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Thringstone is a village in the North West Leicestershire district, in Leicestershire, England. About north of Coalville, it lies in the English National Forest. English National Forest website
Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick. The township of Thringstone, based on a feudal (Manorialism) division of land carved out during the Anglo-Saxon period, comprised Thringstone village (then known as South Thringstone) and the hamlets of Peggs Green and Rotten Row in an area known as North Thringstone. Thringstone became an independent and autonomous civil parish in 1866, though this was dissolved on 1 April 1936 when outlying parts of the parish were transferred to Belton, Coleorton, Osgathorpe, Swannington and Worthington and the remainder was transferred to the civil parish and Urban District of Coalville. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1,566. The geographical area known as Thringstone today bears little resemblance to that known as Thringstone before World War II. In 2023, Thringstone is not part of a civil parish.
A water-mill existed here in the 13th century and survived till about 1935. Some dilapidated outbuildings and the old dry mill race remain. Grace Dieu Priory was built at about the same time.
In 1309 the Manor of Thringstone passed into the hands of one Robert Tebbe.H. Butler Johnson, Article on Thringstone Mills, Thringstone Parish Magazine, Jun/Jul 1932 In 1360, it is recorded that Adam, son of Robert Tebbe, was the owner of the Manor and water-mill of Thringstone. In 1391, Henry Tebbe of 'Threnguston' had a violent quarrel with the Benedictine priory of Upholland in Wigan. Tebbe, who farmed part of the Whitwick tithes, refused to pay, was arrested, but on paying a fine was pardoned and released.'Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Upholland', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2 (1908), pp. 111–112
In 1462, King Edward IV granted land at Thringstone previously in the possession of John Beaumont to Richard Hastings.Nichols, John. The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, Vol III Part II, 1804 However the manor was back with the Beaumont family by 1494, when Thomas Beaumont was in possession and by 1550 it had passed to another John Beaumont. In 1552, this Beaumont, who had been given the office of Master of the Rolls, was 'discovered to have grossly wronged the King', having purchased for himself lands with royal funds, amongst a host of other dishonest deeds. Beaumont subsequently surrendered his possessions to the King and in 1553, the Manor of Thringstone was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. It was this same John Beaumont who, in 1534, had abused his position as one of the commissioners appointed to visit Gracedieu Priory following its dissolution, by buying the nunnery buildings at his own valuation. When his misbehaviour at the Treasury was uncovered twenty years later, Gracedieu was also granted to the Earl of Huntingdon, though Beaumont's widow managed to regain possession of it in 1574.Hadfield, C. N. Charnwood Forest, A Survey, 1952, page 53
The Manor of Thringstone is recorded as having been the property of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon in 1640. A return of the year 1564 states that there were in that year 26 families in Thringston (sic), 17 in Whitwick and 25 in Swannington. The district had been devastated by the Black Death a century before, and this accounts for the very small population.
In 1846 it is recorded that "J. Boultbee, Esq., is lord of the manor; but the greater part of the soil belongs to E. Dawson, Esq., and the Cropper, Piddocke, Green and other families".White, William: History, Gazetteer and Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1846, p 368 In 1871, the Lord of the Manor is recorded as T. Boultbee, Esq.John Marius Wilson: "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72
In 1776, the workhouse at Thringstone was noted as being capable of receiving thirty persons. The expansion of the local coal mining industry, beginning in the first third of the 19th century, induced still further demographic change and the population had grown from a figure of 901 in 1801 to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% was non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas.
In 1885, the parish was reduced in size to enlarge Coleorton Civil Parish with the area known as "Rotten Row". But by far the most radical geographical and social changes to the village came during the 20th century, beginning in the years after World War I. In April 1936, Thringstone Civil Parish was dissolved and outlying parts of the township were transferred to Belton (68 acres), Coleorton (98 acres), Osgathorpe (482 acres), Swannington (70 acres) and Worthington (12 acres). The remainder of Thringstone (142 acres) was transferred to the Urban District and Civil Parish of Coalville.
