61-592: Copt Oak is a hamlet in Leicestershire , England . It is located in the North West Leicestershire district near the large village of Markfield and the rural hamlets of Abbots Oak , Charley , Ulverscroft , and Nanpantan . In its name, cop is an old English word for head , i.e. " pollarded oak" (literally "[be]headed oak "). The area is centred on a section of the B591 and Whitwick Road, consisting of
122-607: A Digital Media Centre. Many creative and media businesses have thrived in the region. As part of a 2002 marketing campaign , the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the foxglove as the county flower . Financial and business service companies with operations in Leicestershire include Alliance & Leicester , Cambridge & Counties Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland , State Bank of India , HSBC , and PricewaterhouseCoopers . Pension provision company Mattioli Woods employs 170 people at its Grove Park, Enderby, HQ and has
183-597: A fox under a cinquefoil – both symbols often associated with Leicestershire. The design was officiated in July 2021 and was England's last historic county to have a flag registered. The River Soar together with its tributaries and canalisations constitutes the principal river basin of the county, although the River Avon and River Welland through Harborough and along the county's southern boundaries are also significant. The Soar rises between Hinckley and Lutterworth , towards
244-489: A further 6 GCR sites, 13 regionally important geological sites (RIGS), five local nature reserves (LNRs), seven Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) nature reserves, and one Woodland Trust woodland. Seventeen sites have open access to the public. Footpaths and bridleways give views and limited access to the other sites listed, and to the rest of the Charnwood Forest landscape. Over half of Charnwood Forest
305-419: A population of 712,300. Leicester occupies the centre of the county and is by far the largest settlement, with a built-up area population of 357,000. The remainder of the county is largely rural, and the next-largest settlements are Loughborough (65,000), Hinckley (50,000), and Coalville (22,000). For local government purposes Leicestershire comprises a non-metropolitan county , with seven districts, and
366-527: A reputation for employing graduates directly from Leicestershire Universities. Companies that have their head office in the area include Next (clothing) , and British Gas Business. The European Association of Trade Mark Owners, and the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) are based in Leicestershire. Key stakeholders promoting economic development formed Leicester & Leicestershire Economic Partnership in 2011. Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce
427-533: A residential home. Copt Oak is the highest point of the M1 , and the site of BBC Radio Leicester 's only transmitter on 104.9 MHz FM (V.H.F.), and also the main transmitter of Greatest Hits Radio East Midlands (formerly Gem before October 2023) on 106.0FM. COPT OAK was the meeting place in the centre of the forest - Marked by a great tree (The Copest Oak) from the Anglo=Saxon word 'cop' meaning cap or top. This tree
488-468: Is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire , and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west. The city of Leicester is the largest settlement and the county town . The county has an area of 2,156 km (832 sq mi) and
549-656: Is another good source for business advice. The Leicestershire Business Awards has categories including Investing in Leicestershire, Contribution to the Community, and Entrepreneur of the Year. Recent Leicestershire winners of the Queen's Award for Enterprise are listed on the Lord Lieutenant's website . This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and Rutland (it does not include
610-589: Is catered for by award-winning Indian restaurants – for instance the vegetable samosas approved by the Vegetarian Society sold at The Sharmilee on Belgrave Road in the Belgrave area of Leicester . The growing market for Indian food has afforded new opportunities to long-standing local companies, for example the Long Clawson dairy, a co-operative manufacturer of Stilton (cheese) now also makes Paneer cheese used in
671-483: Is depicted as a possible portal to the realm of fairies . Charnwood Forest covers approx 67 sq mi (170 km ) of Leicestershire , split over three local government districts: Charnwood Borough , North West Leicestershire District and Hinckley and Bosworth District. It includes a national nature reserve (NNR), 19 SSSIs (Some subdivided in the list of sites below), 4 Geological Conservation Review (GCR) sites of international geological importance plus
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#1732894839639732-601: Is in Lutterworth. De Montfort University has, in the form of its Fashion and Contour Design course a leading design department for female underwear. It also has the only UK University courses in Footwear Design providing future designers for local shoemakers Shoefayre, Stead and Simpson, and Shoe Zone , who all have their headquarters in the county. Gola also originates from the county. University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust employs around 11,000 at its three hospitals in
793-658: Is included within the English National Forest . It is also crossed by two waymarked long distance walking routes—the Leicestershire Round and the Ivanhoe Way. The 45 sites listed here include sites with statutory wildlife or geological designations, plus other sites included in published lists of notable sites. On both the map and table, green denotes a site open to the public, amber denotes a site with limited access or restricted by permit or membership. Red denotes
854-419: Is known as granite (formerly also called Markfieldite). The central area of the forest has older rocks still. These are sedimentary and are very variable in character, They were formed by material from volcanoes, settling in deep water, and it is in these beds that the fossils are found. Uplifting, tilting and erosion have produced the distinctive jagged exposures found across the highest parts of Charnwood. On
915-523: Is located at the county's northernmost tip close to Bottesford where the River Devon flowing through the Vale of Belvoir leaves Leicestershire and enters Nottinghamshire. The population of Leicestershire (excluding Leicester Unitary Authority) is 609,578 people (2001 census). The county covers an area of 2,084 km (805 sq mi). Its largest population centre is the city of Leicester , followed by
976-637: Is the county's highest point. There are prehistoric earthworks in the county, and Leicester was a Roman settlement. The region was settled by the Angles in the sixth century and became part of the Kingdom of Mercia , and the county existed at the time of the Domesday Survey in the 1080s. The county has had a relatively settled existence, however it was the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, which established
