who have been engaging in some activity within the centre can associate at the end of the evening. A warden is employed who has done much to develop the activities which go on within the centre.
The Association has adopted a development plan and is challenging itself to grow and develop still further. It is seeking to respond to the needs of a community that had been hit hard by the gradual closure of the coal pits in the area and which is also seeing some growth as a number of new estates bring younger people to
community.
The Community Centre has a website at:- http://beehive.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=15248
stand on the outskirts of Thringstone in a valley bounded by a small brook at the edge of Cademan Wood, part of Charnwood Forest
, and situated on the A512 road from Loughborough
to Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire
.
The ruins have become renowned as one of the most haunted locations in Leicestershire due to the site's association with a 'White Lady' apparition, most commonly seen drifting across the A512. The most famous sighting is said to have occurred in 1954, when a 'bus driver is said to have stopped to pick up a woman waiting by the shelter opposite the ruins, only to find on drawing up his vehicle that she had vanished. Sightings of unexplained phenomena in this area are well documented and are also referred to in Paul Devereux's book, 'Earth Lights' (1982)
Following its dissolution as a religious house, the priory came into the possession of the Beaumont family, who converted it into a residence, so that the few remaining ruins are partly medieval, but chiefly domestic Tudor (e.g. fire-places and chimney-stacks). Francis Beaumont
, the great Elizabethan dramatist, was born here in circa 1584. In the 1690s, the priory was acquired by Sir Ambrose Phillipps of Garendon Abbey, though by the 1790s the buildings were ruinous, with only two sections still roofed.
Visit the Grace Dieu Priory website at:- http://www.gracedieupriory.org.uk/
, which also passes over an impressive six arch viaduct near the priory ruins. The woodland is noted for vast carpets of bluebells in spring and the railway was once referred to as 'the bluebell line'.
There is a group of volunteers whose remit is to record flora and fauna, provide education in wood-lore and improve the habitat of the woods from the A512 (Loughborough
to Ashby Road), to Swannymote Road and Loughborough Road, Whitwick
, with kind permission of the owner, Mr P de Lisle. The website is at:- http://beehive.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/thringstone/
The village boasted a thriving social life in its public houses - especially at weekends - until the end of the 20th century. A particularly memorable event was New Years's Eve (or Hogmanay
) - the spirit of the occasion greatly enhanced by residents of Scottish origin - when (at shortly before midnight) the pubs on the village green emptied for a few minutes as hundreds of people converged in a huge circle on The Green to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' around the kilted figure of piper, Sam Jardine.
However, three public houses - The Fox Inn, The Queens Head and The Rose and Crown have recently closed, such has been the decline in trade. The smoking ban of 2007 and competition from supermarkets have been seen as contributory factors toward the decline.
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 about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of 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...
. It lies within the area of the English National Forest
National Forest, England
The National Forest is one of England’s most ambitious environmental projects. Across parts of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, are being transformed, blending ancient woodland with new planting to create a new national forest...
and is part of the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
region.
Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
. A 'township' is an obsolete term which once referred to a subdivision used to administer a large parish. The township of Thringstone, based on a feudal (manorial) division of land carved out during the Anglo-Saxon period, comprised Thringstone village (then known as South Thringstone) and the hamlets of Peggs Green and Rotten Row in an area known as North Thringstone. Thringstone became an independent and autonomous civil parish in 1875, though this was dissolved in 1936 when outlying parts of the parish were transferred to other surrounding parishes and the remainder was transferred to the Civil Parish and Urban District of Coalville. Thus the geographical arera known as Thringstone today bears little resemblance to that known as Thringstone before the Second World War and today, Thringstone remains an electoral ward, within the civil parish of Coalville.
