Elmesthorpe (sometimes spelt Elmersthorpe, Elmsthorpe[1] or Aylmersthorpe[2]) is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated to the south-east of Earl Shilton, near to Hinckley on the A47 road. In 2004, the parish had an estimated population of 520,[3] reducing to 509 at the 2011 census.[4]
St Mary's Church Elmesthorpe, showing the ruined and restored halves
The village's name means 'outlying farm/settlement of Æthelmaer or Ailmer'.[5]
The village has been inhabited from at least Roman times as there is evidence of Roman occupation within the parish.[6]
In 1297, Elmesthorpe was home to numerous farms and 40-50 families. The Black Death and a failing economy caused the village to depopulate and for a time disappear.[2]
In 1485, it is thought King Richard III and his troops stayed in the partially ruined church for shelter on their march from Leicester to the Battle of Bosworth; with the king and his officers sheltering within the church, and the soldiers camping outside.[2][7]
Inside the ruined section of Elmesthorpe Church
The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the 13th century.[1] It had "long been in ruins" by the mid 19th century, but the tower was still standing.[1] In 1869 the church was partially rebuilt, in a smaller scale, within the ruins of the church.[1] This, the present church, occupies the east-end of the church and is accessed through the Tower and west end of the church, which have been left as ruins.
The village's population had begun a slow recovery by 1710, at which point 40 people were recorded as living in the village.[2] In 1863 Elmesthorpe gained its own railway station on the South Leicestershire Railway.[2] The "new village" grew up around this station; starting with workers' cottages and an inn built by The Earl of Lovelace, with designs by architect C.F.A. Voysey.[2]
In 1871, The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Elmsthorpe as:
"...a parish in Hinckley district, Leicester; on the Leicester and Nuneaton railway, 3 miles NE by E of Hinckley. It has a station on the railway; and its post town is Hinckley. Acres, 1,650. Real property, £1,446. Pop., 45. Houses, 5. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacy of Earl-Shilton, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church was used as the headquarters of Richard's army previous to the battle of Bosworth; and is now in ruins."[8]
In the 1920s a boot and shoe manufacturers opened in the village, called "Harvey, Harvey & Company".[2]
In the 1930s, the government started to address the population of Elmesthorpe, which had not recovered from its collapse in the 13th century. The government initiated a scheme which brought families from depressed areas to make a living from the land. In 1935 Church Farm was purchased by the Land Settlement Association, who built 43 smallholdings in the village.[2] This continued to the 1960s, when the scheme ended. Many of the smallholdings were then purchased by their tenants.[2]
The 1960s saw both the railway station and the shoe factory close.[2]
↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
