Heather

• The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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 and Volume 7 covers the Measham subdistrict.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church for Heather is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
   
• The church is considered "very old" and has a large tower with 3 bells.  The church was built before 1615.
   
• The church was repaired in 1846.
   
• The churchyard was enlarged in 1886.
   
• The church seats 200.
   
• Tim GLOVER has a photograph of St. John the Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2016.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1619.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of South Akeley.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here prior to 1849.
   
• The Primitive Methodists had a chapel here prior to 1881.
   

• The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
   

Heather is a small village and a parish about 112 miles north of London, 14 miles northwest of Leicester city, just 1 mile west of Ibstock and 5 miles southeast of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The parish covers about 1,031 acres.

The River Sence runs along the east side of the village. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A447 to Ibstock and turn west onto the B586. Follow that for about a half mile to Heather.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Village Sign for you on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2013.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

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

• By the mid-1850s, the local coal mines had been worked out. Most of the inhabitants of this parish were framework knitters or farmers in the latter half of the 1800s.
   
• By 1900 the village had a brickworks and tile company.
   
• The village had a station on the Midland railway in 1881.
   
• The railway station manager in 1912 was Alfred H. TAYLOR.
   
• Visitors to the parish might enjoy the Heather Scarecrow Festival..
   

• There is a Manor House in Heather, but the web page author could find no description of it.
   
• The Manor House incorporates some remains of the Commandery of the Knights' Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem which formerly existed here.
   
• Heather Hall is a handsome structure about 3/4 of a mile outside the village. It was the seat of the GOODE family.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK390108 (Lat/Lon: 52.693656, -1.425133), Heather 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.

There is one Commonwealth War Grave in the parish churchyard from World War Two.

In St. John's Church, there are three metal plaques attached to the organ. The organ itself was dedicated to the men in the parish lost in World War One. The organ was restored in 1969 and rededicated to include the men from World War Two.

The Commonwealth War Grave (data from www.CWGC.org) is:

The village name is pronounced "Heether"

• On 1 April, 1936, the parish was reduced by 11 acres which were ceeded to Ibstock Civil Parish.
   
• The parish was in the ancient Sparkenhoe Hundred in the western division of the county.
   
• You may contact the local Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they will NOT perform family history work for you.
   

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Heather became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.
   
• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch petty session hearings.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1831	449
1841	368
1871	429
1881	447
1891	538
1901	624
1911	702
1921	687
1931	678

• The parish built a Public Elementary School (National School) in 1845. It was enlarged in 1884 and again in 1890 to hold up to 140 children.
   
• Jonathan BILLINGER has a photograph of the Primary School in Heather on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2009.