Demographics
The 2001 population of 4,325 compares with 901 in 1801 - the growth in population being a result of the industrial revolution, particularly local coal-mining. However, it should be noted that due to radical bondary alterations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such demographic comparatives relate to significantly different geographical areas and the most tangible way of understanding the population growth relevant to the place defined as Thringstone since the Second World War is that evidenced by large-scale residential development in the village proper, from the late nineteenth century. Were it not for the evolution of the coal-mining industry and accordant migration, it is quite probable that the village would have remained a rural and sparsely populated community. A notable demographic impact on the village, connected with coal-mining, also occurred during the 1960s, when many families migrated to the village from Scotland and the North East of England as a result colliery transfers, resulting in the Woodside Estate. Following the demise of the local coal-mining industry, population has been sustained due to the development of alternative commerce in nearby towns and cities, easily accessed by improvement in transport.Geology
Lying on the western fringe of Charnwood ForestCharnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 ft and upwards, the area...
is a geological structure, not exposed at the surface, known as the Thringstone Fault. Formed during prehistoric volcanic times, the fault runs from Bardon Hill
Bardon Hill
Bardon Hill is a hill in the civil parish of Bardon near Coalville, Leicestershire. It the highest point in Leicestershire and the National Forest, above sea level. The hill has two very distinct faces – one half preserved as a site of special scientific interest , the other removed by Bardon Hill...
to Ticknall
Ticknall
Ticknall is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England. Situated on the A514 road, close to Melbourne, it has three pubs, several small businesses, and a primary school. Two hundred years ago it was considerably larger and noisier with lime quarries, tramways and potteries. Coal...
and forms an abrupt boundary to the eastern part of the 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...
and South Derbyshire
South Derbyshire
South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote....
coalfield.
History
The name 'Thringstone' is probably derived from an amalgamation of the Danish (VikingViking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
) personal name, Traengr (this area having come under the Danelaw
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
during the 9th century) with the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
suffix, tun, meaning 'farm' or 'village' - hence Traengr's tun. Another source suggests that 'Thring' may mean land that was difficult to work.
Thringstone is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086 as the Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
village of "Trangesbi".
A water-mill existed here in the 13th century and survived till about 1935. Some dilapidated outbuildings and the old dry mill race remain. Grace Dieu Priory
Grace Dieu Priory
The Grace Dieu Priory was an Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdon and dissolved in October in 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary.-History:...
was built at about the same time.
In 1309 the Manor of Thringstone passed into the hands of one Robert Tebbe. In 1360, it is recorded that Adam, son of Robert Tebbe, was the owner of the Manor and water-mill of Thringstone. In 1391, Henry Tebbe of 'Threnguston' had a violent quarrel with the Benedictine priory of Upholland in Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
. Tebbe who farmed part of the Whitwick tithes, refused to pay. Tebbe was arrested, but on paying a fine was pardoned and released.
In 1462, King Edward IV granted land at Thringstone to Richard Hastings having previously been in possession of John Beaumont. However, the manor was back with the Beaumont family by 1494, when we find that Thomas Beaumont was in possession of it and by 1550 it had passed to another John Beaumont. In 1552, this Beaumont, who had been given the office of Master of the Rolls, was 'discovered to have grossly wronged the King', having purchased for himself lands with royal funds, amongst a host of other dishonest deeds. Beaumont subsequently surrendered his possessions to the King and in 1553, the Manor of Thringstone was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. It was this same John Beaumont who, in 1534, had abused his position as one of the commissioners appointed to visit Gracedieu Priory following its dissolution, by buying the nunnery buildings at his own valuation. When his misbehaviour at the Treasury was uncovered twenty years later, Gracedieu was also granted to the Earl of Huntingdon, though Beaumont's widow managed to regain possession of it in 1574.
The Manor of Thringstone is recorded as having been the property of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon in 1640.
A return of the year 1564 states that there were in that year 26 families in Thringston (sic), 17 in Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
and 25 in Swannington
Swannington, Leicestershire
Swannington is a former mining village in Leicestershire, England. It was a terminus of the early Leicester and Swannington Railway that was built to carry away its pits' output...
. The district had been devastated by the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
a century before, and this accounts for the very small population.
In 1846 it is recorded that "J Boultbee, Esq, is lord of the manor; but the greater part of the soil belongs to E.Dawson, Esq, and the Cropper, Piddocke, Green and other families".
