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Stretton Parva

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Description in 1871:
"STRETTON-PARVA, a chapelry in Kings Norton parish, Leicestershire; 3 miles N by E of Glenn r. station, and 5¾ SE of Leicester. Post town, Leicester. Real property, £1,196. Pop., 83. Houses, 19. The living is annexed to Kings-Norton."
John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72

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Census

  • The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon 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.
1851H.O. 107 / 590
1861R.G. 9 / 2254
1871R.G. 10 / 3228
1891R.G. 12 / 2495
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
     
  • For Anglicans, the church parish has long been a dependent chapelry of King's Norton, even though the village has often been larger than King's Norton village.
     
  • The church is a small, ancient stone building.
     
  • The church was restored in 1899.
     
  • The church seats 60.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1600.
     
  • In the Library at Oadby there are copies of the parish register for Little Stretton.
     
  • The parish was in the rural deanery of Gartree (third portion).
     
  • A non-denominal chapel was built here in 1811.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon Registration District.
     
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Description & Travel

Little Sretton is a small village, a township and a parish ion the old Gartree Road just 6 miles south-east of Leicester city, 10 miles north-west of Market Harborough and 104 miles north of London. The parish covers 704 acres and was partly pasture and partly farmland for centuries.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the A6 south-east out of Leicester through WIgston. You will need to turn north (left) at Newton Harcourt.
     
  • The Gartree Road that runs through the village is the old Roman Road. It gives its name, "Stretton," to the village.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of Little Stretton on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2011.
     
  • Mat FASCIONE has a photograph for the Are we There Yet? crowd on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2007.
     
You can see pictures of Stretton Parva which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • Near the village is a mound, thought to be Roman. The encampment area covers about 3 acres.
     
  • The 1086 Domesday Book entry does not distinguish between Great and Little Stretton. However, by the late 12th century Little Stretton had become a separate township.
     
  • A windmill in Little Stretton is first mentioned in 1314. It was still here in 1445.
     
  • Most of the parish land was given over to pasturage.
     
  • On July 5, 1919, an illiterate agricultural laborer named Annie Bella WRIGHT was shot in the head and killed in Little Stretton. Bella was 22 at the time and a former soldier and schoolteacher.
     
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Manors

  • There is no Hall, but there is a Manor House, built c. 1720.
     
  • The Manor House, in the south-west corner of the village, is a red-brick building of two and three stories, square in plan.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK668003 (Lat/Lon: 52.596114, -1.014519), Stretton Parva which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

  • Although known to most people as "Little Stretton", the parish's official name is "Stretton Parva", the Latin equivalent.
     
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient chapelry in King's Norton parish in the county of Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish in December, 1866.
     
  • The parish was in the eastern division of the county in the ancient Gartree Hundred (or Wapentake).
     
  • The citizens of Little Stretton have periodic Parish Meetings to discuss civic and political issues, but they have no formal Parish Council.
     
  • District Governance is provided by the Harborough District Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • The Common Land was enclosed here in 1771.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became the centre of the Billesdon Poorlaw Union.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Leicester petty sessional hearings.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
187175
188184
189172
190183
191173
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Schools

  • The children of this parish attended school in either Gaulby or Great Glen.
     
  • An infants' school was started in 1824 and in 1833 six children attended at their parents' expense. After 1871 no more is reported of it.