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Glenfield

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Description in 1871:
"GLENFIELD, a township and a parish in Blaby district, Leicestershire. The township lies on an affluent of the river Soar, and on the Leicester and Swannington railway, near Kirby-Muxloe station, 3½ miles WNW of Leicester; and has a post office under Leicester. Real property, £2,121. Pop., 522. Houses, 119. The parish contains also the chapelries of Braunstone and Kirby-Muxloe. Acres, 4, 890. Real property, £10,007. Pop., 1,034. Houses, 225. The property is not much divided. A number of the inhabitants are stocking-makers. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacies of Braunstone and Kirby-Muxloe, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £818. Patron, R. G. Pochin, Esq. The church is old but good, with a tower; and contains sedilia and a piscina. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a national school."
[John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]

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Archives & Libraries

Alex MacGREGOR has a photograph of the Glenfield Library in Station Road on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2011.

The Glenfield Library is normally open five days a week. They have a Family History section to assist you with your search.

The Kirby Muxloe Library in Station Road is a branch of the Leicester County Council Library System. It is open 5 days each week (verify by phone if you are visiting) but does not have staff trained in Family History research. For that, you would be better served by theGlenfield Library or the Leicester Library.

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Cemeteries

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Census

  • The parish was in the Enderby subdistrict in 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.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 600
1861R.G. 9 / 2258
1871R.G. 10 / 3234
1891R.G. 12 / 2501
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Peter.
     
  • The church was built in 1877 of granite and replaced an older structure nearby.
     
  • The original church was built in the 15th century but was in decay by 1911.
     
  • The church seats 260.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of St. Peter's Church on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2016.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1597 and is in fair condition.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Guthlaxton (first portion).
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1821.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Enderby subdistrict in the Blaby Registration District.
     

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Description & Travel

Glenfield is a village, a township and a parish which are about 3.5 miles west-north-west of Leicester city, and 108 miles north of London. The village is part of the conurbation of Leicester city. The parish covers 772 acres. Glenfield Frith and Kirby Frith are both extraparocial liberties connected with the parish. Glenfield Frith became its own parish around 1870 as did Kirby Frith.

If you are planning a visit:

  • Kirby Muxloe was a chapelry in Liecester Forest East prior to 1890.
     
  • By automobile, take the A50 arterial north-west out of the heart of Leicester. After about 2 miles, you will see signs to turn off for Glenfield.
     
  • Glenfield used to have rail passenger service, starting in 1832, but the station is now closed.
     
  • Ashley DACE has a photograph of the Leicester and Swannington Railway footpath on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2012.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Village Sign on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2016.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE also has a photograph of a number of shops along Faire Road on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2017.
     
  • Jim BARTON has a photograph of The Square in Glenfield on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2019. It is actually a tri-angle formed by the road junction.
     
You can see pictures of Glenfield which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • The village is recorded in the 1066 Domesday Book, but was greatly enlarged in the 1920s-60s. Several large housing estates have been built in recent years, furthering the growth.
     
  • The railways came to Glenfield in July, 1832, with a station built for the world's third steam railway, the Leicester and Swannington Railway.
     
  • The railways came to Glenfield in July, 1832, with a station built for the world's third steam railway, the Leicester and Swannington Railway.
     
  • "The Bitterman" has a photograph of the Railway Hotel and Inn on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2010.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Forge Inn on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2016.
     
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Manors

  • Frith Hall was the residence of Isaac HODGSON in 1849.
     
  • Glenfield Frith Hall was the seat of Sir Samuel FAIRE in 1911. The web page author is not certain if this is the same hall as mentioned above.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK539062 (Lat/Lon: 52.650562, -1.20472), Glenfield which are provided by:

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Military History

  • The village/chapelry of Kirby Muxloe in this parish was considered "the most bombed village" in England during World War II. See the Memoirs page for for more on this 1940 experience.
     
  • In 1921 a military memorial cross was erected near the church to commemorate the men who died in the Great War.
     
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Military Records

  • We are waiting for a list of names from the monument.
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Newspapers

Glenfield has its own newspaper, the Glenfield Gazette.

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish of Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the Sparkenhoe Hundred (Wapentake) in the southern division of the county.
     
  • On 1 April, 1935, this parish was abolished to create Glenfields Civil Parish (note the trailing "s"). This was a merging of Glenfield with Glenfield Frith Civil Parishes.
     
  • You can check out the Glenfield Parish Council page for local politics, but they do NOT do family history research for you. They have neither the staff nor the funding.
     
  • The Leicester County office building is in this parish.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Leicestershire County Council offices on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2014.
     
  • Colin HOSKINS also has a photograph of the Leicestershire County Council offices on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2009.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • As a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Blaby Poorlaw Union.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Leicester petty session hearings.
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Population

YearInhabitants
1841511
1871553
1881632
1891734
1901997
19111,105
19211,121
19311,590
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Schools

  • A National School was built here in 1831 by Thomas H. PARES.
     
  • The parish also had an infant school built before 1881. The infants' school was enlarged in 1895 to hold 80 children.