Swithland

• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the St. Leonard's churchyard Lych Gate on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2007.
   

• Swithland was in the Quordon subdistrict of the Barrow-on-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.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church for Swithland is dedicated to Saint Leonard.
   
• The church was constructed during the 13th century.
   
• The church tower was added in the 18th century.
   
• The church seats 250.
   
• Ashley DACE has a photograph of St. Leonard's Church on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2012.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1676.
   
• The church was in the East Akeley rural deanery.
   
• The Weslyean Methodists had a chapel here built in 1828.
   

• Swithland was in the Quordon subdistrict of the Barrow-on-Soar registration district.
   
• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   

Swithland is a village and a parish 6 miles south of Loughborough, just 3 miles west of Mountsorrel and 8 miles north-west of Leicester city. The parish covers 1,140 acres.

The village stands across a small stream at the east end. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A6 trunk road north out of Leicester city for about 7 miles. Turn west at Rothley and follow the county roads out to Swithland.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Main Street on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2007.
   
• There was never any railway passenger service to Swithland. The nearest passenger terminal was at Rothely.
   
• The local pub, Griffin Inn, has a long history and a website.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

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

• Slate quarrying in the area dates back to Roman times.
   
• A great deal of blue slate was quarried here, but the quarries were abandoned by 1912.
   
• Reservoirs were created here to serve the population of Leicester city.
   
• Robin WEBSTER has a photograph of Swithland Reservoir on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2016.
   
• Swithland was designated a conservation area in 1993.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of The Griffin Inn on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2007. This place had been built in 1700 and was the Griffin Hotel for many decades.
   

• Swithland Hall was the seat of the Earl of Lanesborough. It stands on a hill and affords many nice views of the surrounding territory. The initial building was consumed by fire in 1822. A new Hall was partially completed in 1834 and finished in 1852.
   
• Near the Hall stands an ancient cross which had stood in the market place at Montsorrel.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK549131 (Lat/Lon: 52.712784, -1.188782), Swithland 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 War Memorial cross was dedicated in December 1921, opposite the Leicester Lane junction. The plaque bears 5 names from World War One and one name from World War II.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2007.
   

• This place was an ancient parish in Leicester county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the Northern (or Mid) division of the county.
   
• In Oct., 1912, this Civil Parish was reduced by 5 acres to enlarge Rothley Civil Parish.
   
• In April, 1968, this civil parish gained 12 acres from Newton Linford Civil Parish.
   
• The residents of this parish have decided to forgo a formal Parish Council and, instead, hold periodic Parish Meetings to discuss civic and political issues.
   

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

Year	Inhabitants
1841	306
1871	255
1881	246
1891	213
1901	195
1911	182
1921	190
1931	168

• A Free School was erected here in 1843 for 58 children and supported by the Earl of Lanesborough.