Swepstone

Swepstone is a village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, about five miles south of Ashby de la Zouch. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census 656.[1] The parish includes the villages of Swepstone and Newton Burgoland.[2][3]

Swepstone

Saint Peter's Church, Swepstone
Swepstone
Location within Leicestershire
Population656 (2011)
OS grid referenceSK 37083 10771
• London172 km
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCOALVILLE
Postcode districtLE67
Dialling code01530
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

The earliest documentation of the village is found in the Domesday Book where it appears as Scopestone.[4] Later documentary appearances are given as Swepeston from around 1130 to 1471, and Swepston from 1234.[5] The name is probably derived from the Old English personal name Sweppes, and the suffix tūn, meaning "Sweppi's farm or village".

Swepstone farmers regularly sold their cattle in local market towns. In 1597 three Swepstone farmers, Richard Dudley, William Chilwell and Thomas Burrows were called to give evidence in an archdeaconry court case. It is recorded that the three were drinking together in an alehouse near the market square in Atherstone while their beasts were tethered outside.[6]

Swepstone's only public house is The Odd House, which serves food.

Nearby, between Measham and Swepstone, United Kingdom Coal are extracting coal using open cast mining methods. Proposals to extend the mining area were being considered in 2013.

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  2. OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest : (1:25 000) :ISBN 0 319 24028 2
  3. Map Details retrieved 11 April 2013
  4. G. Martin & A. Williams (2003) Domesday Book: A Complete Translation, Penguin Books Ltd., United Kingdom. ISBN 0-14-143994-7
  5. Watts, Victor et al., (2004) The Cambridge Dictionary of Place Names, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-36209-1
  6. elizabethi.org

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