The origins of Thornton are debatable; it could have been either a Scandinavian (Danelaw) or Saxon settlement being located between Bagworth, which was Saxon, and Ratby, which was Scandinavian. Having said that, most, if not all, other villages named Thornton are located in the old Danelaw area of England, north of Watling Street (the A5).
Whilst Thornton is an old village, its known history post-dates the Doomsday Book (1086) in which it has no mention, although Bagworth is mentioned. There was a later state survey, in the reign of Henry I, carried out circa 1130. This was stored in London. Unfortunately, the outer layers (where any possible data on Leicestershire would have been) either rotted away or were eaten by mice.
The first known written record of Thornton, and specifically regarding a church existing here, is dated 1162 when Thornton church was included in a list of village churches which belonged to the Abbey of St Mary in the Fields, Leicester. This list had been given to the Abbey by a Thomas Sorell of Thornton. This was later confirmed by his son, Simon Sorell in 1189. At that time the chapels in Bagworth and Stanton under Bardon came under the church in Thornton. The chapel in Bagworth was also mentioned in a document between the Abbey and Luke Sorell, the son of Simon, although the date is not known, possibly around 1200.
In 1220 Thornton was one of the churches to be granted a “perpetual vicar” by Bishop Hugh of Lincoln, Leicestershire at that time being part of the Diocese of Lincoln. The first Vicar was named Richard, a full list is located on the wall of St Peter’s Church in Thornton.
Lord Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, (killed in battle 1265) also held, amongst many others, the title Lord of the Manor of Thornton and Bagworth. De Montfort had granted the manor to one of his senior retainers, Thomas Meynell.
From 1279 – 1311, the Manor of Bagworth and Thornton belonged to Anthony le Bek, Prince Bishop of Durham, and a high-ranking courtier – he was one of the most important men in England at that time.
In 1474, Edward IV gave Thornton and Bagworth to William Hastings as a reward for his loyal friendship and his support in the Wars of the Roses. Hastings was popular in this part of Leicestershire. But Richard III had him executed for his lack of support to him personally; an act which meant that when Henry Tudor arrived at Bosworth, Richard perhaps did not have as much support locally as he could have had.
In 1523, the Vicar of Thornton, Richard Parker was disciplined by the Church for having an affair with his housekeeper, he kept his job, but she was banished from the village.
In the Diocesan return of 1563 (Queen Elizabeth I) Thornton was reported as having 42 households and Bagworth 34: quite a sizeable parish.
By 1603 (King James I) the villages of Bagworth and Thornton had a total of 382 communicants between them.
The First Civil War, 1642-46, had relatively little impact on Thornton although the vicar and a number of other leading men in the village were recorded as Royalists; the vicar was removed by Parliament and the other men fined (and closely watched no doubt).
The earliest known map of Thornton itself is dated to 1794 in the reign of George III; it is the enclosure map for the village. At this time ancient Common Land was being enclosed to enable more intense farming and also for building new, wider roads.
The Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe from 1802-15 and a number of men from Thornton enlisted and fought in the Army. These were William Dilks, Thomas Foster and Nathaniel Cotton. It is known that other men from Thornton enlisted in the Royal Marines; their names included Humphrey Gamble, Edward Sutton and Thomas Underwood.
Coal mining in the area was well underway by 1830 under the ownership of the Right Honourable Viscount Maynard at Bagworth. Even earlier evidence of coal mining in the area dates back to 1813. A Bagworth mining map dating to the 1830s is kept by the Essex record office and it shows details of the two first pit-heads and the shafts, wagon roads and airways leading from them (c. 1835 – 1839).
The Swannington to Leicester Railway was built in 1832 to link the coal pits at Swannington to the city of Leicester. This passed through Bagworth and Thornton. Later a stop was built in the Hollow in Thornton – the station building was the Stag and Castle pub, now a private house.
After several outbreaks of cholera in the city and surroundings during the 1830s and 1840s, Thornton Reservoir was built to supply Leicester with clean drinking water. The first piped water from Thornton arrived in Leicester in December 1853. The reservoir, as built, had a capacity of 330 million gallons of water for drinking. Within 10 years it became clear that Thornton reservoir alone could not cope with Leicester’s demand for water.
Daisy, Countess of Warwick and a direct descendant of Viscount Maynard, inherited the Manor of Thornton and Bagworth due to her Maynard (Essex) heritage. Daisy was a real beauty and closely connected to the royal family and senior aristocracy. Due to her extravagant lifestyle in her earlier years, she was eventually obliged to sell off much of that heritage.
In 1919 her properties in Thornton and Bagworth were auctioned off, and a study of the auction catalogue gives a lot of detail of the farms and homes in the villages at that time.
Researched by Peter & Jo Leadbetter
Thornton 