Thus, the old parish of Thringstone had a much larger area than that known as Thringstone today, having also included the hamlet of Peggs Green. The village proper that we now refer to simply as 'Thringstone', was at that time referred to as 'South Thringstone', with outlying parts known as 'North Thringstone'. The boundary changes, dissolving an ancient manorial division of land, meant two notable landmarks formerly classed as being in Thringstone were ceded to other villages - namely the Stordon Grange moated farmhouse (to Osgathorpe) and the Thringstone Smock Mill (to Swannington, and now known as the Hough Windmill).
Following World War II, Thringstone village grew massively due to homogeneous estate housing developments. The Booth Road area was begun in the forties, followed shortly afterward by the Hensons Lane prefabs. The Woodside Estate was completed in 1964, bringing a large influx of families from Scotland and north-east England into the village as a result of northern colliery transfers. This estate is characterised by its Caledonian road-names such as 'Melrose Road' and 'Elgin Walk' ('Shrewsbury Walk' is the anomaly, named in honour of Thringstone's longest serving vicar, who died in 1958). The Carterdale complex was also begun in the sixties and the Glebe Farm estate came in the seventies, with the Springfield development arriving in the eighties.
To some extent, Thringstone has become an extension of Coalville (within living memory, it was relatively isolated) although, thanks to contiguity with Gracedieu Wood and the preservation of other greenbelt areas, it manages to retain something of an individual identity and has not been absorbed into the urban sprawl of Coalville to the same degree as parts of Whitwick, Snibston and Hugglescote.
Horse-drawn tramroads were built to transport coal mined at Swannington and Coleorton to the canal wharf at Thringstone Bridge, and once at the Nanpantan terminus the coal was re-loaded on to a further stretch of tramroad to take it to the main navigation at Loughborough. These railroads are said to have been the first in the world to use the standard gauge, and a deep cutting left by one of its branches can still be found in the field at the back of the Glebe Road housing estate in Thringstone.
The cost of three transhipments of coal between trucks and barges meant that the Leicestershire pits were still unable to compete with their Derbyshire rivals and in February 1799 the canal's feeder reservoir at Blackbrook burst its banks following exceptionally severe frosts, causing much damage to the canal and surrounding countryside.
That proved to be the last straw for the Leicestershire coal-owners and the getting of coal hereabouts was to remain a modest concern until the arrival of the Leicester and Swannington Railway some thirty years later.
The expansion of the local coal-mining industry from around 1830 onward had a big impact on population. The population of Thringstone in 1801 was 901. This had grown to 1,298 by 1851, of which some 52% were non-native to the village, having migrated here from other areas. The coal-mining era came to an end in North West Leicestershire during the 1980s.
The church was paid for by grants and public subscription, zealously elicited by Francis Merewether, MA (Vicar of Whitwick and Rector of Coleorton) and cost £750 12s, building work being undertaken by the firms of Messrs William Beckworth of Whitwick and Elliott of Ashby-de-la-Zouch/Burton. Merewether was a theologian of markedly low church views who preached and wrote prolifically against Ambrose de Lisle's Roman Catholic mission and was incensed by such developments as the founding of Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in his parish and the opening of a Roman Catholic day school at Turry Log, within the township of Thringstone, in 1843. There can be little doubt that, quite apart from the rapid population growth that affected the area following the opening of large collieries, Merewether was motivated to build the church (and also a school) to help counteract the perceived papist revival. Merewether - along with Sir G H Beaumont (ninth Baronet of Coleorton Hall) - was the chief benefactor of Saint Andrew's Church, each donating £100.
Until 1875, the building acted as a chapel of ease to Whitwick and was served by curates under the jurisdiction of the Whitwick vicars. Thringstone became an independent ecclesiastical parish on 29 October 1875, since which time there have been nine incumbents. Despite becoming a parish in its own right, the church at Thringstone retained the ecclesiastical title, Whitwick Saint Andrew-cum-Thringstone until the 1980s.
The church is one of forty-two nationally in the patronage of Her Majesty The Queen (in Right of her Duchy of Lancaster).
The church contains some stained glass by Kempe and Co, including the War Memorial Window, unveiled in 1920 by Lt Col Tom Booth DSO of Gracedieu Manor.Coalville Times newspaper, 21 May 1920 This window was originally intended as a personal memorial to Theophilus Jones, the Thringstone headmaster and depicts St Alban (Britain's first Christian martyr). This subject would almost certainly have been chosen to parallel Mr Jones' equally unenviable place in British history: he is commonly believed to have been the first soldier to be killed on home soil during World War I, being killed during the German Bombardment of the , 16 December 1914.http://portcities.hartlepool.gov.uk, accessed 06.06.10 Other. By the end of World War I, a further 26 men from the parish had fallen, and it was decided to dedicate the window to their collective memory. The names of the fallen are commemorated on a brass tablet and a second tablet was added in 1948 to commemorate the four men from the parish who died in World War II. Relatively few men from the Thringstone district enlisted in the armed services during World War II due to the country's need for increased coal production.
Another military hero, Thomas Ashford was married in Thringstone Church to Betsy Ann Sisson in 1891.St Andrew's Church Marriage Register, now deposited with Leicestershire Records Office, Wigston Elsdon had been decorated with Britain's highest military honour following an act of bravery whilst serving as private soldier in the Royal Fusiliers in 1880, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
In 2003, the building's impressive truss rafter roof was restored to its original appearance, having been substantially boarded over in 1952 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The roof and the building's semi-circular sanctuary combine to afford an extremely attractive interior, whilst externally, the building's simple pointed style and use of local granite is also aesthetically pleasing and the building is perhaps most commonly described as, 'pretty'.
During the incumbency of Revd Alan Burgess, the church was provided with small extensions on its north side to incorporate kitchen and toilet facilities. The Victorian pipe organ of 1882 was also dismantled and its frontage refashioned to frame a replacement Allen electronic organ.
The churchyard contains the graves of at least twenty-three men and boys who died through accidents in the local coal mining industry. Youngest of these was John Albert Gee (aged 13), who - along with 34 others - lost his life in the Whitwick Colliery Disaster of 1898. Also in the churchyard is the final resting place of the Rt Hon Charles Booth PC (1840–1916), the philanthropist and pioneer of old age pensions. Mr Booth was a regular worshipper at St Andrews Church and two of his daughters were married hereMary BOOTH, "Charles Booth: A Memoir", published by MacMillan, 1918 - p.176. He is buried with his wife, Mary Catherine (1847–1939), who was one of the distinguished Macaulay family and their simple, recumbent marble tombstone carries an inscription, raised in lead, summarising Booth's work and which is often sought out by visitors. The tomb was designated a listed monument in 2002, along with the church building itself. Elsewhere, a plaque to Booth's memory can be found in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral London. Booth purchased a copy of Holman Hunt famous painting, The Light of the World and presented it to the cathedral in 1904. Holman Hunt widow was among hundreds of mourners at Booth's funeral in 1916.
Buried in the graveyard are the first two Vicars of St Andrews Church - Edwin Samuel Crane MA (1845–1907) and his eventual son-in-law, Cheverton Shrewsbury MA (1872–1958), whose combined incumbency spanned a remarkable 81 years.
The large red-brick, six-bedroomed parsonage house (by Henry Robinson of Derby, 1878–79) was demolished in 1999 and the site has since been developed by the Badgers Croft complex. The vicarage has since transferred to Whitwick.Information in this section mainly from: 'Visitors Guide to the Parish Church of St Andrew, Thringstone', Stephen Neale Badcock, published 2005
| Mission Curate, 1873 - 1876, Died in office. Son, Revd A.N Crane, later Vicar of Bardon Hill and Rural Dean. |
| Longest serving vicar - 46 years. Died 1958 |
| Previously Rector of Bruntingthorpe. |
| Previously curate of Whitwick and priest-in-charge, Bardon Hill. |
| Also Rural Dean. Thringstone became joint benefice with Swannington during this time. |
| Thringstone and Swannington also joined with Whitwick during this time; vicarage transferred to Whitwick. |
| Appointed as Rector of Whitwick, Thringstone and Swannington. |
This arrangement was continued until about 1964, at which point the old Wesleyan chapel was sold off for industrial usage. The Loughborough Road Church was then used by the amalgamated congregations and still exists as the Thringstone Methodist Church. This premises was extended by the addition of a hall and connecting corridor at the rear in 1975.Coalville Times newspaper, 1 August 1975 The former Wesleyan chapel was occupied by a number of knitware companies before opening as The Chapel Fitness Centre in 1996.Coalville Echo newspaper, 10 January 1996
In August 2021 the Chapel closed for good and with the enclosed grounds was put up for sale
By 1950, trust monies left by the Booth family were insufficient for all that was needed in changed times; moreover, members of the Booth family had left the area and it was impossible for them to maintain an active status as trustees. Trusteeship of the institute was transferred to the Leicestershire County Council. The institute is now known as the Thringstone House Community Centre and a member of the Booth family (James Gore Browne) remains as honorary president of the institute, which proudly lays claim to be the oldest of its kind in the country. The centre is administered according to the aims and objects of the Thringstone Community Association. It has a strong educational focus and a clear sense of having a community development role.
Architecturally, the community centre buildings have a great deal of character, comprising a gabled, white-washed 17th-century farmhouse fronting The Green with, at the rear, a large two-storeyed hall overlooking the rural valley of Thringstone Brook. The hall carries a louvred ventilation turret on its western gable which, together with brick buttresses erected to reinforce the north and south walls in the late 20th century, gives the building a distinctly ecclesiastical appearance.
Today, there is a great deal of involvement from local people. The centre has a bar which is open every evening providing a setting where people attending activities in the centre can associate at the end of the evening. A warden is employed and has done much to develop activities in the centre. The association has adopted a development plan and is challenging itself to respond to the needs of a community hit hard by the closure of the coal pits and which is also seeing some growth as a number of new estates bring younger people to the community.
The ruins are known as one of the most haunted locations in Leicestershire due to the site's association with a 'White Lady' apparition, most commonly seen drifting across the A512. The most famous sighting is said to have occurred in 1954, when a 'bus driver is said to have stopped to pick up a woman waiting by the shelter opposite the ruins, only to find on drawing up his vehicle that she had vanished.Bell, David: "Ghosts and Legends of Leicestershire", Countryside Books, 1992"; also "Ghost Stories - Related By Apprentices of the Coalville Mining and Technical College", undated, Loughborough Library, ref 398.32 and Coalville Mail newspaper article dated 08.08.1996 Sightings of unexplained phenomena in this area are well documentedStephen Neale Badcock, http://www.reocities.com/rainforest/jungle/8700/whitelady.htm and are also referred to in Paul Devereux's book, 'Earth Lights' (1982)Devereux: Paul Devereux -'Earth Lights', Turnstone Press Ltd, 1982, p.208-9.
Following its dissolution as a religious house, the priory came into the possession of the Beaumont family, who converted it into a residence, so that the few remaining ruins are partly medieval, but chiefly domestic Tudor (e.g. fireplaces and chimney-stacks).Hoskins, W G: Shell Guide to Leicestershire, 1970, p 54. Francis Beaumont, the great Elizabethan dramatist, was born here in circa 1584. In the 1690s, the priory was acquired by Sir Ambrose Phillipps of Garendon Abbey, though by the 1790s the buildings were ruinous, with only two sections still roofed.Hillier, Kenneth and Ryder, Peter F: Grace Dieu Priory, published by Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum and the Grace Dieu Prior Trust, July 2006
There is a group of volunteers whose remit is to record flora and fauna, provide education in wood-lore and improve the habitat of the woods from the A512 (Loughborough to Ashby Road), to Swannymote Road and Loughborough Road, Whitwick, with kind permission of the owner, Mr P de Lisle.
However, three public houses - The Fox Inn, The Queens Head and The Rose and Crown have recently closed, such has been the decline in trade. The smoking ban of 2007 and competition from supermarkets have been seen as contributory factors toward the decline.
Ingles Football Club, originally from nearby Shepshed, currently play at the Homestead Road Ground in Thringstone.
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