In 1871, the Lord of the Manor is recorded as having been T.Boultbee, Esq.
19th- and 20th-century expansion and boundary changes
Population would have grown significantly during the 18th century, when Thringstone and WhitwickWhitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
became concerned with the Framework knitting industry. The work was carried by journeymen to and from the manufacturers in Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
and Shepshed
Shepshed
Shepshed, often known until 1888 as Sheepshed, is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of around 14,000 people...
. In 1844, Thringstone is recorded as having 160 frames.
In 1776, the workhouse at Thringstone was noted as being capable of receiving thirty persons.
The expansion of the local coal mining industry, beginning in the first third of the 19th century, induced still further demographic change and the population had grown from a figure of 901 in 1801 to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% was non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas.
By far the greatest and most radical geographical and social changes to the village came during the 20th century, beginning in the years after the First World War. In April 1936, Thringstone Civil Parish was dissolved and outlying parts of the township were transferred to Belton (68 acres), Coleorton (98 acres), Osgathorpe (482 acres), Swannington (70 acres) and Worthington (12 acres). The remainder of Thringstone (142 acres) was transferred to the Urban District and Civil Parish of Coalville. Additionally, in 1885, the parish had been reduced to enlarge Coleorton Civil Parish with the area known as "Rotten Row".
Thus, the old parish of Thringstone had been a much larger geographical area than that known as Thringstone today, having also included the hamlet of Peggs Green
Peggs Green
Peggs Green is a hamlet within the parish of Coleorton, Leicestershire. For many years it had formed part of the civil parish of Thringstone, until this was dissolved in 1936....
. The village proper that we now refer to simply as 'Thringstone', was at that time referred to as 'South Thringstone', with outlying parts known as 'North Thringstone'. The boundary changes, disolving an ancient manorial division of land, meant that two notable landmarks formerly classed as being in Thringstone ceded to other villages - namely the Stordon Grange moated farmhouse (to Osgathorpe) and the Thringstone Smock Mill (to Swannington, and now known as the Hough Windmill)
Following the Second World War, Thringstone village was extended massively due to homogeneous estate housing developments. The Booth Road area was begun in the forties, followed shortly afterward by the Hensons Lane prefabs. The Woodside Estate was completed in 1964, bringing a large influx of Scottish and Geordie families into the village, who came as a result of northern colliery transfers. This estate is characterised by its Caledonian road-names such as 'Melrose Road' and 'Elgin Walk' ('Shrewsbury Walk' is the anomaly, named in honour of Thringstone's longest serving vicar, who died in 1958). The Carterdale complex was also begun in the sixties and the Glebe Farm estate came in the seventies, with the Springfield development arriving in the eighties.
In effect, Thringstone has become a geographical and political extension of Coalville (within living memory, it had been relatively isolated), though thanks to contiguity with Gracedieu Wood and the preservation of other greenbelt areas, it has managed to retain an individual geographical identity and has not become absorbed into the urban sprawl of Coalville to the same degree as parts of Whitwick, Snibston and Hugglescote.
Character and buildings of interest
A walk along Brook Lane, The Green, Main Street and Lily Bank reveals some pleasing domestic architecture, ranging from the 17th century to present day. One of the oldest properties - The Gables on Main Street is thought to date from the mid-17th century and an extension to the west bears the date, 1682, carved into a stone recess. The Gables is one of several buildings with Grade II listed status. Others are The Old Manor House on Brook Lane (formerly thatched, C17th); Forest View House (adjoining the Rose and Crown public house on The Green, with blind central windows, possibly bricked up to avoid window taxWindow tax
The window tax was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France and Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some houses from the period can be seen to have bricked-up window-spaces , as a result of the tax.-Details:The tax was introduced in England and Wales under...
