East Leake

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East Leake
Nottinghamshire
St Marys East Leake.jpg
St Mary's church
Location
Grid reference: SK554264
Location: 52°49’55"N, 1°10’37"W
Data
Population: 6,337  (2011)
Post town: Loughborough
Postcode: LE12
Dialling code: 01509
Local Government
Council: Rushcliffe
Parliamentary
constituency:
Rushcliffe

East Leake is a large village in Nottinghamshire, in the very south of the county, less than two miles north of the border of Leicestershire, marked by the King's Brook. The closest town to East Leake is Loughborough in the latter county. It has a population of around 7,000, measured in the 2011 Census as 6,337

The original village was located on the Sheepwash Brook. The Kingston Brook also runs through the village.

Near the centre of the village is its parish church, St Mary's.[1] The church dates back to the 11th century. The church has six bells.[2]

The Sheepwash Brook flows past the church, and an old ford, which provided access to the pinfold.

Name

The origin of Leake appears to be from the Old Norse Læke, meaning a brook. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as Leche. Another suggestion for the origin of the name is that it comes from the Old English word cognate with leccan (to moisten), indicating wet land, which is a fair description of this village in the flat meadows of the Kingston Book and Sheepwash Brook.

History

The Treaty of Leake was signed in 1318 by King Edward II and his baronial opponents.

British Gypsum, a plasterboard manufacturer, has its headquarters in the village.[3] The manufacturing of plasterboard began in this area in about 1880.

Churches

There are five churches in the village:

  • Church of England: St Mary's Church, within the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham
  • Baptist: East Leake Baptist Church[4]
  • Independent / Evangelical: East Leake Evangelical Church (which meets in the Village Hall)[5]
  • Methodist: East Leake Methodist Church
  • Roman Catholic: Our Lady of the Angels

Pictures

Outside links

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about East Leake)

References

  • Sidney Pell Potter: 'A History of East Leake' (1903; Potter was the rector at the time)