Leicestershire county page

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Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Birstall

Description in 1871:
"BIRSTALL, or Burstall, a chapelry in Belgrave parish, Leicestershire; on the river Soar, 2 miles NW of Sileby r. station, and 3¼ N by E of Leicester. Post town, Belgrave, under Leicester. Acres, 1,260. Real property, £3,862. Pop., 405. Houses, £95. The property is divided among a few. Birstall House is the seat of the Worswicks. The living is a p. curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Belgrave, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church is modern. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels and a national school."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]

Note: There is another Birstall parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire!

Census

• Birstall was in 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:
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint James.
  
  
• Some portions of the church appear to be of Saxon origin.
  
  
• The church was restored and partially rebuilt in 1869.
  
  
• The church seats 250.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1574.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Christianity (or Leicester).
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1869.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
  
  
• Birstall was in the Barrow-on-Soar registration district.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

Birstall is a village, a township and a chapelry, united with Belgrave. This parish has become a growing suburb of Leicester city. As you approach Leicester from the north, this is the last parish you will pass through before entering the city. The parish lies about 3 miles north of Leicester city center. The parish was, historically, about 1,169 acres, but after 1935 it was down to 733 acres.

The village sits on the west bank of the River Soar. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, it is probably easiest to take the A67 motorway north out of Leicester city.
  
  
• Watch for the village sign, which includes a Cedar tree.
  
  

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Manors

• Birstall Hall, standing in 80 acres of well-wooded grounds, was the residence of Joseph Crisp CLARKE, lord of the manor in 1912.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 5808
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was created as a Civil Parish in 1866.
  
  
• The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the mid division of the county.
  
  
• In April, 1935, The parish was reduced in size by about 1/3 to enlarge Leicester parish.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Birstall became part of the Barrow-upon-Soar Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A Public Elementary School was built here in 1860 and enlarged in 1898 to hold 100 children.
  
  

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[Last updated: 20-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]