Wanlip is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Charnwood district of

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 ...

, with a population measured at 305 at the 2011 census. It is a countryside village, north of Birstall, and west of

Watermead Country Park The Watermead Country Park is a network of artificial lakes in the valley of the River Soar and the old Grand Union Canal, in and to the north of Leicester and in and to the south of the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire. The southern par ...

and the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands as well as the principal river of Leicestershire, England. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north throug ...

. The

A46 road The A46 is a major A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway developme ...

runs directly past the village. Wanlip won the 2008 Leicester and Rutlan
Best Village Competition
for villages with a population under 500. To the south of Wanlip i
Wanlip Meadows
a

Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust The Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) is one of 46 The Wildlife Trusts, wildlife trusts across the United Kingdom. It manages nature reserves in Leicestershire and Rutland, and was founded in 1956 as the Leicestershire and Rutlan ...

nature reserve. To the north is a

Severn Trent Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

sewage treatment Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

plant, serving a population of more than half a million.

The Cedars Academy The Cedars Academy is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Birstall in the English county of Leicestershire. History The school opened in 1959 as the Longslade Grammar School, which became a comprehensive before 1966. L ...

lies to the south at the edge of Birstall. To the east lies the 14 hectare Reedbed Local Nature Reserve, part of the

. Wanlip is the site of a 132-metre-high

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

which went into operation at the end of 2013.Huge Wanlip wind turbine plan gets approval
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 15 June 2011, retrieved 3 July 2011

History

An Iron Age settlement was unearthed just to the north of Wanlip and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery was discovered during the building of Longslade School in 1958, One of the earliest mentions of Wanlip is 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 ...

, where it is listed as Anelepe, among the lands given to Earl Aubrey''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.652 by the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. The land described includes a mill. The Earl's son

Aubrey de Vere II Aubrey () is a traditionally male English name. It was quite common in the Middle Ages, but had lost favour for a time before experiencing a resurgence of popularity in the 19th century. In the United States, following the 1973 release of the s ...

went on to become Lord Chancellor. The surnames of the three families who have owned the manor over eight centuries are: * Walsh 1230-1526 * Aston 1526-1626 * Palmer 1626-today

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

, the 19th century MP and leading

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, lived for some years at

Wanlip Hall Wanlip Hall was a large house in Wanlip near the English city of Leicester. It was the ancestral home of the Palmer baronets, Palmer family. The building was demolished before the World War II, Second World War. History There was a hall in Wanli ...

. There are four

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s in Wanlip: a brick ice house, the church of Our Lady and St. Nicholas, Manor Farm and Hall Farm.

Church of Our Lady & St Nicholas

Much of the structure of this parish church was erected in the 13th and 14th centuries but there have been a variety of later alterations, including changes made in the 19th century and the south aisle which was built in 1904. The walls are constructed mainly of granite rubble with ashlar dressing. It is a Grade II listed building. The chancel floor is notable for housing the brass that commemorates Sir Thomas Walsh and his wife Katherine. This comprises the figures of the couple with a border that is the earliest surviving example of an English inscription for a high-status tomb monument. The inscription reads:

“Here lyes Thomas Walssh knyght lorde of Anlep and dame Katine his wife whiche in her tyme made the kirke of Anlep and halud the kirkyerd first in Wurchip of god and of oure lady and seynt Nicholas that god have her soules and mercy anno domini millesimo CCC nonagesimo tercio .e. 1393”

The memorial is the subject of a detailed article by

Nigel Saul Nigel Saul (born 1952) is a British academic who was formerly the Head of the Department of History at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL). He retired in 2015 and is now Emeritus Professor. He is recognised as one of the leading experts in ...

, who commented that the church is a distinguished building incorporating motifs from the state apartments at

Kenilworth Castle Kenilworth Castle is a castle in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England, managed by English Heritage; much of it is in ruins. The castle was founded after the Norman Conquest of 1066; with development through to the Tudor period. It ...

that had been commissioned by

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399), was an English royal prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son (third surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...

, with whom Sir Thomas Walsh was closely connected. In the churchyard is a substantial headstone with the following epitaph: "Sacred to the memory of Rasselas Morjan, who was born at Macadi on the confines of Abyssinia and died at Wanlip Hall August 25th 1839 in the 19th year of his age. Rescued from a state of slavery in this life and enabled by God's grace to become a member of his Church he rests here in the hope of a greater deliverance hereafter. This stone is raised in remembrance of his blameless life by one whom he loved."

Palmer family

Wanlip is said to be unusual because in 1906 the land there was all owned by just one family - the Palmers. The

Baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

at Wanlip has been held by the (later named Palmer) family since 1791 when it was awarded to Charles Grave Hudson. Notable members of the family include the artist Caroline Harriet Abraham and her father

Charles Thomas Hudson Palmer, 2nd Baronet Sir Charles Thomas Hudson Palmer, 2nd Baronet (20 May 1771 – 30 April 1827) was an English landowner. His family seat was in Wanlip Hall in Leicestershire. Life Charles Thomas Hudson was born on 20 May 1771 to Sir Charles Hudson, 1st Barone ...

Charles Palmer-Tomkinson Charles Anthony Palmer-Tomkinson (born 4 January 1940) is an English landowner and philanthropist, a former Olympic skier, and a close friend of King Charles III. Landowner The Palmer-Tomkinson family owns substantial lands in Leicestershire, ...

, father of

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017) was an English socialite and television personality. She appeared in several television shows, including the reality programme ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British ...

, is a landowner in Wanlip and Birstall, responsible for the Hallam Fields development in next-door Birstall. The current holder of the baronetcy is Sir John Edward Somerset Palmer, 8th baronet.Palmer
/ref>

References

External links

Leicestershire Parish Councils - Wanlip VillageWanlip on Leicestershirevillages.comBirstall Wanlip councillorsA map of Wanlip polling districtWanlip Parish Website
{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Charnwood