 |
|
Leicestershire
Heritage |
| Scenes
of Leicestershire featuring historic landmarks and buildings
throughout this large and varied county. |
Gibbet,
Bilstone
A rather gruesome reminder of past methods
of punishment for felons.
|
|
Market
Harborough Railway Station
This splendid station building, constructed
in the Queen Anne style, dates from a reconstruction of
the station in 1884. Market Harborough was at one time an
important junction with connections to Rugby, Northampton,
Stamford and Leicester. It was a LNWR station which was
also used by the Midland Railway. (See also Theddingworth
Station, below.) It is still in main line use today, being
on the route from Leicester to London, thus providing access
to rapid services for local commuters.
|
|
Bier
House, Bagworth
Built to house the local funeral bier by a
local farmer in memory of his wife.
|
|
|
Whitwick
Railway Station
This unusual little station was on the Charnwood
Forest Line which connected Coalville and Loughborough.
This short railway provided a service to a series of small
towns and villages. It included halts in very sparsely populated,
rural areas. It was never economically viable and passenger
services ceased in the 1930s. The line closed completely
in 1963. The Waiting Rooms on the single platform were demolished
and it is just the old Booking Office with rooms below that
remains. The building now, fittingly, provides a home for
the Whitwick Historical Group and the trackbed serves as
a public footpath.
|
|
|
|
Stoke
Golding Railway Station
Despite now being in private hands the main
station building retains much of its original appearance.
It was a second class station on the Ashby and Nuneaton
Joint Railway, a joint venture between the Midland Railway
and the LNWR, running from Abbey Street Station in Nuneaton
to Moira Junction. The railway opened in 1873. The line
was always most important for mineral traffic, serving the
coalfields of north-west Leicestershire. Regular passenger
services ceased in 1931 and freight services ceased in the
1960s. Part of the line north of Stoke Golding has been
reinstated and operates as the Battlefield Line, running
between Shenton and Shackerstone.
|
|
Wistow
Hall
The hall has been partially converted to apartments
and some of the outbuildings have also been converted to
residential occupation. It occupies a picturesque location.
Close by is Wistow Rural Centre, a rural retail village.
|
|
|
High
Cross
This monument was commissioned by the Earl
of Denbigh of nearby Newnham Paddox in Warwickshire to mark
the crossing point of the great Roman roads, Watling Street
and the Fosse Way. The monument stands on the Leicestershire
side of Watling Street, which, for several miles, forms
the boundary between Leicestershire and Warwickshire.
|
|
|
The
Oak & the Ash
An extremely unusual phenomenon, located between
Peckleton and Earl Shilton, of an oak tree and an ash tree
fusing together and growing as one. The lighter bark in the
centre is the ash and the darker outer areas are the oak.
The ash is the taller part and the oak the wider part. Although
now of some age both still seem to be flourishing.
The
Oak and Ash A site featuring tales relating to The Oak
and The Ash. |
|
|
Theddingworth
Station
Theddingworth Station and Signal Box. Situated
on the former LNWR railway line between Rugby and Stamford,
the station is now privately owned and has been well-preserved.
It is typical of so many stations built in a rural area with
only a small population to serve. |
|
|
|
|