, three-storeyed, C18th); Saint Andrew's Church, Main Street (by St Aubyn, 1862; the tomb of Charles Booth in the church yard is also a listed monument); Lily Bank Farmhouse (C17th/18th) and Lily Bank Dovecote to the rear (C18th). Some of these, and other houses and buildings of interest in the village, have recently been provided with blue plaques.
Thringstone School
The old schoolhouse on Main Street was built in 1844 on land donated by E.M Green, Esq; a plaque can still be seen above the main entrance reading, 'Fear God Honour The King. South Thringstone National School. AD 1844'. This was a Church of England school until it transferred to Leicestershire County Council in 1950. Few buildings could have had such varied usage as this over the years: the building was originally also used for Anglican services on Sundays, until the parish church of Saint Andrew was opened in 1862. A new county school was built off John Henson's Lane in 1967, at which point the old premises was sold for industrial usage. It served as a small hosiery factory until the 1980s, after which it was converted into a restaurant, operating under a succession of names, including Lal Quila (Indian); La Dolce Vita (Italian) and School Cross (English). For several years now, the building has been used as a residential home for adult individuals with learning disabilities.The Charnwood Forest Canal (Thringstone to Nanpantan)
Small coal workings existed in the area from medieval times, but until the 20th century, the coalfield was hampered in its competition with the DerbyshireDerbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
and Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
fields even for the Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
market owing to poor transport facilities. Toward the end of the 18th century Joseph Boultbee, the tenant of collieries at Thringstone, and others fought to change this and were successful in getting opened the Charnwood Forest Canal
Charnwood Forest Canal
The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation", was opened between Thringstone and Nanpantan, with a further connection to Barrow Hill, near Worthington, in 1794...
between Thringstone and Nanpantan
Nanpantan
Nanpantan is a small village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is located in the south-west of the town of Loughborough, but the village is slightly separated from the main built-up area of Loughborough...
in 1794.
Horse-drawn tramroads were built to transport coal mined at Swannington
Swannington, Leicestershire
Swannington is a former mining village in Leicestershire, England. It was a terminus of the early Leicester and Swannington Railway that was built to carry away its pits' output...
and Coleorton
Coleorton
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles east of Ashby de la Zouch...
to the canal wharf at Thringstone Bridge, and once at the Nanpantan
Nanpantan
Nanpantan is a small village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is located in the south-west of the town of Loughborough, but the village is slightly separated from the main built-up area of Loughborough...
terminus the coal was re-loaded on to a a further stretch of tramroad to take it to the main navigation at Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
. These railroads are said to have been the first in the world to use the standard gauge, and a deep cutting left by one of its branches can still be found in the field at the back of the Glebe Road housing estate in Thringstone.
The cost of three transhipments of coal between trucks and barges meant that the 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...
pits were still unable to compete with their Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
rivals and in February 1799 the canal's feeder reservoir at Blackbrook burst its banks following exceptionally severe frosts, causing much damage to the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
and surrounding countryside.
That proved to be the last straw for the 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...
coal-owners and the getting of coal hereabouts was to remain a modest concern until the arrival of the Leicester and Swannington Railway
Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway was one of England's first railways, being opened on 17 July 1832 to bring coal from collieries in west Leicestershire to Leicester.-Overview:...
some thirty years later.
The expansion of the local coal-mining industry from around 1830 onward had a big impact on population. The population of Thringstone in 1801 was 901. This had grown to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% were non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas. The coal-mining era came to an end in 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...
during the 1980s.
Bauble cottage industry
Thringstone was once the centre of another industry unique to this part of Leicestershire, and which still leaves its mark in the name of 'Bauble Yard'. 'Bauble' was the local term for a variety of alabasterAlabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
ornaments manufactured by John Tugby in around 1850 at Pegg's Green, which was then in Thringstone parish. The alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
came from Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
.
Another bauble firm was Peters and Son, who came to Thringstone from Coleorton
Coleorton
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles east of Ashby de la Zouch...
in 1870 and set up their works in what became the "Bauble Yard". They also kept the Star Inn on Main Street. They made plates, jugs, views, egg-cups and other trinkets which were sold at the local monastery. Others were exported to America and some sold at fairs and at the seaside and the industry flourished for some years. It eventually came to an end around 1900 in the face of cheap imports from the European continent
Saint Andrew's Parish Church
Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 ft and upwards, the area...
stone in the Early English style. The building is from the designs of James Piers St Aubyn
James Piers St Aubyn
James Piers St Aubyn , often referred to as J. P. St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident restorations.-Early life:...
(1815–1895) and has an unusual plan, consisting of a broad nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with shallow transepts and a round-ended sanctuary, with a round-ended vestry on its north side. A small bell-cote containing one small bell sits at the western end of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
roof and a south porch was added in 1911, in memory of the first vicar, Edwin Samuel Crane, MA, designed by Thomas Ignatius McCarthy of Coalville.
The church was paid for by grants and public subscription, zealously elicited by Francis Merewether, MA (Vicar of Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
and Rector of Coleorton
Coleorton
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles east of Ashby de la Zouch...
) and cost £750 12s, building work being undertaken by the firms of Messrs William Beckworth of Whitwick and Elliott of Ashby-de-la-Zouch/Burton. Merewether was a theologian of markedly low church views who preached and wrote prolifically against Ambrose de Lisle's Roman Catholic mission
Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De Lisle
Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps de Lisle was an English Catholic convert. He founded Mount St. Bernard Abbey, a Trappist abbey in Leicestershire and worked for the reconversion or reconciliation of Britain to Catholicism....
and was incensed by such developments as the founding of Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in his parish and the opening of a Roman Catholic day school at Turry Log, within the township of Thringstone, in 1843. There can be little doubt that, quite apart from the rapid population growth that affected the area following the opening of large collieries, Merewether was motivated to build the church (and also a school) to help counteract the perceived papist revival. Merewether - along with Sir G H Beaumont (ninth Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
of Coleorton
Coleorton
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles east of Ashby de la Zouch...
Hall) - was the chief benefactor of Saint Andrew's Church, each donating £100.
Until 1875, the building acted as a chapel of ease to Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
and was served by curates under the jurisdiction of the Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
vicars. Thringstone became an independent ecclesiastical parish on October 29, 1875, since which time there have been eight incumbents. It is interesting to note that, whereas historically, the church at Thringstone came under the cure of the mother church at Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
(retaining the title, Whitwick Saint Andrew-cum-Thringstone until the 1980s), a recent merging of Thringstone with Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
to form a united benefice has resulted in the Vicar of Thringstone (Alan Burgess) also becoming Vicar of Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
.
The church is one of forty-two nationally in the patronage of Her Majesty The Queen (in Right of Her Duchy of Lancaster
Duchy of Lancaster
The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch...
).
The church contains some stained glass by Kempe and Co, including the War Memorial Window, unveiled in 1920 by Lt Col Tom Booth DSO of Gracedieu Manor. This window was originally intended as a personal memorial to Theophilus Jones, the Thringstone headmaster and depicts St Alban (Britain's first Christian martyr). This subject would almost certainly have been chosen to parallel Mr Jones' equally unenviable place in British history: he is commonly believed to have been the first soldier to be killed on home soil during the first world war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, being killed during the German Bombardment of the Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
s, December 16, 1914. [Other sources suggest that he was amongst the first four to be killed during this particular incident]. By the end of the Great War, a further 26 men from the parish had fallen, and it was decided to dedicate the window to their collective memory. The names of the fallen are commemorated on a brass tablet and a second tablet was added in 1948 to commemorate the four men from the parish who lost their lives in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Relatively few men from the Thringstone district enlisted in the armed services during the second world war due the country's need for increased coal production.
Another military hero, Thomas Elsdon Ashford V.C was married in Thringstone Church to Betsy Ann Sisson in 1891. Elsdon had been decorated with Britain's highest military honour following an act of bravery whilst serving as private soldier in the Royal Fusiliers in 1880, during the Afghan War.
In 2003, the building's impressive truss rafter roof was restored to its original appearance, having been substantially boarded over in 1952 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The roof and the building's semi-circular sanctuary combine to afford an extremely attractive interior, whilst externally, the building's simple pointed style and use of local granite is also aesthetically pleasing and the building is perhaps most commonly described as, 'pretty'.
A recent planning application to extend the church on its north side by the addition of kitchen and toilet facilities has been approved by 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 Council. It is hoped that the proposed appendages will be carried out responsibly, keeping apertures in character with the lancet style of the building.
The churchyard contains the graves of at least twenty-three men and boys who lost their lives through accidents in the local coal mining industry. Youngest of these was John Albert Gee (aged 13), who - along with 34 others - lost his life in the Whitwick Colliery Disaster of 1898. Also in the churchyard is the final resting place of the Rt Hon Charles Booth
Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
PC (1840–1916), the philanthropist and pioneer of old age pensions. Mr Booth was a regular worshipper at St Andrews Church and two of his daughters were married here He is buried with his wife, Mary Catherine (1847–1939), who was one of the distinguished Macaulay family and their simple, recumbent marble tombstone carries a beautiful inscription, raised in lead, summarising Booth's work and which is often sought out by visitors. The tomb was designated a listed monument in 2002, along with the church building itself. Elsewhere, a plaque to Booth's memory can be found in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
London. Booth purchased a copy of Holman Hunt's famous painting, The Light of the World and presented it to the cathedral in 1904. Holman Hunt's widow was among hundreds of mourners at Booth's funeral in 1916.
Buried in the graveyard are the first two Vicars of St Andrews Church - Edwin Samuel Crane MA (1845–1907) and his eventual son-in-law, Cheverton Shrewsbury MA (1872–1958), whose combined incumbency spanned a remarkable 81 years.
The large red-brick, six-bedroomed parsonage house (by Henry Robinson of Derby, 1878–79) was demolished in 1999 and the site has since been developed by the Badgers Croft complex, which includes a modern vicarage.
Incumbents of Saint Andrew's, Thringstone
- 1873 - 1907: Edwin Samuel Crane, MA (Mission Curate, 1873–76)
- 1908 - 1954: Cheverton Shrewsbury, MA,Lth
- 1955 - 1960: Lawrence James Chesterman, AKC
- 1961 - 1969: Richard Frederick Willis
- 1969 - 1977: Major Archibald Benjamin Pettit
- 1978 - 1997: Brian Matthews
- 1999 - 2005: Simon Paul Moult, BA,RD
- 2006–Present: Alan James Burgess, RD
Methodism
A primitive methodist chapel was opened on Loughborough Road, near to The Green, in 1863. A contemporary newspaper account of the opening reads, 'the comfort of the worshippers has been taken into account by the introduction of two gas stoves... and the chapel is to be lighted with a handsome gas chandelier of twelve burners'. The erection of the primitive chapel was followed by the opening of a Wesleyan Methodist chapel almost directly opposite in 1872. The two movements were united nationally in 1932, after which time the chapels at Thringstone became known respectively as the Loughborough Road and Main Street Methodist Churches.This arrangement was continued until about 1964, at which point the old Wesleyan chapel was sold off for industrial usage. The Loughborough Road Church was then used by the amalgamated congregations and still exists as the Thringstone Methodist Church. This premises was extended by the addition of a hall and connecting corridor at the rear in 1975. The former Wesleyan chapel was occupied by a number of knitware companies before opening as The Chapel Fitness Centre in 1996
Thringstone House Community Centre
In 1901 Charles Booth purchased an 18th-century farm house on The Green, known as 'Thringstone House', for the purpose of providing local inhabitants with a meeting place for social, recreational and educational activity.This venture, which became known as the 'Thringstone House Club', proved so successful that in 1911, Booth engaged his cousin, the architect Harry Fletcher of London, to add the imposing two-storeyed hall to the rear of the premises and founded The Thringstone Trust, a registered charity, which states that the institute and its grounds shall be used in perpetuity for the benefit of the inhabitants of Thringstone and the surrounding parishes of Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
, Swannington
Swannington, Leicestershire
Swannington is a former mining village in Leicestershire, England. It was a terminus of the early Leicester and Swannington Railway that was built to carry away its pits' output...
