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Groby (pronounced "GROO-bee" ) is a village in the
Hinckley and Bosworth Hinckley and Bosworth is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in Leicestershire, England. The council is based in Hinckley, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Earl Shilton and numerous v ...
borough
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, England. It is to the north west of
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 6,796. The village saw a huge expansion during the 1970s along with the village of Glenfield. The historic village centre retains some of its historic buildings,
cobbled Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a ...
lanes and
thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...
ed cottages. The church of St Philip and St James, built in the lancet style by George Harry Booth-Grey, the sixth
Earl of Stamford Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dor ...
, dates from 1840 and stands in the grounds of Groby Castle. The architect was
William Railton William Railton (1800–1877) was an English architect, best known as the designer of Nelson's Column. He was based in London, with offices at 12 Regent Street for much of his career. Life He was born in Clapham (then in Surrey) on 14 May 180 ...
. Additionally the village was also home to the former Groby Old Hall, the stone-built parts of which are thought to have been part of the castle's outer buildings.


History

Groby was mentioned in
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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, when it was described as having "land for 4 ploughs, 10 villagers with 1 Freeman and 5 smallholders have 3 ploughs...the value was 20s; now 60s." Ulf is shown as the lord of Markfield, Groby, Blaby and Ratby in the
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of
Guthlaxton Guthlaxton is an ancient hundred of Leicestershire. Its jurisdiction was in the south of the county, and covered Lutterworth and Wigston Magna. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, it was one of Leicestershire's four wapentakes, and covered ...
in Leicestershire in 1066. By 1086, the lord was
Hugh de Grandmesnil Hugh de Grandmesnil (c. 1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Bat ...
who was also associated with the hundreds of Goscote, Guthlaxton and Gartree in Leicestershire. The estate was held by the Ferrers family until 1445 when it passed to the Grey family. By 1800 the village had expanded with the population reaching 250, and by 1920 it had reached 1,000. Employment in the village was largely in the local granite quarries and in farming. The seventh Earl of Stamford and 3rd Earl of Warrington employed the London architect Mr M.J. Dain of Dain and Parsons to design the Jacobean style mansion to replace the former hunting lodge the Grey family used at Groby when they were hunting in Leicestershire, this mansion was built by the local builder of Groby Mr Thomas Rudkin, Bradgate House was completed in 1856 and built to the north-west of the village and referred to as the Calendar House because it had 365 windows, 52 rooms, and 12 main chimneys. The Earls niece Mrs Katherine Henrietta Venezia Grey sold the Leicestershire estates in 1925, she inherited these in 1905, including Bradgate House, which was demolished (although the ruins of its extravagant stable block remain), from which many villagers bought their homes. Plots of land in the area were subsequently sold to builders, leading to a significant expansion of the village. Historically, the village is noted for its connection with two Queens of England. Groby Old Hall, built in the 15th century, was owned by the Grey family whose estate included
Bradgate Park Bradgate Park () is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, northwest of Leicester. It covers . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Leicestershire, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithla ...
. Sir John Grey of Groby married
Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile; c. 1437Karen Lindsey, ''Divorced, Beheaded, Survived'', p. xviii, Perseus Books, 1995. – 8 June 1492), known as Dame Elizabeth Grey during her first marriage, was Queen of Engla ...
. After his death, in battle, she married
Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
. Bradgate Park was the childhood home of
Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...
, who became Queen of England for nine days in 1553. The Grey family held the barony until it was forfeited in 1554.
Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby (c. 16231657), was an elected Member of Parliament for Leicester during the English Long Parliament, an active member of the Parliamentary party and a regicide. He was the eldest son of Henry Grey, 1st Earl of St ...
became MP for Leicester in 1641 and fought on the side of Parliament in the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. In 1649 Grey was the only aristocrat of the 59 signatories of the death warrant of Charles I. There is no definitive explanation of the roots of the village's name, but its '-by' ending implies a link to Viking rule during the period of the
Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...
. Also, groo is a Viking word for pit, which may well refer to the quarry situated next to the village. The Domesday entry lists the village as 'Grobi'. The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' also shows the names ''Groubi'' or ''Groebi'' in the 12th century. Furthermore, it suggests the name is from a ''tarn'' perhaps with the
Old Scandinavian Old Scandinavian may refer to: * Proto-Norse, a language spoken from the 3rd to the 7th century * Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germa ...
name ''grōf''; and that the
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''gróf'' means "a torrent and a gully formed by it." The dictionary also says, "It is identical with Gothic language ">Gothic_language.html" ;"title="Gothic language">Gothic language ''gróba'', [ Old High German ] ''grouba'' 'pit, hollow'."


Education

There are four schools,
Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...
Primary,
Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile; c. 1437Karen Lindsey, ''Divorced, Beheaded, Survived'', p. xviii, Perseus Books, 1995. – 8 June 1492), known as Dame Elizabeth Grey during her first marriage, was Queen of Engla ...
Primary and Martinshaw County Primary, whilst Brookvale Groby Learning Campus is located on a
campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...
to the west of the village, and attracts students from Groby and surrounding villages including Ratby,
Kirby Muxloe Kirby Muxloe is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish that forms part of the Blaby District, Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. Located to the west of Leicester, its proximity to the city has resulted in its inclus ...
, Glenfield, and sometimes
Markfield Markfield is a large village in both the National Forest, England, National Forest and Charnwood Forest and in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. The settlement dates back to at least the time of the Norman conques ...
and
New Parks New Parks is residential suburb of the city of Leicester, in the Leicester district, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. It was also an electoral ward of the City of Leicester whose population at the 2011 Census was 17,128. I ...
. There is also a
Scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted i ...
based on the edge of Martinshaw Woods.


Industry

The old quarry in the village centre is now an
industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
- mostly owned by the company
GE Sensing GE Measurement & Control Solutions is an affiliate business of Baker Hughes specializing in the design and manufacture of sensing elements, devices, instruments, and systems that enable customers to monitor, protect, control, and validate the sa ...
formerly Druck Ltd, which makes pressure transducers. Groby
Quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
is located on the narrow lane which leads through to Newtown Linford, and is still used to quarry
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
.


Groby Pool

Groby Pool, "reputedly the largest natural expanse of open water in Leicestershire" is a lake located opposite the quarry on Newtown Linford Lane. It is owned by Hanson quarries and managed by
English Nature English Nature was the Executive agency, United Kingdom government agency that promoted the Conservation (ethic), conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body ...
and became an
SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
in 1956. Due to lack of drainage, "it is one of the most significant wildlife areas in Leicestershire." The origins of the pool are debated. Theories include that it resulted from the damming of Slate Brook by monks from
Leicester Abbey The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Beaumont, 2nd E ...
or that it was a Roman clay-pit for pottery production. There is a public car park a few minutes' walk to the southeast, and it is possible to walk along the east side nearest the lane, although access elsewhere is restricted. Visitors are requested NOT to feed the birds as it changes the water balance and damages wildlife. The pool has a strict no fishing rule.Source, Groby pool SSSI information board at pool edge just beyond car park. In 2017, a number of notices were erected around the pool perimeter advising visitors NOT to paddle or swim due to
blue green algae Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteria' ...
.


References


External links


Grobyonline, News and articles about GrobyGroby Parish CouncilThe Groby Directory
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth