Place:Osgathorpe, Leicestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Osgathorpe is a small village which lies in a fold of the hills in the North West Leicestershire District of Leicestershire, England, and is about a quarter of a mile the A512 Coalville to Loughborough Road.

The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Blessed Virgin and dates from the fourteenth century. It was heavily restored in the nineteenth century, with the addition of a polygonal apse to the chancel. A tower with a small pyramid turret was built at the south west corner of the church in around 1930 and contains two bells, which are rung using a clocking method. There are pleasing north and south windows to the nave and chancel, and in the south wall of the nave can be seen a very unusual hagioscope (or squint), which is set diagonally within the stonework, to allow a view of the altar.

Opposite the church is the village school, built in 1670, with almshouses of the same date. There is also a good example of a sixteenth-century yeoman farmer's house just south-west of the church, with a fine Swithland slate roof.

Remains of a stretch of the long-abandoned Charnwood Forest Canal can be seen alongside a footpath to the south of the village, running from Thringstone to an area known locally as 'The Snarrows'.

A nineteenth century description

A History of Britain through Time provides the following description of Osgathorpe from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"OSGATHORPE, a village and a parish in Ashby-de-la-Zouch [registration] district, Leicester. The village stands on an affluent of the river Soar, 2 miles N N E of Swannington [railway] station, and 5 E N E of Ashby-de-la-Zouch; and is a pleasant place. The parish comprises 1,220 acres. Post-town: Loughborough. Real property: £1,982. Population: 351. Houses: 82. The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to J. B. Story, Esq. Bricks are made. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £240. Patron: the Marquis of Hastings. The church is of the 13th century; was restored, with addition of [an] apsidal E end, in 1861; has a tower and spire; and contains a restored ancient octagonal font. There are a free grammar-school for 40 day pupils, endowed residences for 7 clergymen's widows, with £317 a year, and other charities £9."

Research Tips

• The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Rural District page includes a map illustrating the civil parishes of the district. Osgathorpe is #10 on the map.