Broughton Astley, Leicestershire
Historical Description
Broughton-Astley, a township and a parish in Leicestershire. The township lies on the M.R., near the Fosse Way, 5½ miles N by W of Lutterworth, and has a station on the railway. The parish contains also the hamlets of Prime-thorpe and Sutton-in-the Elms, and has a post office under Rugby, which is the telegraph office; money order office, Primethorpe. Area of the civil parish, 2472 acres; population, 785; of the ecclesiastical, 773. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; net yearly value, £600 with residence. The church is a large ancient building of stone, chiefly in the Early English and Decorated styles. It was restored in 1882. There is a Particular Baptist chapel at Sutton.
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 | Broughton-Astley St. Mary | |
Hundred | Guthlaxton | |
Poor Law union | Lutterworth |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1581, and is in good condition.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Broughton Astley:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1581-1916 | 1754-1940 | 1581-1931 | 1583-1970 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a large and ancient building of stone, chiefly in the Early English and Decorated styles, with portions of Norman and Perpendicular work, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, north and south porches and a massive embattled western tower with spire, containing 5 bells, all dated 1637, and a clock, placed in 1887, at a cost of £100; the bells were rehung and two recast in 1892: the chancel and lower part of the north aisle date from the beginning of the 14th century: other parts of the church are of the 15th century: the arcade of the north aisle has Norman piers and other features of Transitional character: some of the windows have rich Geometrical tracery, retaining fragments of ancient stained glass: the church was restored and reseated in 1882, the chancel being almost entirely reconstructed by the rector: in 1925 a lady chapel was given by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wright: a new organ was built in 1885 and rebuilt in 1925; the north porch was erected in 1897 at a cost of £106: there are 450 sittings.
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 Broughton Astley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Broughton-Astley (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 Broughton Astley 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: