Markfield
Description in 1871:
"MARKFIELD, a village and a parish in Market Bosworth district, Leicestershire. The village stands 3 miles SE of Bardon Hill r. station, and 7.5 NW of Leicester; and has a post office under Leicester. The parish comprises 2,534 acres. Real property, £5,656; of which £432 are in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 1,261; in 1861, 1,391. Houses, 310. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to the Earl of Stamford. Granite is quarried, and stocking-making is carried on. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £500. Patron, the Marquis of Hastings. The church is old, with tower and spire; and was rebuilt and enlarged in 1865. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, a national school built in 1862, and charities £10."
John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72
- Markfield Cemetery opened in 1887 and covered an area of one acre. It is a quarter mile from the village. It was managed by the parish council Burial Board.
- The parish was in the Ibstock sub-district of the Market Bosworth 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 / 2266 & 2280 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2507 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael.
- The church construction date remains unknown, but the church has a spire with 3 bells.
- The church was enlarged and restored in 1865.
- The church seats 327.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1573, but sections are imperfect.
- The church is in the rural deanery of Akeley (southern division).
- The Wesleyan Methodists and the Primitive Methodists each had a chapel here in 1849.
- The Congregationalists had a chapel built here in 1852.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Ibstock sub-district of the Market Bosworth Registration District.
Markfield is a large, scattered village and a parish which lie about 118 miles north of London, 10 miles southeast of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and 8 miles northwest of Leicester city. The parish covers about 3,660 acres.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A50 arterial road from Leicester toward Coalville. You will pass through Markfield before you reach the M1.
- By bus, check the Arriva Bus schedule.
- Most of the people in the parish were frame-work knitters or farmers.
- Much of the land was used for farming.
- There were granite quarries here. Most of the stone was true Syenite.
- The webpage author could find no description of a Hall or Manor House.
- The national grid reference is SK 4810.
- 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 Leicestershire and a modern Civil Parish as well.
- The parish is in the ancient Sparkenhoe Hundred in the mid or western division of the county.
- In March, 1884, the parish gained the Copt Oak portion of Newtwon Linford Civil Parish.
- In March, 1885, the parish was reduced to enlarge Charley Civil Parish.
- In April, 1935, the parish was enlarged by gaining 6 acres from Bardon Civil Parish and 1,447 acres from the abolishment of Stanton Under Bardon Civil Parish, but it was reduced by 74 acres transferred to Groby Civil Parish and 15 acres transferred to Ratby Civil Parish. The parish went from 2,303 acres to 3,663 acres.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Market Bosworth Poorlaw Union.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Leicester petty session hearings.
- In 1875, Elizabeth SMITH left the interest from £100 to be distributed as bread to the poor.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
1,203 |
| 1871 |
1,406 |
| 1881 |
1,605 |
| 1891 |
1,439 |
| 1901 |
1,632 |
| 1911 |
1,757 |
| 1921 |
1,899 |
| 1931 |
1,975 |
| 1951 |
2,760 |
| 1961 |
2,455 |
- A Public Elementary School (National School) and an infants' school were built here in 1862. A new classroom was added in 1908.
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[Last updated: 21-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
