Whetstone

• In April, 1909, the parish formed a cemetery of one acre near the churchyard and placed it under the control of a burial board of the Parish Council.
   
• Steven ROWE has a photograph showing part of the churchyard at St. Peter's Church on Geo-graph, taken in March, 1997.

• 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. Volume 4 covers the Enderby subdistrict.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter.
   
• The church was built around 1335.
   
• The church is in Church Lane (of course!).
   
• The church was thoroughly repaired around 1829.
   
• The church was seriously damaged by the great storm of 24 March, 1895, when a large part of the spire fell through the roof.
   
• The church seats 510.
   
• Steve ROWE has a photograph of St. Peter's Church on the Geo-graph website, taken in March, 1997.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1560.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of Guthlaxton (first portion).
   
• The General Baptists had a chapel here by 1849. This chapel was rebuilt in 1911.
   
• The Congregationalists had a chapel here built in 1858 (sources vary slightly) to replace an earlier place of worship.
   
• Tony GRETT has a photograph of Congregational Hall on King Street on the Geo-graph website, taken in May, 2009.
   

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

Whetstone is a large village, a township, a chapelry and a civil parish 100 miles north of London and about 5.5 miles south of Leicester city. The parish covers 2,031 acres and borders, in part, on the Soar River.

The village has largely become a commuter haven for Leicester city. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A426 arterial road south out of Leicester and through Blaby about 5 miles. A road to the right leads to Whetstone. A short distance to the south, the A426 and the M1 motorway cross.
   
• There is frequent bus service between Whetstone and Leicester.
   
• The railway station here closed about 40 years ago.
   
• For relaxation, contact the Whetstone Golf Club.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

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

• The 1086 Domesday Survey records this place having 24 peasants, 11 villeins, 1 man at arms and a windmill.
   
• In the 1800s and early 1900s, many of the workers in the parish were framework knitters. Farming and shoemaking were other common occupations.
   
• Gasworks were erected in Whetstone in 1866.
   
• Whetstone boasts the site of Sir Frank WHITTLE's factory, where jet engines were developed.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Bulls Head public house on Geo-graph taken in July, 2007.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP557975 (Lat/Lon: 52.572478, -1.179568), Whetstone 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 on High Street was raised in 1922.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the War Memorial on High Street on the Geo-graph website, taken in July, 2007.
   
• J. THOMAS also has a photograph of the War Memorial on the Geo-graph website, taken in September, 2012.
   

For a list of names on the War Memorial, see the Whetstone village site. Unfortunately, at last check, none of the links to individual names were working. Your milage may vary.

• This place was an ancient Chapelry of Leicestershire and a modern Civil Parish as well.
   
• The parish is in the ancient Guthlaxton Hundred in the southern division of the county.
   
• You can contact the Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they do not assist with family history research. They are neither funded nor staffed to provide those services.
   
• 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.
   
• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Leicester petty session hearings.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1841	956
1871	1,080
1881	1,186
1891	1,117
1901	1,113
1911	1,386
1921	1,388
1931	1,403
1961	1,460
2001	~6,000

• The parish had a school for 30 students by 1849.
   
• The school was replaced with a new Public Elementary School in 1910. It could serve over 200 students.