Smeeton Westerby - <>

Smeeton Westerby is a village located approximately nine miles south east from Leicester. Smeeton Westerby is a picturesque village situated in the Leicestershire countryside. It is close to Saddington, Kibworth and Fleckney and is situated 500m North of the Grand union canal. Smeeton Westerby is approximately 6.8 miles from the nearest railway station which is located in Market Harborough. The closest area for shops is Kibworth, which is approximately 1.4 miles North of Smeeton Westerby. Kibworth has numerous shops and in 2002 many new shops appeared, including a new branch of the Co-op UK. Smeeton Westerby doesn't have any shops of its own but it does have a traditional village pub, a village hall, a parish church plus several stables and farms.HistoryIn 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Smeeton Westerby as:"…a township-chapelry in Kibworth-Beauchamp parish, Leicester; ½ a mile S of Kibworth r. station, 1 NE of the Grand Union canal, and 5¼ NW of Market -Harborough. Post town, Kibworth-Harcourt, under Leicester. Real property, £3,293. Pop., 533. Houses, 114. The property is much subdivided. The canal here burst its banks in Sept. 1865, and was emptied for a distance of 10 miles. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £200. Patron, the Rector of Kibworth. The church was built in 1849."Originally Smeeton and Westerby were two separate hamlets of Smeeton and Westerby but they merged some time ago to become the village that it is today. The occupation in Smeeton Westerby has changed considerably over the last 130 years. The Vision of Britain website shows the main occupations in 1881 was domestic services for women and agriculture for men. As it is a conservation village there has been little change to the size of the village throughout its history apart from the small developments on the former factory site and Mill Lane. In 1975 an ancient burial site of the Beaker people was discovered just outside the village.

Tags: Landmark & Historical Place