Sileby

The Sileby Library on Cossington Road is a branch of the Leicester County Council Library System. It is open 5 days each week (verify by phone if you are visiting).

• A cemetery of about 2 acres was consecrated here in 1881 and was managed by a Burial Board in the Parish Council.
   
• The cemetery had two mortuary chapels.
   
• The cemetery is managed bu the Sileby Parish Council.
   

• The parish was in the Barrow upon Soar sub-district of the Barrow upon Soar 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 13 covers the Barrow on Soar sub-district.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
   
• The church was built in the reign of King Henry VI (early 14th century).
   
• A large elm tree in the churchyard is reputedly as old as the church.
   
• The church was restored in 1880.
   
• The church seats 420.
   
• The church is a Grade II listed building with British Heritage.
   
• David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of St Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2013.
   
• And David HALLAM-JONES has a 2nd photograph of St Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2016.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1568 for baptisms and burials and 1592 for marriages.
   
• The church was in the rural deanery of Goscote (second portion).
   
• The Catholics had a chapel, dedicated to Saint Gregory, built before 1912.
   
• The General Baptists built a chapel here in 1800.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists and the Primitive Methodists had chapels here prior to 1849.
   
• David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of the former Wesleyan Methodists chapel on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2013. The chapel is now a Community Centre and Sports Hall.
   

• The parish was in the Barrow upon Soar sub-district of the Barrow upon Soar Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
   

Sileby is a town and a parish about 8 miles north of the city of Leicester, 5 miles southeast of Loughborough and 105 miles north of London. The village sits just east of the River Soar on a rivulet that empties into that river. The parish covers about 2,250 acres.

The town was a framework-knitting centre in your ancestors' time. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A46 north out of Leicester. At the roundabout just before Ratcliffe on the Wreake, turn left (west) for Sileby.
   
• The Midland Railway provided daily service to Sileby and had a train station downtown that opened in 1840.
   
• David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of the village sign on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2013.
   
• Mat FASCIONE provides a view of the railway station at Geo-graph, taken in January, 2016.
   
• There is a view of King Street at Geo-graph.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

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

• Tim HEATON has a photograph of the Maltings tower on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2007.
   
• Tim HEATON has a photograph of the Free Trade Inn on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2007. It may be the only remaining thatched roof in the village.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Horse & Trumpet Inn on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2008.
   
• These are the names associated with the Horse and Trumpet in various directories:
   

• J. THOMAS has a photograph of the White Swan public house on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2012.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK606154 (Lat/Lon: 52.732862, -1.104298), Sileby 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.

• A War Memorial was erected in 1920 at Sileby Memorial Park on Seagrave Road. It is a stone cenotaph on a pedestal about 4 metres high with the names from both World War I and World War II on slate plaques.
   
• There is a photo of the War Memorial online, along with the names of the fallen.
   
• The War Memorial is a Grade II protected structure with English Heritge.
   

There are eight Commonwealth War Graves in the churchyard.

• This place was an ancient parish in Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient East Goscote Hundred in the northern division of the county.
   
• You can contact The Sileby Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they will not assist with family history questions or lookups.
   
• District governance is provided by the Charnwood Borough Council.
   

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Loughborough petty session hearings.
   
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Barrow-upon-Soar Poorlaw Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1841	1,473
1871	1,766
1881	2,033
1891	2,380
1901	2,752
1911	3,082
1921	3,202
1931	3,598
1951	4,236

• The parish had a small Free School in 1849 for the education of six poor boys, It was conducted in the tower of the church.
   
• A National School (Public Elementary) was built (and opened) in February, 1860, to hold 220 children. It was enlarged in 1877.
   
• An infant school was built in 1874 to hold 100 children. This was enlarged in 1888 to hold 132 children.
   
• In 1880 new schools (Public Elementary) were built to augment the above schools. They could hold 400 children.
   
• Ratcliffe College on the east side of the parish is an HMC, co-educational Catholic independent school.