Croft, Leicestershire
Historical Description
Croft, a village and a parish in Leicestershire, near the Fosse Way and on the river Soar, 5½ miles ENE from Hinckley, and about 8 miles from Leicester, with a station on the L. & N.W.R., and a post office under Leicester; money order and telegraph office, Stony Stanton or Narborough. Acreage, 897; population of the civil parish, 661; of the ecclesiastical, 673. Croft Hall, the seat of the Brookes family, is a chief residence. There is a large syenite rock quarry here, and bricks and concrete are made. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; gross yearly value, £450. The church is a building of syenite rock in the Decorated and Early English styles.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Leicestershire | |
| Hundred | Sparkenhoe | |
| Poor Law union | Blaby |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1586, and is in fair condition.
A fully searchable database containing a transcript of the Marriages at Croft, Leicestershire 1548-1837.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Croft:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1586-1916 | 1754-1940 | 1583-1931 | 1583-1919 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael is a building of syenite rock in the Decorated, and Early English styles: the nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1879, at a cost of £3,808, when a window of the ancient church was rebuilt into the north transept: it now consists of chancel, south porch, nave, transepts and an embattled western tower of the 14th century, containing a clock and 6 bells; there are 260 sittings: in the churchyard is a stone coffin, found there in 1866.
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 Croft from the following:
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Leicestershire is online.
Maps
Online maps of Croft are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- 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: