Plungar

Plungar is a village in the civil parish of Redmile, and the Melton district of Leicestershire, England. It is about 9 miles (14 km) north of the market town of Melton Mowbray and 7 miles (11 km) west from Grantham. Plungar is adjacent to the Grantham Canal and stands in the Vale of Belvoir.

Plungar

St Helen's Church, Plungar
Plungar
Location within Leicestershire
OS grid referenceSK768338
• London100 mi (160 km) S
Civil parish
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNOTTINGHAM
Postcode districtNG13
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

History

The Plungar name derives through the c.1130 name 'Plunard', itself from the Old English "plume" with the Old English "gara" or Old Scandinavian "garthr", meaning "Triangular plot where plum trees grow" or plum tree enclosure.[1]

In 1870 Plungar was a village and civil parish, and part of the district of Bingham. Parish area was 1,310 acres (5.3 km2) with a population of 251, and 59 houses. At the time a Wesleyan chapel was recorded.

Several Plungar children were educated at a free school in Barkestone.[2] It had two rooms with a school house for a master and mistress. By 1830 the school had taught 14 children from Barkestone and 12 from Plungar, chosen by parish churchwardens. The lord of the manor was the Duke of Rutland. The population in 1830 was 280, including seven farmers, two tailors, two shoemakers, a bricklayer, a shopkeeper, a blacksmith, a wheelwright, a lace maker, an auctioneer, and the landlord of The Anchor public house. It also housed a parish curate and a gentleman.[3]

Governance

In 1936 the adjoining civil parishes of Barkestone and Redmile were merged with Plungar to form the parish of Redmile, sometimes known as Barkestone, Plungar and Redmile, which had a population of 829 in 2001.[4]

Amenities
The Anchor, Plungar

The village public house, The Anchor, is close to the Grantham Canal. There is also a village hall.

Plungar lies on bus routes to Bottesford or Bingham to the north and Melton Mowbray to the south. All three destinations have railway stations, the nearest being at Bottesford (6.3 miles, 10 km), which has services to Nottingham and beyond, and to Grantham and Skegness.

The nearest primary school is at Redmile.[5] Bottesford has a primary, a secondary and an independent school.[6]

Landmarks

The parish church of St Helen dates from the 14th century, with additions in the 15th. The church was repaired in 1829, and rebuilding work in 1855–1856 added a chapel and replaced the south aisle. The church was listed as Grade II* in 1968.[2][7]

To the east of Plungar, in neighbouring Nottinghamshire, is the site of the disused RAF Plungar, once a base for No. 38 and No. 90 squadrons.[8] A plaque at Plungar commemorates the crew of six of a Lancaster bomber, which crashed near Plungar in 1943.[9][10] An obelisk to the dead of the First and Second World Wars stands in Harby Road.[11]

References
  1. Mills, Anthony David (2003); A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford University Press, revised edition (2011), p. 370. ISBN 019960908X
  2. Wilson, John Marius. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72)
  3. White, William (1830) History, gazetteer, and directory of Leicestershire, and the small County of Rutland, pp. 213 and 255.
  4. "Census 2001 Parish profile", Leicestershire County Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014
  5. Leicestershire CC Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  6. Leicestershire CC Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. Historic England. "Church of St Helen  (Grade II*) (1075010)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  8. "Plungar", Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2 December 2014
  9. "Plungar bomber crew memorial unveiled", BBC News, 22 September 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2014
  10. "Thanks given to man who saved crash pilot", Melton Times, 30 January 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. "Frog Lane, Harby Road - Plungar", War memorials project, Leicestershire County Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014
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