Billesdon (Billesdon cum Goadby et Rolleston)
Description in 1887:
"Billesdon, par. and township, in S. of co. and 8½ miles SE. of Leicester -- par., 4430 ac., pop. 1010; township, pop. 839; P.O., T.O. Market-day, Friday. Earthenware and hosiery mfrs. are carried on."
John Bartholomew's "Gazetteer of the British Isles," 1887
- A cemetery of one acre was set aside in 1870 and was under the control of the parish council's burial board.
- The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon 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:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2253 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2494 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
- The church was restored in 1865.
- The church seats 400.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1579.
- The Anglican parish was in the rural deanery of Gartree (third portion).
- A General Baptist chapel and a Particular Baptist chapel were both here by 1849.
- A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built here in 1859 and restored in 1892.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon Registration District.
Billesdon is both a village, a township and a parish in a nice valley just east of Leicester city. The parish is 9 miles east of Leicester city on the Uppingham Road and 10 miles north of Market Harborough. The parish covers about 2,160 acres and was primarily pastureland for centuries.
If you are planning a visit:
- There are three springs which rise in the parish. They are known as the Billesdon Brooks.
- By automobile, take the A47 east out of Leicester or west out of Uppingham. The road passes along the north edge of the village.
- Near the village is a mound, thought to be Roman. The encampment area covers about 3 acres.
- Most of the parish land was given over to pasturage.
- The Coplow House sits on a height about a mile north of the village, but was unoccupied in 1912.
- The national grid reference is SK 7102.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- This place was an "ancient parish" in the county of Leicestershire and a modern Civil Parish as well.
- The parish was in the eastern division of the county in the ancient Gartree Hundred (or Wapentake).
- The parish had almshouses for four poor widows.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became the centre of the Billesdon Poorlaw Union.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the East Norton petty sessional hearings.
Population figures after 1835 often include the Poorlaw Union Workhouse staff and inmates.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
713 |
| 1871 |
802 |
| 1881 |
839 |
| 1891 |
754 |
| 1901 |
726 |
| 1911 |
594 |
| 1921 |
514 |
| 1931 |
543 |
| 1951 |
717 |
| 1961 |
727 |
- A Free School was built here in 1650 for 100 children.
Follow this link to find help, report problems or contribute information.
[Last revised: 14-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
