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Ratby is a commuter village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester and just south of the M1 motorway (Groby is on the northern side). The population at the 2011 census was 4,468. Other nearby places include Field Head, Kirby Muxloe, Glenfield and Markfield. Ratby is part of the Leicester Urban Area.
The next oldest structure is the historic Church of St Philip & St James, called Ratby Church, built in four stages from the 13th century to 15th century and restored by Nicholas Joyce in 1881. The church was appropriated to Leicester Abbey in 1291 and afterwards to Nuneaton Priory.Curtis (1831); p. 145 There are also some cottages dating back several centuries.
For most of its history, Ratby was a small Agriculture village with a few farms and the open 3-field plan until enclosure in the 18th century. From 1346 till the 19th century Ratby was in the hundred of Sparkenhoe.John Curtis (1831) A Topographical History of the County of Leicester. Ashby-de-la-Zouch: W. Hextall; p. 145 In the 1830s the inhabitants were mainly employed in frame-work knitting; the population at that time was 1025. The chief landowner was the Earl of Stamford and Warrington who was lord of the manor and patron of the vicarage. The parish was enclosed in 1770.Curtis (1831); p. 145
In the 20th century a war memorial called the "Angel of Peace" was constructed after the First World War and unveiled in 1920 by the wartime British Army Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Haig. [[File:Chapel Lane, Ratby, January 2020.jpg | thumb | 330x186px | left | alt= Chape Lane, Ratby, February 2020 | Chapel Lane, Ratby]]
There is currently a review of the library by the county council. It is possible that the library will close if a volunteer group has not been found to run it. Ratby is only 1 mile from Junction 21a of the M1 motorway and situated 5 miles from the city centre of Leicester, with frequent Arriva Fox County bus services to and from the city.
In addition to all of these facilities the village is home to Ratby Cooperative Brass Band. The band rehearse in their own room on Taverner Drive and are highly regarded in the brass band movement particularly for their excellent work with youth. The band has around 150 members. Ratby band was founded in its present form in 1906, although records suggest that a band existed in the village many years before that date. It is not the oldest brass band in England, the Stalybridge Old Band was founded in 1809.
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