Leicestershire county page

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Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Ratby

Description in 1881:
"Ratby is a parish, township, and large, irregularly built village and station on tbe Leicester and Swannington railway, in the Southern division of the county, Sparkenhoe hundred, union of Market Bosworth, county court district of Leicester, rural deanery of Guthlaxton first portion, archdeaconry of Leicester and diocese of Peterborough, 5 miles west-by-north from Leicester and about 8 north-east from Market Bosworth. The church of SS. Philip and James is a large and handsome Early Decorated building, consisting of chancel, nave, and south aisle, with a massive square tower containing 4 bells, and is now (1881) undergoing restoration. The register dates from the year 1745, The living is .a vicarage, with the chapelry of Groby annexed, joint yearly value £420, in the gift of the Earl of Stamford and Warrijngton and held by the Rev. Robert Trousdale B.A. of St.John's College, Cambridge; the Rev. Adrian Gustavus Devereux-Quicke B.A. of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, is curate in charge. Here is a chapel for Primitive Methodists. The poor are benefited by charities of about £30 annual value, left by Manfrid Sacheverell in 1615. The chief occupation is frame-work knitting. About a mile west of the village, on a farm called Old Hays, is a Roman encampment, and near it a spring, called Holywell. The principal landowners are the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, who is lord of the manor, and Admiral Hallows.
The soil is strong marl; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 4,205 acres; rateabIe value, £8,264; the population in 1881 was 1,615.

Botcheston, a hamlet in the parish of Ratby, and couuty court district of Market Bosworth, lies about 7 miles west from Leicester, on the north aide of the Leicester and Swannington railway.

Newtown Unthank is a hamlet, in the county court district of Leicester, situated on the north side of the Leicester and Swannington railway, about 6 ½ miles west from Leicester, George Fowler Brown esq. is principal landowner.

Groby hamlet will be found under a separate heading."
["Post Office Directory, Leicestershire and Rutland," 1881]

Census

• The parish was in the Market Bosworth sub-district of the Market Bosworth Registration District.
  
  
• The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. Volume 2 includes Ratby which has been published on microfiche only.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church was dedicated to Saint Philip and Saint James.
  
  
• The church was thoroughly restored in 1879-81.
  
  
• Further restoration occured in 1888.
  
  
• The clock was added to the tower in 1914.
  
  
• The church seats 500.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1745 (although some sources cite 1624).
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Guthlaxton (first portion).
  
  
• The Primitive Methodists had a chapel here by 1881.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Market Bosworth sub-district of the Market Bosworth Registration District.
  
  
• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

Ratby is a village, a township and a parish standing on a rise 8 miles west of Leicester, 5 miles east of Market Bosworth, 5 miles west-by-north of Leicester and 8 miles north-east of Market Bosworth. The parish covers 3,065 acres and includes the hamlets of Botcheston, Newton Unthank, and Groby. Newton Unthank was also known as Newtown Unthank.

The land around the village has been mostly pasture for centuries. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, the A1 runs throught the northeast portion or Ratby just west of Leicester city.
  
  

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History

• This parish features two Roman sites. One is a small encampment or burial place and the other appears to be a Roman station. The burial field is thought to pre-date the Romans by about 900 years.
  
  
• This parish is presumed to be the site of the Roman station called "Ratae".
  
  
• In the 1800s and early 1900 hundreds, many of the villagers worked the coal seams in Groby or at Desford colliery or at the hosiery factories in Leicester.
  
  

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Manors

• The webpage author could find no mention of a Manor house or Hall.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 5105.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• Ratby was an ancient parish in Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• The parish lies in the Sparkenhoe Hundred (Wapentake) in the Mid division of the county.
  
  
• On 1 April, 1896, Groby was created as a separate Civil Parish.
  
  
• On 1 October, 1904, a portion of Kirby Muxloe was added to this Civil Parish.
  
  
• On 1 April, 1935, this parish was enlarged by 15 acres gained from Markfield Civil Parish.
  
  
• On 1 April, 1936, this parish gave up 917 acres to Desford Civil Parish.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• In 1615 Manfride SACHEVERELL left land and money for the poor.
  
  
• 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 sessional hearings.
  
  

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Population

Year	Inhabitants
1841	1,274
1871	1,289
1881	1,615
1891	2,201
1901	1,803
1911	2,112
1921	2,205

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Schools

• The Desford Industrial School was located in Botcheston hamlet, built some time before 1881. The school was under the control of the Leicester Borough Council.
  
  
• A Public Elementary School was built in 1873 and enlarged in 1906 to hold 285 mixed students and 194 infants.
  
  
• A Public Elementary School was built in 1906 in Botcheston. It could hold 80 students.
  
  

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