Thringstone is a village in the North West Leicestershire district, in Leicestershire, England. About north of Coalville, it lies in the English National Forest.English National Forest website
Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick. The township of Thringstone, based on a feudal (manorial) division of land carved out during the Anglo-Saxon period, comprised Thringstone village (then known as South Thringstone) and the hamlets of Peggs Green and Rotten Row in an area known as North Thringstone. Thringstone became an independent and autonomous civil parish in 1866, though this was dissolved on 1 April 1936 when outlying parts of the parish were transferred to Belton, Coleorton, Osgathorpe, Swannington and Worthington and the remainder was transferred to the civil parish and Urban District of Coalville. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1,566. The geographical area known as Thringstone today bears little resemblance to that known as Thringstone before World War II. In 2023, Thringstone is not part of a civil parish.
Demographics The 2001 population of 4,325 compares with 901 in 1801 - the growth in population being a result of the industrial revolution, particularly local coal-mining. However, due to radical boundary changes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such demographic comparatives relate to significantly different geographical areas. The most tangible way of understanding the population growth relevant to the place defined as Thringstone since World War II is that evidenced by large-scale residential development in the village proper, from the late nineteenth century. If it were not for the evolution of the coal-mining industry and related migration, it is quite probable that the village would have remained a rural and sparsely populated community. A notable demographic impact on the village, connected with coal-mining, also occurred during the 1960s, when many families migrated to the village from Scotland and the North East of England as a result colliery transfers, resulting in the creation of the Woodside Estate. Following the demise of the local coal-mining industry, population has been sustained due to the development of alternative commerce in nearby towns and cities, easily accessed by improvement in transport.
Geology Lying on the western fringe of Charnwood Forest is a geological structure, not exposed at the surface, known as the Thringstone Fault. Formed during prehistoric volcanic times, the fault runs from Bardon Hill to Ticknall and forms an abrupt boundary to the eastern part of the Leicestershire and South Derbyshire coalfield.
History The name Thringstone is probably derived from an amalgamation of the Danish (Viking) personal name, Traengr (this area having come under the Danelaw during the 9th century) with the Anglo-Saxon suffix, tun, meaning 'farm' or 'village' - hence Traengr's tun. Another source suggests that 'Thring' may mean land that was difficult to work."Charnwood Forest in Old Photographs", by I. Keil et al., Alan Sutton Publishing, 1991. Thringstone is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086"The Domesday Geography of Middle England", Ed. H. C. Darby and I. B. Terrett, 2nd Ed. Camb Univ Press, p.314 n.1971. as the Derbyshire village of "Trangesbi".
A water-mill existed here in the 13th century and survived till about 1935. Some dilapidated outbuildings and the old dry mill race remain. Grace Dieu Priory was built at about the same time.
In 1309 the Manor of Thringstone passed into the hands of one Robert Tebbe.H. Butler Johnson, Article on Thringstone Mills, Thringstone Parish Magazine, Jun/Jul 1932 In 1360, it is recorded that Adam, son of Robert Tebbe, was the owner of the Manor and water-mill of Thringstone. In 1391, Henry Tebbe of 'Threnguston' had a violent quarrel with the Benedictine priory of Upholland in Wigan. Tebbe, who farmed part of the Whitwick tithes, refused to pay, was arrested, but on paying a fine was pardoned and released.'Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Upholland', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2 (1908), pp. 111–112
In 1462, King Edward IV granted land at Thringstone previously in the possession of John Beaumont to Richard Hastings.Nichols, John. The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, Vol III Part II, 1804 However the manor was back with the Beaumont family by 1494, when Thomas Beaumont was in possession and by 1550 it had passed to another John Beaumont. In 1552, this Beaumont, who had been given the office of Master of the Rolls, was 'discovered to have grossly wronged the King', having purchased for himself lands with royal funds, amongst a host of other dishonest deeds. Beaumont subsequently surrendered his possessions to the King and in 1553, the Manor of Thringstone was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. It was this same John Beaumont who, in 1534, had abused his position as one of the commissioners appointed to visit Gracedieu Priory following its dissolution, by buying the nunnery buildings at his own valuation. When his misbehaviour at the Treasury was uncovered twenty years later, Gracedieu was also granted to the Earl of Huntingdon, though Beaumont's widow managed to regain possession of it in 1574.Hadfield, C. N. Charnwood Forest, A Survey, 1952, page 53
The Manor of Thringstone is recorded as having been the property of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon in 1640. A return of the year 1564 states that there were in that year 26 families in Thringston (sic), 17 in Whitwick and 25 in Swannington. The district had been devastated by the Black Death a century before, and this accounts for the very small population.
In 1846 it is recorded that "J. Boultbee, Esq., is lord of the manor; but the greater part of the soil belongs to E. Dawson, Esq., and the Cropper, Piddocke, Green and other families".White, William: History, Gazetteer and Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1846, p 368 In 1871, the Lord of the Manor is recorded as T. Boultbee, Esq.John Marius Wilson: "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72
19th- and 20th-century expansion and boundary changes Population would have grown significantly during the 18th century, when Thringstone and Whitwick became concerned with the framework knitting industry. The work was carried by journeymen to and from the manufacturers in Loughborough and Shepshed. In 1844, Thringstone is recorded as having 160 frames.
In 1776, the workhouse at Thringstone was noted as being capable of receiving thirty persons. The expansion of the local coal mining industry, beginning in the first third of the 19th century, induced still further demographic change and the population had grown from a figure of 901 in 1801 to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% was non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas.
In 1885, the parish was reduced in size to enlarge Coleorton Civil Parish with the area known as "Rotten Row". But by far the most radical geographical and social changes to the village came during the 20th century, beginning in the years after World War I. In April 1936, Thringstone Civil Parish was dissolved and outlying parts of the township were transferred to Belton (68 acres), Coleorton (98 acres), Osgathorpe (482 acres), Swannington (70 acres) and Worthington (12 acres). The remainder of Thringstone (142 acres) was transferred to the Urban District and Civil Parish of Coalville.
Thus, the old parish of Thringstone had a much larger area than that known as Thringstone today, having also included the hamlet of Peggs Green. The village proper that we now refer to simply as 'Thringstone', was at that time referred to as 'South Thringstone', with outlying parts known as 'North Thringstone'. The boundary changes, dissolving an ancient manorial division of land, meant two notable landmarks formerly classed as being in Thringstone were ceded to other villages - namely the Stordon Grange moated farmhouse (to Osgathorpe) and the Thringstone Smock Mill (to Swannington, and now known as the Hough Windmill).
Following World War II, Thringstone village grew massively due to homogeneous estate housing developments. The Booth Road area was begun in the forties, followed shortly afterward by the Hensons Lane prefabs. The Woodside Estate was completed in 1964, bringing a large influx of families from Scotland and north-east England into the village as a result of northern colliery transfers. This estate is characterised by its Caledonian road-names such as 'Melrose Road' and 'Elgin Walk' ('Shrewsbury Walk' is the anomaly, named in honour of Thringstone's longest serving vicar, who died in 1958). The Carterdale complex was also begun in the sixties and the Glebe Farm estate came in the seventies, with the Springfield development arriving in the eighties.
To some extent, Thringstone has become an extension of Coalville (within living memory, it was relatively isolated) although, thanks to contiguity with Gracedieu Wood and the preservation of other greenbelt areas, it manages to retain something of an individual identity and has not been absorbed into the urban sprawl of Coalville to the same degree as parts of Whitwick, Snibston and Hugglescote.
Character and buildings of interest A walk along Brook Lane, The Green, Main Street and Lily Bank reveals some pleasing domestic architecture, ranging from the 17th century to present day. One of the oldest properties - The Gables on Main Street is thought to date from the mid-17th century and an extension to the west bears the date, 1682, carved into a stone recess. The Gables is one of several buildings with Grade II listed status. Others are The Old Manor House on Brook Lane (formerly thatched, 17th century); Forest View House (adjoining the now demolished Rose and Crown public house on The Green, with blind central windows, possibly bricked up to avoid window tax, three-storeyed, 18th century); St Andrew's Church, Main Street (by St Aubyn, 1862; the tomb of Charles Booth in the church yard is also a listed monument); Lily Bank Farmhouse (17th/18th century) and Lily Bank Dovecote to the rear (18th century). Some of these, and other houses and buildings of interest in the village, have recently been provided with blue plaques.
Thringstone School The old schoolhouse on Main Street was built in 1844 on land donated by E. M. Green, Esq.;William White: Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1846 - page 369 a plaque can still be seen above the main entrance reading, 'Fear God Honour The King. South Thringstone National School. AD 1844'. This was a Church of England school until transferred to Leicestershire County Council in 1950. Few buildings can have had such varied usage as this over the years: the building was originally also used for Anglican services on Sundays, until the parish church of Saint Andrew was opened in 1862. A new county school was built off John Henson's Lane in 1967, at which point the old premises was sold for industrial usage. It served as a small hosiery factory until the 1980s, after which it was converted into a restaurant, operating under a succession of names, including Lal Quila (Indian); La Dolce Vita (Italian) and School Cross (English). For several years now, the building has been used as a residential home for adult individuals with learning disabilities.
The Charnwood Forest Canal (Thringstone to Nanpantan)