Ragdale (Wreakdale)
Description in 1871:
"RAGDALE, Rakedale, or Wreakdale, a parish in Melton-Mowbray district, Leicester; on the wolds, near the Fosse-way, 2¼ miles N by W of Brooksby r. station, and 6 W by N of Melton-Mowbray. Post-town, Hoby, under Leicester. Acres, 1, 980. Real property, £1,806. Pop., 120. Houses, 21. The manor belongs to the Duchess of Sforza. R. Hall was the seat of Earl Ferrers, and is now a farm-house. The New Hall is the residence of J. Richards, Esq. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £40. Patron, H. Jolliffe, Esq. The church is old, and has a low tower. The churchyard contains a stone cross."
John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72.
- The parish was in the Melton Mowbray sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1935.
- 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 and Volume 24 covers the Melton sub-district which includes Ragdale.
- In 1935, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2301 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2544 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
- The church is built of stone.
- The date of construction is unknown.
- The church was restored in 1874.
- The church seats 100.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1640 (another source gives 1668).
- The church is in the rural deanery of Goscote (second portion).
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Melton Mowbray sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1934.
- In 1934, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
Ragdale is a village and a township, and was a parish, 6 miles west of Melton Mowbray, 12 miles northeast of Leicester city and 114 miles north of London. The parish covered 1,415 acres.
The village sits on the north bank of a feeder stream to the River Wreake. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A607 arterial road west out of Melton Mobray. Turn right at Rotherby and go across the Wreake River into Hoby, then straight on to Ragdale.
- Much of the parish land was used for grazing. Some corn and root crops were grown here.
- Ragdale Old Hall, now a farmhouse, was the property of Major William Philip CANTRELL-HUBBERSTY in 1925 and was formerly the seat of the Earls FERRERS.
- Over the front door are the arms of the SHIRLEY family.
- The national grid reference is SK 6619.
- 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 of the county and a modern Civil Parish as well.
- The parish was in the ancient East Goscote Hundred in the eastern division of the county.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
121 |
| 1861 |
120 |
| 1881 |
102 |
| 1901 |
101 |
| 1921 |
90 |
- There was a Public Elementary School here by 1911, built for 40 students.
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[Last updated: 19-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
