Sheepshed (Shepshed or Shepeshead)
Description in 1871:
"SHEEPSHED, a village and a parish in Loughborough district, Leicester. The village stands on an affluent of the river Soar, within the N E side of Charnwood forest, 4½ miles W of Loughborough r. station; and has a post-office under Loughborough, and an old cross. The parish comprises 5,280 acres. Real property, £10, 556. Pop. in 1851, 3,759; in 1861, 3,626. Houses, 788. The manor belonged formerly to the Gordons, and belongs now to A. L. M. De Lisle, Esq. The surface is partly hilly, rising toward the mountainous ground of High Peak; and includes Beacon hill and Bardon hill, which commandvery extensive views. Framework-knitting, glove-making, needle-making, and granite-working are carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £391. Patron, A. L. M. De Lisle, Esq. The church is old, and has a tower and spire. There are chapels for Particular Baptists, General Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics, a national school, and some charities."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-1872]
- The cemetery was formed in 1876 and covered 2.5 acres. It was under the control of the Parish Council's Burial Committee. Records are kept in the Council Offices at 47a Charnwood Road, Shepshed (01509 508872).
- The parish was in the Loughborough sub-district of the Loughborough 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 / 2276 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2516 & 2517 |
- A Cistercian House or Abbey was built here in 1133 and survived past 1536.
- The Anglican parish church was dedicated to Saint Botolph.
- The church was built approximately in the 11th century.
- The church was thoroughly restored in 1844.
- The church seats 800.
- Near the church, in the centre of the street, stands an ancient cross on a graduated base of five steps.
- The Anglican parish parish register dates from 1538 and is in good condition.
- The church is in the rural deanery of East Akeley (after 1910, South Akeley).
- The Roman Catholic chapel was consecrated to Saint Winefride in 1842.
- The General Baptist chapel in Charnwood road was built in 1689 and rebuilt in 1833.
- The Particular Baptist chapel was built before 1848.
- The Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Field street was built in 1878.
- The Primitive Methodists chapel was built before 1881.
- The parish was in the Loughborough sub-district of the Loughborough Registration District.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
Sheepshed is a village and a parish about 119 miles north of London. The Blackbrook Reservoir is just to the southwest. The parish lies 4 miles northwest of Loughborough.
Charley and Sherman's Grounds are both extra-parochial districts in or adjacent to the parish. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, Shepshed is on the road between Loughborough and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
- There is an active Village website you can visit for more information.
- This place was once mostly pasture and small farms.
- There is evidence that a weekly wool market was heald at least until the 14th century.
- The Charnwood Navigation Canal was opened to this place in 1798 but proved a poor economic venture and closed in 1804.
- In the 1800s and early 1900s, most inhabitants of the parish were frame-work knitters.
- In 1858 the streets were lighted by gas from a local company.
- The Charnwood Forest Railway opened here in 1881 but ceased passenger service in 1931 and freight service in 1963.
- Garendon Hall was built on the site of the old Cistercian Abbey, but has since been demolished.
- The national grid reference is SK 4718
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- In the Domesday Book of 1066, the name is rendered as "Scepeshelde Regis" which means "place where sheeps graze."
- The name Shepshed is the preferred rendering adopted in 1888, although the "Sheepshed" form is also accepted and used on many maps and other documents.
- This place was an ancient parish in Leicester county. It became a Civil Parish when these were established.
- The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the northern division of the county.
- On 25 March, 1891, the parish was enlarged by gaining a detached part of Garendon Civil Parish.
- On 1 April, 1935, the parish was reduced by 600 acres which went to Loughborough Civil Parish.
- On 1 April, 1936, the parish was enlarged by 419 acres when the Garendon Extra-parochial area was abolished. 8 acres were also granted from the abolishment of Hathern Civil Parish, but 773 acres went to Long Whatton Civil Parish. This brought the parish to 4,479 acres.
- In 1808, Charnwood Forest, mostly to the south of this parish, was enclosed by Act of Parliament.
- Local politics and neighborhood issues are now handled by the Shepshed Town Council. To see more visit the Village website. Remember, though, that they do not have the resources to help with family history research.
- The Common Lands were enclosed here in four phases from the 1400s through the 1800s.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Loughborough Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
3,872 |
| 1851 |
3,759 |
| 1861 |
3,626 |
| 1871 |
3,784 |
| 1881 |
4,437 |
| 1891 |
4,416 |
| 1901 |
5,293 |
| 1911 |
5,542 |
| 1921 |
5,533 |
| 1931 |
5,758 |
- A Public Elementary School (National School) was built here before 1848.
- The Local History Society meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the Glenmore Community Centre on Thorpe Road at 7pm.
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Last updated: 21-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills
