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Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Measham

Description in 1871:
"MEASHAM, a village, a township, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district of Ashby-de-le-Zouch, and county of Derby. The village stands on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, near the river Mease and the boundary with Leicestershire, 3½ miles SW by S of Ashby-de-la-Zouch r. station; and has a post office under Atherstone. -The township comprises 1,490 acres. Real property, £6,301. Pop., 1,569. Houses, 337. The parish contains also parts of the hamlets of Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe. Real property, with the rest of Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe, £8,624. Pop., 1,639. Houses, 348. The property is divided among a few. Measham Hall is the seat of W. Abney, Esq.
The manufacture of silk fabrics and small ware is largely carried on; and there are a steam-boiler and chain manufactory, and a small brewery. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £97. Patron, the Marquis of Hastings. The church is good; and there are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, a large national school, and charities £325. -The sub-district contains only the Measham township portion of the parish, but contains also three entire parishes and part of another electorally in Leicestershire, and another parish partly in Derby and partly in Leicester. Acres, 9,457. Pop. 4,109. Houses, 917."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales", 1870-72]

Census

• The parish was in the the Whitwick subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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 for Measham is dedicated to the Holy Rood.
  
  
• The church building apparently dates from at least 1220.
  
  
• This chancel was restored in 1908.
  
  
• The church seats 300.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1683 for baptisms and 1677 for burials.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Akeley (western division).
  
  
• The Weslyean Methodists had a chapel built here in 1906.
  
  
• The Baptists had a chapel built here before 1912.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the the Whitwick subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch district.
  
  
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

Measham is a village and a parish 17 miles north-west of Leicester and 1.5 miles south of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, near the Staffordshire and Derbyshire border. The parish covers 1,909 acres, but had covered 2.396 acres in 1891.

The village is in a fertile valley on a stream, the River Mease, that feeds into the Soar River. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, pick up the A512 just east of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and head toward Loughborough. After you cross the A447, Measham is just off to the left.
  
  
• Alternatively, take the A42 south out of Ashby-de-la-ZAouch. The villae is within the National Forest.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 3614
  
  
• 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.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• Measham was not established as a Civil Parish until 1866.
  
  
• The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the southern division of the county.
  
  
• The parish was mostly in Leicestershire and partly in Derbyshire.
  
  
• In March, 1884, this parish was reduced in size to enlarge Ravenstone parish with the hamlet of Snibstone.
  
  
• In April, 1936, this parish was reduced by 487 acres to enlarge Ashby de la Zouch.
  
  
• You can visit the Parish Council web site, but they will NOT do family history lookups for you.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Measham became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A Public Elementary School (National School) was built here in 1893 to hold 130 students.
  
  

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Last updated: 5-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]