, Worthington
Worthington, Leicestershire
Worthington is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, about north of the town of Coalville and a similar distance north-east of the market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The village is about from East Midlands Airport and junction 23a of the M1 motorway where it meets the...
, Osgathorpe
Osgathorpe
Osgathorpe is a small village which lies in a fold of the hills in North West Leicestershire, England, and is about a quarter of a mile the A512 Coalville to Loughborough Road....
, Coleorton
Coleorton
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles east of Ashby de la Zouch...
and Belton
Belton, Leicestershire
Belton, Leicestershire, is a small village in the North West Leicestershire area of England. It lies very close to the town of Shepshed and further afield lies the main town of Charnwood borough, Loughborough...
. Booth bestowed an endowment of £3000 and a further endowment of £400 was later made by Mrs Booth for the women's section.
By 1950, trust monies left by the Booth family were not sufficient for all that was needed in changed times. Moreover, members of the Booth family had moved out of the area and it was impossible for them to maintain an active status as trustees. Thankfully, a way forward was found and the trusteeship of the institute was transferred to the Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by...
. The institute is now known as the Thringstone House Community Centre and a member of the Booth family (James Gore Browne) remains as honorary president of the institute, which proudly lays claim to be the oldest of its kind in the country.
The centre is administered according to the aims and objects of the Thringstone Community Association and has a strong educational focus and a clear sense of having a community development role.
Architecturally, the community centre buildings have a great deal of character, comprising a gabled, white-washed 17th-century farmhouse fronting The Green, with at the rear, a large two-storeyed hall overlooking a rural valley traversed by the Thringstone Brook. The hall carries a louvred ventilation turret on its western gable and this - together with brick buttresses erected to reinforce the north and south walls in the late 20th century - has given the building a distinctly ecclesiastical appearance.
Today, there is a great deal of involvement from local people. It has a bar which is open every evening and provides a setting where people who have been engaging in some activity within the centre can associate at the end of the evening. A warden is employed who has done much to develop the activities which go on within the centre.
The Association has adopted a development plan and is challenging itself to grow and develop still further. It is seeking to respond to the needs of a community that had been hit hard by the gradual closure of the coal pits in the area and which is also seeing some growth as a number of new estates bring younger people to
community.
The Community Centre has a website at:- http://beehive.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=15248
Local government
Thringstone is represented on the North West Leicestershire District Council by David Everitt and Leon Spence, who maintain the village's long tradition of electing Labour candidates. Thringstone is represented at County Council level by Mr Tony Gillard (Conservative), as part of the Whitwick Division. The late Mr Walter Johnson and Mrs Agnes Smith seved as district councillors for Thringstone for many years during the twentieth century; Mr Johnson was the grandfather of current Thringstone Councillor, Leon Spence.The Friends of Thringstone
Thringstone has an active community and environmental group, named "The Friends of Thringstone", whose remit is to improve the village for residents and visitors. The Friends of Thringstone have a website at:- http://www.friends-of-thringstone.org.uk/.Grace Dieu Priory
The ruins of Grace Dieu PrioryGrace Dieu Priory
The Grace Dieu Priory was an Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdon and dissolved in October in 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary.-History:...
stand on the outskirts of Thringstone in a valley bounded by a small brook at the edge of Cademan Wood, part of Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 ft and upwards, the area...
, and situated on the A512 road from Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
to Ashby de la Zouch, 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...
.
The ruins have become renowned as one of the most haunted locations in Leicestershire due to the site's association with a 'White Lady' apparition, most commonly seen drifting across the A512. The most famous sighting is said to have occurred in 1954, when a 'bus driver is said to have stopped to pick up a woman waiting by the shelter opposite the ruins, only to find on drawing up his vehicle that she had vanished. Sightings of unexplained phenomena in this area are well documented and are also referred to in Paul Devereux's book, 'Earth Lights' (1982)
Following its dissolution as a religious house, the priory came into the possession of the Beaumont family, who converted it into a residence, so that the few remaining ruins are partly medieval, but chiefly domestic Tudor (e.g. fire-places and chimney-stacks). Francis Beaumont
Francis Beaumont
Francis Beaumont was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher....
