Whitwick
Description in 1871:
"Whitwick, town, par., and township with ry. Sta., Leicestershire, 5 miles E. of Ashby de la Zouch and 7 SW. of Loughborough - par., 6220 ac., pop. 6536; town and township, 3382 ac., pop. 3881; P.O., T.O. Whitwick dates from a remote period, and has some remains of an ancient castle of the Earls of Lancaster. The church (restored 1840) is a fine old building. The market place is spacious, and has been much improved. The mfr. of hosiery is the principal industry; coal mines are in vicinity. Whitwick township is a local government district."
[John Bartholomew's "Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)"]
- The Whitwick Cemetery, consecrated 24 June 1874, consists of about 4 acres. It was divided into three sections: Church of England, Catholics and Nonconformists. It is under the control of a Joint Burial Committee.
- The parish was in the Whitwick sub-district of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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 Anglican parish church for Whitwick is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
- The first church here was built by the Saxons.
- This current church building was built in the 13th century.
- The church was partially restored in 1848-49.
- The church has a crypt under the chancel.
- The church seats 450.
- In 1835 Ambrose Phillipps-De Lisle founded the modern abbey of Mount Saint Bernard. This is the first abbey built and used since the Reformation.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1601.
- The church is in the South Akeley rural deanery.
- The Catholic Church is dedicated to The Holy Cross and was built here in 1837. The replacement church was built in 1905 with the same dedication.
- The Baptists built a chapel here in 1823.
- There is a chapel each for Wesleyan Methodists, Reformed Methodists and Primitive Methodists.
- The parish was in the Whitwick sub-district of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch registration district.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1937.
Whitwick is a parish, a township and a market town 120 miles north of London, just 13 miles northwest of Leicester city and 5 miles east of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The parish covers 3,220 acres and includes a portion of Charnwood Forest.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A50 west out of Leicester city and turn right at the roundabout just after Coalville.
- The Saxons had a settlement here.
- Whitwick Castle stood on Castle Hill. Only some traces remain of this structure that belonged to the Earls of Leicester.
- In the 1800s the town could boast of several large collieries. The Whitwick Colliery was opened in 1824.
- The national grid reference is SK 4316
- 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.
- This place was an ancient parish in Leicestershire. It was abolished in 1936.
- The town was granted the market dates in 1288.
- The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the mid division of the county.
- The parish initially contained the townships of Whitwick, Swannington and Thringstone.
- In Sept., 1894, this parish was reduced to create Coalville Civil Parish. Whitwick went from 6,220 acres to 3,220.
- In April, 1936, this parish was abolished. One third of the parish went to Charley Civil Parish and two thirds went to enlarge Coalville Civil Parish.
- This place is now under the Coalville Urban District Council.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.
- In 1846, Joseph Almond CROPPER erected some almshouses for the poor on Castle Hill.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1871 |
4,277 |
| 1881 |
3,881 |
| 1891 |
4,564 |
| 1901 |
3,720 |
| 1911 |
4,133 |
| 1921 |
4,516 |
| 1931 |
4,852 |
- A Public Elementary School (National School) was enlarged in 1903 to hold 438 mixed and 250 infant students.
- A Public Elementary School was built by the Catholic Church and designated as Holy Cross School. It was built in 1902 to hold 514 students.
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[Created: 31-July-2009 - Louis R. Mills]
