Fleckney is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the a ...

district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in ...

and Leicester. The village appeared in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

and remained a small farming community until the 19th century, which saw development of industry: initially bricks and later hosiery. The historic village centre is a hub of amenities for the mostly rural local area.

Facilities

Much of the surrounding area is composed of small agricultural communities with few amenities, leading Fleckney to be defined by the local council as a rural centre, benefiting from two general practitioner surgeries, a public library, two public houses, primary school, several food shops and a post office. The local newspaper, ''The Fleckney Communicata'', is offered free to local residents. Much of the adult population commutes, although there is a significant industrial estate in the south of the village. More than 21% of the village population is 0–15 years old, making Fleckney one of the youngest villages in Harborough District. The village has a local primary school, while older pupils attend school at Kibworth High School. Leicester Grammar School, an independent secondary school, moved to the neighbouring village of

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straigh ...

in 2007.

History and geography

The village's name probably means 'island of Flecca', though this is uncertain and 'hurdle island' has also been suggested. Mentioned as ''Flechenie'' in the Domesday Book as the location of just three households, the old factory buildings at the edge of the village are the remains of the 19th century brickworks and later hosiery factories. Decorative bricks in the Barlow shed of

St Pancras railway station St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It i ...

were produced in Fleckney. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, successive developments of new housing were constructed radiating north and south from the historic village centre towards the parish boundaries. Due to severe storms in 2012, the village church suffered roof damage. This was repaired with the donation of a semi-retired local builder, among others. The village occupies a generally flat area among gently rolling hills in Leicestershire. The

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter s ...

traverses the eastern edge of the parish from north to south via the Kibworth Locks and the Saddington tunnel. In the parish, a few hundred metres east of the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

is Mill Field Wood also known as Millennium Wood, planted in 2000 as a millennium project. The were bought by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

and villagers of Fleckney and those surrounded planted its trees. The bulk of trees planted were oak, ash, silver birch and field maple; shrubs planted were chiefly hazel and blackthorn, diverse native species. The pond in the centre of the village has many ducks and was originally a clay or

brickearth Brickearth is a term originally used to describe superficial windblown deposits found in southern England. The term has been employed in English-speaking regions to describe similar deposits. Brickearths are periglacial loess, a wind-bl ...

pit, a relic of 19th brickmaking. The pond drains in to Fleckney Brook, a tributary of the

River Sence The River Sence is a river which flows in Leicestershire, England. The tributaries of the Sence, including the Saint and Tweed, fan out over much of western Leicestershire from Charnwood Forest and Coalville in the north-east to Hinckley and ...

which by way of the rivers Soar, Trent and estuarine

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary betw ...

(noted for Hull) runs relatively directly in to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. Despite the sea at

The Wash The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it is fed by the river ...

being away, these thus run from here more than to reach the cusp of the estuary at

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then devel ...

. To the east is the slightly larger village of

Kibworth Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibworth Beauchamp had a population of 5,433 and Kib ...

and adjoining Smeeton Westerby; to the south and separated by a narrow tract of agricultural land is the hilltop village of Saddington; while to the north and east are the parishes of

Newton Harcourt Newton Harcourt is a village in the English county of Leicestershire and lies 7 miles south-east of the city of Leicester on the northern ridge of the River Sence valley. Since 1936 it has been part of the civil parish of Wistow. The population ...

, Kilby, Wistow and Arnesby.

Transport

Roads

Fleckney is centred 6 miles east of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, whic ...

and is equidistant between two parallel sections of the north–south A6 and A5199 (former A50) trunk roads.

Buses

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

operate service 49 into Leicester via

Wigston Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the Eas ...

and

Centrebus Centrebus is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Centrebus have a 51% shareholding in High Peak Buses and since December 2019 throu ...

operate service 44 to Foxton via Saddington, Kibworth Beauchamp, The Langtons,

Great Bowden Great Bowden is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is north-east of and a suburb of Market Harborough, although originally the parish of Great Bowden included Harborough. The population is aroun ...

Rail

The nearest railway station is at

South Wigston South Wigston is a large village to the south of Leicester, England. It is outside the city boundary, forming part of the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire. The population of the ward rose slightly from 7,471 at the 2001 census to ...

(6 miles), since late 20th century service reductions little used, as at 2017 having far fewer than one train per hour in each direction; no direct service to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

; it lacks a car park and many facilities. Railway stations with car parks and many facilities are in Leicester and

, centred 10 miles from the village — having direct travel to London St Pancras station and destinations in and near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

and beyond to the north. Leicester also sees east–west services linking Fleckney to destinations such as

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

Sport

The Village Cricket side was formed in 1975, and have two Saturday sides that play in the Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League, they play all home games at the Fleckney Sports Ground

References

External links

Fleckney Village WebsiteFleckney Online WebsiteFleckney Village Cricket Club Website
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District