, the great Elizabethan dramatist, was born here in circa 1584. In the 1690s, the priory was acquired by Sir Ambrose Phillipps of Garendon Abbey, though by the 1790s the buildings were ruinous, with only two sections still roofed.
Visit the Grace Dieu Priory website at:- http://www.gracedieupriory.org.uk/
Friends of Thringstone and Whitwick Woods
The village is bordered by the Grace Dieu and Cademan Woods. Grace Dieu Wood is traversed by the redundant track bed of the Charnwood Forest RailwayCharnwood Forest Railway
The Charnwood Forest Railway was a branch line in Leicestershire constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883. The branch line ran from Coalville to the town of Loughborough....
, which also passes over an impressive six arch viaduct near the priory ruins. The woodland is noted for vast carpets of bluebells in spring and the railway was once referred to as 'the bluebell line'.
There is a group of volunteers whose remit is to record flora and fauna, provide education in wood-lore and improve the habitat of the woods from the A512 (Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
to Ashby Road), to Swannymote Road and Loughborough Road, Whitwick
Whitwick
Whitwick is a village in Leicestershire, England and is an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an important manor in the Middle Ages, which once included Bardon and Markfield, parts of Hugglescote, Donington le Heath, Ratby,...
, with kind permission of the owner, Mr P de Lisle. The website is at:- http://beehive.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/thringstone/
Pubs of Thringstone
- The Bull's Head, Ashby Road
- The Fox Inn, Main Street (closed 2008)
- The George and Dragon, Ashby Road
- The Queen's Head, The Green (closed 2008)
- The Rose and Crown, The Green (closed 2009)
- The Star, Main Street (closed 1928)
- The Three Tuns, Main Street (closed 1931)
The village boasted a thriving social life in its public houses - especially at weekends - until the end of the 20th century. A particularly memorable event was New Years's Eve (or Hogmanay
Hogmanay
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner...
) - the spirit of the occasion greatly enhanced by residents of Scottish origin - when (at shortly before midnight) the pubs on the village green emptied for a few minutes as hundreds of people converged in a huge circle on The Green to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' around the kilted figure of piper, Sam Jardine.
However, three public houses - The Fox Inn, The Queens Head and The Rose and Crown have recently closed, such has been the decline in trade. The smoking ban of 2007 and competition from supermarkets have been seen as contributory factors toward the decline.
Notable residents
- Thomas Elsdon AshfordThomas Elsdon AshfordThomas Elsdon Ashford was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, VC - Leicestershire's first recipient of the Victoria Cross, married in St Andrew's Church in 1891 and resident for some time at Brook Lane, Thringstone - Rt Hon Charles BoothCharles Booth (philanthropist)Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
, PC - philanthropist and social reformer, pioneer of old age pensions; resident at Gracedieu Manor (1886–1916) and founder of Thringstone House Community Centre - Adrian Cross - Antarctic Explorer
- John Albert Gee - youngest victim of the Whitwick Colliery Disaster (aged 13 years), April 1898
- Pte Theophilus Jones - Headmaster of Thringstone School: first soldier on active service to be killed on home soil during the Great War, 16.12.1914
- Robert J H Maloney - footballer, Northampton Town (1926–1932)
- Gary McAllisterGary McAllisterGary McAllister MBE is a Scottish former professional footballer.McAllister played primarily as a midfielder, in a successful career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell before moving south of the border to Leicester City at the age of 20...
, MBE - Scotland and Premiership footballer, formerly resident at nearby Gracedieu Warren during the time of his career at Coventry FC - Marlene Reid - pioneer of local voluntary services, commemorated by the Marlene Reid Centre, Coalville, Leicestershire