Braunstone

The Braunstone Town Library at the Civic Centre, Kingsway, is a branch of the Leicester County Council Library System. It is open 6 days each week (verify by phone if you are visiting).

Tony ELLIS has a photograph of the Braunstone Town Library (on the right) in this photograph on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2008.

You may find the Library at nearby Leicester city more advantageous. It has a Family History and Local History section to assist you.

Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of a portion of St. Peter's churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2017.

• The parish was in the Enderby sub-district of the Blaby Registration District.
   
• The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

Census Year	Piece No.
1841	H.O. 107 / 600
1861	R.G. 9 / 2258
1871	R.G. 10 / 3234
1891	R.G. 12 / 2501

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
   
• Although an earlier church existed here in 1168, the current church building was built in the 12th or 13th century. This church was dedicated to Saint Peter.
   
• The church tower was repaired in 1704.
   
• The church was restored in 1876 and again in 1885.
   
• The church seats 120.
   
• A new Church was required as the town grew. Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of St. Crispin's Church on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2017.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1561.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of Guthlaxton (first portion).
   
• The Society of Genealogists holds copies of parish registers including marriages from 1561 - 1837 which can be studied at their library in London.
   
• The original records are held at The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of Braunstone Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2017.
   

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Enderby sub-district of the Blaby Registration District.
   

Braunstone is a village, a township and a parish (and was a Chapelry) which lie about 2 miles southwest of Leicester. The parish covers about 1,013 acres and is bounded on the east by the Soar River and on the north by the Borough of Leicester.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, Braunstone lies just north of the M69 motorway about 7 miles outside of Leicester city.
   
• Bus passenger service is provided by Arriva Bus Lines.
   
• Read about the Braunstone Wood at the Woodland Trust site.
   
• Be sure to visit the Braunstone village website.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Braunstone to another place.

• Braunstone was established in the late 8th or early 9th Century at the southern edge of Leicester Forest.
   
• Braunstone was given by William the Conquerer to Hugh de Grantemesnil. The village consisted of 8 households and was worth about 60 shillings.
   
• In 1596 over 240 acres of land was converted to pasture.
   
• The parish saw an incredible growth after World War One as much land was converted to housing.
   
• Alex McGREGOR has a photograph of The Shakespeare Inn on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2014.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of The Winstanley Arms on Geo-graph, taken in y, 2007.
   

• Braunstone Manor was built in approximately 1480 and is thought to have stood south of Braunstone Lane, close to the site of Old Hall Farm that was demolished in 1967.
   
• After World War One, the British government forced the sale of many manorial lands. By November/December 1925 Major Winstanley had agreed to sell the Mansion House and Parklands and Plantations known as Braunstone Hall, as well as farmhouses, messages tenements buildings and cottages together with closes or parcels of land, plantations and allotments. The purchase price was £116,500.
   
• The land surrounding Braunstone Hall was opened as a public park in the early 1930s. In 1932 Braunstone Hall opened as a 'Senior School'. However as younger families moved into the new housing estate the need for a Junior School was more essential and in 1933 The Braunstone Hall Junior School was opened. It served the community as a school until it was closed in 1996.
   
• Braunstone Hall was the seat of the WANSTANLEY family for many generations. It was held by the POCHIN family in 1881, but a WANSTANLEY held the manor in 1912.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK550020 (Lat/Lon: 52.612999, -1.18915), Braunstone which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• The Local Home Guard was based in Braunstone Hall, the park keeper being amongst their detachment. Mr. D. C. HAMILTON remembers being on sentry duty when a land mine was dropped and exploded on the park. The park keeper was on duty at the time of the incident and was duly dispatched to locate the mine, which he did when he fell into the crater in the black of night!
   
• Between 1943 and 1945 the 168 Battery of the Royal Artillery and the 52nd/53rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery were stationed on the park. The 53rd Regiment came home from active service in Italy in June 1945.
   
• On 14 February 1944, the American 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Braunstone. Major General Mathew B. RIDGEWAY was their Divisional Commander. Victoria Park was the major camp in Leicester with the Divisional Headquarters on Braunstone Park. The War Room was set up and staffed twenty four hours a day. The Nissen huts, erected in advance of their arrival, were to be their home for the coming months.
   

• The name "Brantestone" or "Brant's Tun" is found in the 1086 Domesday Book.
   

• This place was an ancient Chapelry in Leicestershire. In late 1866, as many areas were turned into civil parishes, Braunstone became a Civil Parish, also.
   
• The parish is in the ancient Sparkenhoe Hundred in the southern division of the county.
   
• In 1881, the parish covered 1,489 acres. After the two changes below, it shrank to 1,013 acres.
   
• In April, 1935, the parish was reduced by 750 acres to enlarge Leicester Civil Parish.
   
• On that same date, the parish was enlarged by 274 acres by gaining part of Lubbesthorpe Civil Parish.
   
• You can contact the local Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to assist you with family history research.
   
• District governance is provided by the Blaby District Council.
   

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Blaby Poorlaw Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1841	195
1871	215
1881	193
1891	169
1901	143
1911	125
1921	238
1931	6,997
1951	8,986
1961	13,174

• Captain Ralph G. POCHIN built a National School here in 1868.