Castle Donington
Description in 1871:
"CASTLE-DONINGTON, a town, a parish, and a subdistrict in the district of Shardlow, and county of Leicester. The town stands near the river Trent, 3¼ miles W of Kegworth r. station, and 7½ NW by N of Loughborough. It was known at Domesday as Dunitone; it takes the first part of its present name from an old castle, now a fragment, said to have belonged to John of Gaunt; and it contains vestiges of a monastery, founded in the time of Henry II. It has a church, four dissenting chapels, a large handsome parochial school, a post office under Derby, and two chief inns. The church is very old; has a large chancel, with fine east window, and a handsome spire, 180 feet high; and contains a double canopied brass of 1458, and some old effigies. A weekly market is held on Saturday: and fairs on 18th March and 29 Sept. Several departments of manufacture are carried on. Pop., 2,291. Houses, 561. The parish comprises 4,250 acres. Real property, £12,856. Pop., 2,445. Houses, 617. The property is subdivided. The manor belonged formerly to the Plantagenets and the Huntingdons; and belongs now to the Marquis of Hastings. Donington Park, the seat of the Marquis, a mile west of the town, is a grand edifice, in a mixed style of pointed and Tudor, by Wilkins; has picturesque grounds of 350 acres; and contains an extensive library and a large collection of valuable paintings. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £223. Patron, the Marquis of Hastings. The subdistrict contains six parishes and an extra-parochial tract. Acres, 13,355. Pop., 5,775. Houses, 1,385."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]
- A Burial Board was established in 1877, but the cemetery had not opened by 1881. In 1894 its duties were transfered to the Parish Council. A burial ground of 2.5 acres was obtained in 1881 to the north-east of the town.
- The parish was in the Castle Donington subdistrict of the Shardlow 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 / 2487 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2719 |
- During the reign of Henry II, a monestery (and hospital) was founded here and dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Edward King & Martyr. However Directories of the 1800s and early 1900s list the dedication as being to Saint Luke.
- The church is very old but the construction date is uncertain. One reported date is about 1278.
- The church was restored and reopened in 1877.
- The church seats 600.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1539 and is in good condition.
- TheLondon Family History Centre has the Bishop's Transcript on microfilm for 1563-1865.
- The church was in the rural deanery of West Akeley.
- The General Baptists' chapel was built here in 1774. Baptist records are available starting in 1785. The Baptist church is still functioning in Castle Donington, meeting in the Orchard Primary School.
- The Weslayan Methodists, the Independents and the Society of Friends (Quakers) each had a chapel here by 1849.
- The Society of Friends (Quakers) chapel is now a private residence.
- A new Weslayan Methodist chapel was built in 1905 to replace the earlier chapel. The Methodists have had a strong presence in Donington 'til the present day. Wesleyan records exist from 1824 thru 1837. There is more at C. D> Mehtodist Church.
- The Roman Catholic Church of the Risen Lord in Castle Donington is relatively new. It began as a wooden hut purchased in 1935. In the 1980s the congregation decided to build a proper church and the new building was opened in November, 1992.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Castle Donington subdistrict of the Shardlow registration district.
Castle Donington is a market-town and a parish which sits on the south side of the River Trent, which seperates it from Derbyshire. The parish lies 9 miles south-east from Derby, 9.5 miles north-east of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 13 miles south-west of Nottingham and 123 miles north of London. The parish is just north-west of the East Midlands Airport. The parish covers about 3,425 acres these days.
If you are planning a visit:
- Nearly two miles north of town is Cavendish Bridge, split by the River Trent with a part in both counties. It served as a wharfing place on the river for this town.
- By automobile, take the M1 motorway to Kegworth where it crosses the A6 trunk road. Take the A6 west to the B6003 arterial and turn south to Castle Donnington.
- A railway line runs past Castle Donington from Nottingham to Stoke-on-Trent. The webpage author has no report of passenger service however.
- There is a Leicestershire Village website with photographs.
- In the mid-1800s, the remains of an old castle stood on a low hill. The castle is reported to have belonged to John of Gaunt.
- In the 1800s many of the residents of this town were employed as basket makers, frame-work knitters, stocking makers and in lace embroidery. Others worked the malthouses, the paper mill, the corn mill, the plaster mill, the tan yards or the brick fields.
- Donington Park was the seat of the Marquis of Hastings. The Hall is built of stone and was erected in 1795.
- The national grid reference is SK 4427
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- There is a photograph of the War Memorial on High Street onFlickr. Erected in 1921, the memorial is Grade II listed with British Heritage.
- This place was listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Dunitone".
- "Castle" is a later addition, but the precise date is uncertain.
- The name is often found with a "double-N" as in Donnington, but the official name is "Castle Donington".
- This place was an ancient parish of Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the western division of the ancient Goscote Hundred in the western division of the county.
- On 1 April, 1936, the parish was reduced by 414 acres to create Isley cum Langley Civil Parish to the south.
- On 1 April, 1965, the parish border was altered by losing 1 acre to Melbourne parish and gaining a section of 15 acres from that same parish. Melbourne is in Derbyshire.
- On that same date, the parish swapped a 1 acre parcel for another 1 acre acre parcel in Shardlow and Great Wilne parish in Derbyshire.
- And finally, on that same date, the parish gained a 1 acre parcel from Weston upon Trent Civil Parish, Derbyshire.
- You may contact the Parish Council regarding civic or political matters, but they are NOT staffed or funded to assist you with family research.
- District governance is provbided by the North West Leicestershire District Council.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Castle Donningtonn became part of the Shardlow Poorlaw Union.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Loughborough petty sessional hearings.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
3,508 |
| 1861 |
2,445 |
| 1871 |
2,512 |
| 1881 |
2,662 |
| 1891 |
2,591 |
| 1901 |
2,514 |
| 1911 |
2,529 |
| 1921 |
2,736 |
| 1931 |
2,674 |
| 1951 |
3,140 |
| 1961 |
3,563 |
- Thomas HESLIRIGE founded a grammar school here in 1509. The grammar school does not now exist.
- A Parochial School was built here in 1855 to hold 200 children. It was enlrged in 1871 to hold 370 children.
- This town had several boarding schools in the 1800s.
- Cavendish Bridge had a small school built in 1859. This school was disused by 1911.
- A Council School (mixed) was built here in 1910 to hold 320 children.
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[Last updated: 12-May-2012 - Louis R. Mills]
