Barwell, Leicestershire
Historical Description
Barwell, a township and a parish in Leicestershire. The township lies 2 miles NNE of Hinckley railway station, and 6¼ NE of Nuneaton, and has a post and telegraph office under Hinckley. The parish includes also the hamlet of Potters-Marston and the chapelry of Stapleton. Area, 2387 acres; population of the civil parish, 2022; of the ecclesiastical, 2262. The living is a rectory, united with the perpetual curacies of Marston and Stapletou, in the diocese of Peterborough; net value, s£600 with residence. The church is an ancient building of stone, in the Early English style. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. The chief industries are boot and shoe making, framework knitting, and farming.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Leicestershire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Barwell St. Mary | |
Hundred | Sparkenhoe | |
Poor Law union | Hinckley |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1661, but the earliest portions are imperfect.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Barwell:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1661-1916 | 1754-1935 | 1654-1931 | 1653-1887 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, embattled nave of four bays with clerestory, aisles, north and south porches and embattled western tower containing a clock and 8 bells, six of which were cast in 1877: the chancel retains a sedile and a piscina: the east window was filled with stained glass in 1909 in memory of the Rev. R. Titley M.A., rector 1865-1909: the west window is a memorial to H. Frisby. and there are others to Charlotte Fredrica Barrow (d. 1859) and the Rev. Richard Titley M.A., (d. 1892), of Lahore, India: a mural monument to Richard Breton esq. dated 1659, and brasses to John Torksey (1613), Susanna Stafford (1676), Robert Seagrave (1734) and Mary Seagrave (1730): the font is ancient: the church was restored in 1877 and an organ chamber provided: carved oak choir stalls, altar rails and console, a brass eagle lectern and a jewelled altar cross have been presented: a new organ was erected in 1912: electric lighting was installed in 1920: a memorial window to 81 men who fell in the Great War, 1914-18. was erected in 1921. There are about 400 sittings. In 1898 new churchyard gates were presented by Mrs. Brown, of this place.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Barwell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Barwell (St. Mary))
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Leicestershire is online.
Maps
Online maps of Barwell are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Leicestershire newspapers online: