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Ravenstone

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RAVENSTONE, a parish in the hundreds of West Goscote and Repton, counties Leicester and Derby, 3½ miles S.E. of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, its post town, and 2½ S.W. of the Coalville railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the collieries. There are also some brick-kilns. The parish is intersected by the road from Leicester to Ashby, and the railway from Swannington to Leicester runs about a mile distant from the village.

The surface is undulating, and the soil is a rich sandy loam upon a substratum of coal. The tithes have been commuted for land and a money payment under an Enclosure Act in 1770, and the glebe comprises 165 acres. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £300, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure, with a spired tower containing three bells. The whole edifice has been put in an excellent state of repair.

The parochial charities produce about £881 per annum, chiefly the endowment of Rebecca Wilkins's almshouses, founded in 1712, for 32 single women above the age of 50 years. There is a National school for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Ravenstone Hall and Ravenstone House are the principal residences. Leonard Fosbrooke, Esq., is lord of the manor.”

from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

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Archives & Libraries

The Swadlincote Library is an excellent resource with a Local History section and a Family History section.

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Cemeteries

David KELLY has a photograph of St Michael & All Angels Churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2006.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Whitwick 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.
     
  • These are the Census Piece Numbers where known:
Census
Year
Piece No.
1851H.O. 107 / 2084
1861R.G. 9 / 2271
1871R.G. 10 / 3250 & 3251
1891R.G. 12 / 2512
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church for Ravenstone is dedicated to the Saint Michael and All Angels.
     
  • The church building dates from 1325.
     
  • This chancel was restored in 1884.
     
  • David KELLY has a photograph of St Michael & All Angels Church on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2006.
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1705 and is in very good condition.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Repton.
     
  • The Weslyean Methodists had a chapels built here in 1806.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Whitwick subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
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Description & Travel

"RAVENSTONE, a parish in the hundreds of West Goscote and Repton, counties Leicester and Derby, 3½ miles S.E. of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, its post town, and 2½ S.W. of the Coalville railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the collieries. There are also some brick-kilns. The parish is intersected by the road from Leicester to Ashby, and the railway from Swannington to Leicester runs about a mile distant from the village."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]

See also Ravenstone in Leicester.

Cris SLOAN has a photograph of the elaborate Village Sign on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2007.

You can see pictures of Ravenstone which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

  • The transcription of the section for Ravenstone from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.
     
  • You can also read John Marius WILSON's entry in Vision of Britain from his "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72".
     
  • John BARTHOLOMEW's, "Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)." tells us:

    Ravenstone, vil., Leicestershire, and par., partly also in Derbyshire - par., 1130 ac., pop. 451; vil., 4 miles SE. of Ashby de la Zouch; P.O.; Ravenstone Hall is the seat of the Fosbrooke family.
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History

Nigel ASPDIN has a photograph of the Parish Pinfold on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2009.

  • An archeological excavation in 1981 found a Romano-Bristish settlement just south of the present village.
     
  • 3rd century iron-smelting pits and kilns have also been found in the area.
     
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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK402139 (Lat/Lon: 52.721264, -1.406265), Ravenstone which are provided by:

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Military History

  • There is a cross in the churchyard facing Main Street that was dedicated in late 1920. The cross bears 32 names.
     
  • There are two Commonwealth War Graves in the churchyard. One for WWI and one for WWII.
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Military Records

In the churchyard:

  1. John WATSON, pte. Machine Gun Corps, died 30 November 1918, age 32, husband of Edith Emma WATSON.
     
  2. George Thomas GOUGH, gunner Royal Artillery, died 6 August 1941.
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Names, Geographical

  • The name is derived from the Old Norse Hraefnes, the name of a Saxon invader, and the suffix tun, meaning "Hrafn's farm or village".
     
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Newspapers

Jane TAYLOR in Redcar has this announcement from the Derby Mercury of 31 October, 1804: MARRIED: "On Monday se'nnight, Mr. Wm. QUINNEY, of Ravenstone, in this county, to Mrs H. GODDARDS, of Coventry."

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish on the boundary between Derbyshire and Leicestershire and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was about half in Leicestershire and half in Derbyshire.
     
  • This Derbyshire portion of this parish was in the ancient Repton and Gresley Hundred (or Wapentake).
     
  • Ravenstone was not established as a Civil Parish until December, 1866.
     
  • In March, 1884, the hamlet of Snibstone in Packington, Leicestershire, was transfered to this Civil Parish.
     
  • In April, 1912, this parish was reduced by 34 acres to enlarge Coalville Civil Parish.
     
  • In April, 1936, this parish was reduced by 514 acres to enlarge Coalville Civil Parish.
     
  • You can visit the Parish Council web site to discuss civil or political issues, but they will NOT do family history lookups for you.
     
  • The Civil Parish is administered as part of Derbyshire.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Around 1711, Rebecca and Francis WILKINS established almshouses (sometimes it was refered to as a hospital) for up to 32 poor females above the age of 50 from both Derby and Leicester. A chapel was added in 1784 and four additional buildings in 1860.
     
  • The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1770.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch (LEI) petty session hearings.
     
  • As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Ravenstone became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.
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Schools

Woodstone Community Primary School was formed by combining two local primary schools in Snibston and Ravenstone. The school moved from separate sites to a completely new school site at the south edge of Ravenstone village just before Easter 2006.

Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of the new Woodstone Community School on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2006.