Burbage, Leicestershire
| Burbage | |
| Leicestershire | |
|---|---|
 Burbage War Memorial | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP443923 |
| Location: | 52°31’40"N, 1°20’54"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 14,568 (2011) |
| Post town: | Hinckley |
| Postcode: | LE10 |
| Dialling code: | 01455 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hinckley and Bosworth |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bosworth |
Burbage is a village in Leicestershire which at the 2011 Census had a population of 14,568.
The village has become effectively a suburb of the larger urban area of Hinckley. The old Burbage village is now a small part of a large parish which also includes Sketchley Village and some large and small residential estates. It is considered to be a commuter location for large parts of Leicestershire and Warwickshire: enabled by Burbage's being less than a mile from the M69 (which links that M6 to the M1) and the A5.
History
Leofric, Earl of Mercia, gave the village of Burbage to Coventry Abbey in 1043. At that time it was valued at two shillings. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, its value had risen to £4. There were 1¼ hides of land (around 150 acres with two ploughs. Twenty villagers held two smallholdings, with two slaves and eight ploughs. Burbage also had a meadow, measuring a furlong in length and width. The village also owned woodland half a league by four furlongs.
In 1564 the diocesan returns show a population of 57 families within Burbage and six at Sketchley. Burbage, for many centuries a small farming community, remained very thinly populated. In the census of 1801 there were 1098 inhabitants. It was not until the twentieth century that the population exceeded 2000.
During the Civil War the village's proximity to Hinckley drew it to the attention of raiding parties from the local parliamentary garrisons in north Warwickshire. A list of claims submitted by the constables of Burbage and Sketchley to the Warwickshire county committee, in June, 1646, reveals that Captain Flower’s troop from the Coventry garrison took twenty strikes of provender valued at £1, sent off to Stoney Stanton, and availed themselves of free quarter worth £18.10. Captain Willington's cornet from the Tamworth garrison took a mare, saddle and bridle from John Watkin, while Captain Willington's soldiers took a horse worth £5 from Thomas Bodington.
Burbage was also the birthplace, in 1608, of John Cook, who went on to become Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth of England and lead the prosecution of King Charles I for High Treason, resulting in Charles' execution (and, ultimately, his own after the Restoration).
By 1953, the population had risen to 3,983, and by 1958 there were more than 5,000 on the electoral roll; this rapid growth was largely due to the expansion of Sketchley Hill housing estates. In 2001 the population of Burbage was 14,324.
Burbage Common and Woods
Burbage Common and Woods are in the north-east corner of the parish, organised now as a country park by the local council.
The common as a grazing area is ancient recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The park 200 acres and is popular with, amongst others, birdwatchers, walkers and horseriders. It is free to enter and is open dawn to dusk every day.
Society
A yearly summer street carnival and fete is organised by the Burbage Carnival Committee, whose purpose is to raise funds to donate to local good causes. The carnival committee also runs the Burbage Bonfire and Fireworks Display held on Britannia Fields, all to support local charities.
The Freestyle Burbage community events project was for a few years a crowdsourced and crowdfunded programme of events organised and run by local residents, but closed down in 2018 due to lack of support.
- Football: NKF Burbage F.C.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Burbage, Leicestershire) |