1037-486: Is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland , and significant Precambrian geology. Its elevation is generally 600 feet (180 m)and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km ). The highest point, Bardon Hill , is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield , with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of
1098-511: The British Asian community is made here – for example the shop Saree Mandir sells silk saree 's and salwar suits for women whose design patterns closely follow contemporary Indian trends. The Knitting Industries' Federation continues to be based in Leicestershire. On the creative side the design centre for next is headquartered in Enderby, and the design centre for George Clothing (Asda/Walmart)
1159-504: The City of Leicester ) at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. For lieutenancy purposes, Leicestershire consists of the non-metropolitan county and the City of Leicester . Charnwood Forest Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire , England , bounded by Leicester , Loughborough and Coalville . The area
1220-492: The M1 in north-west Leicestershire, and is the second largest freight airport in the United Kingdom after London Heathrow. DHL Aviation have a large purpose-built facility at EMA, and courier companies UPS and TNT also use the airport as a base. Lufthansa Cargo is also a regular user of East Midlands, and the airport is a primary hub for Royal Mail . The M1 is Leicestershire's other important transport hub. The start of
1281-641: The M6 , and part of the A14 briefly intersect with the southern tip of Leicestershire. Many large retail companies have huge warehouses at the Magna Park complex near Lutterworth. The Widdowson Group make use of J21a of the M1 to provide warehousing, transportation, freight forwarding, garage services and LGV/HGV training. Pall-Ex of Ellistown provide automated palletised freight distribution services from their location off Junction 22 of
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#17328948396391342-740: The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) have their head offices in Leicestershire. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical instrument manufacturing companies include 3M , Bridgehead International in Melton, Fisher Scientific in Loughborough, and Ashfield Healthcare in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Transportation links are good. East Midlands Airport is one mile (1.6 km) south of Castle Donington, next to
1403-522: The National Forest . The M1 motorway , between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest. The hard stone of Charnwood Forest has been quarried for centuries, and was a source of whetstones and quern-stones . The granite quarries at Bardon Hill , Buddon Hill and Whitwick supply crushed aggregate to a wide area of southern Britain. The forest is an important recreational area with woodland walks, noted for their displays of bluebells in
1464-698: The Tudor dynasty's position as monarchs of England. During the Industrial Revolution the Leicestershire coalfield in the north and west of the county was exploited. Leicester became known for shoemaking, and with Loughborough continues to be a manufacturing centre. In agriculture the county is known for Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies . Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) in four wapentakes : Guthlaxton , Framland , Goscote , and Gartree . These later became hundreds , with
1525-462: The county borough status of Leicester city and the county status of neighbouring Rutland , converting both to administrative districts of Leicestershire. These actions were reversed on 1 April 1997, when Rutland and the City of Leicester became unitary authorities. Rutland became a distinct Ceremonial County once again, although it continues to be policed by Leicestershire Constabulary . The symbol of
1586-499: The point where Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet. The geographical centre of England is in Leicestershire, near Fenny Drayton in the southwest of the county. In 2013, the Ordnance Survey calculated that the point was on land at Lindley Hall Farm. An alternative point at Meriden , around 10 miles (16 km) to the southwest, had been considered the traditional centre for more than 500 years. A large part of
1647-608: The unitary authority area of Leicester. Leicestershire is generally a lowland county, characterised by small, rolling hills. It is bisected by the River Soar , which rises near the Warwickshire border south of Hinckley and flows north through Leicester and Loughborough before reaching the Trent at the county boundary. To the west of the river is Charnwood Forest , an upland area which contains Bardon Hill, which at 278 m (912 ft)
1708-1628: The 1820s until 1986. Abbey Pumping Station houses four enormous steam powered beam engines built in Leicester in the 1890s in the Vulcan factory owned by Josiah Gimson, whose son Ernest Gimson was an influential furniture designer and architect of the English Arts and Crafts movement . Engineering companies today include sports car makers Noble Automotive Ltd in Barwell and Ultima Sports Ltd in Hinckley, Triumph Motorcycles in Hinckley , Jones & Shipman (machine tools), Caterpillar Redford (Plant machinery), Plant manufacturers Metalfacture Ltd (sheet metal work), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment), Trelleborg Industrial AVS in Beaumont Leys (industrial suspension components), Parker Plant (quarrying equipment), Aggregate Industries UK (construction materials), Infotec in Ashby-de-la-Zouch (electronic information display boards), Alstec in Whetstone, Leicestershire (airport baggage handling systems), and Brush Traction (railway locomotives) in Loughborough . There are also consultancies (including Pick Everard ) in Leicestershire supporting engineering and
1769-591: The British Pantry (near Washington, D.C.). Leicester and Leicestershire has had a traditional industry of knitwear , hosiery and footwear , and the sheep on the county's coat of arms is recognition of this. The local manufacturing industry, which began with hand knitting in the Middle Ages, and was fully industrialised by the end of the 19th century, survived until the end of the 20th century through retailers buying UK sourced products, and government measures such as
1830-725: The Indian dish Mattar Paneer . Leicestershire food exported abroad includes cheese from the Long Clawson dairy, which is sold in supermarkets in Canada and the United States via a network of distributors coordinated by Taunton-based company Somerdale. Belvoir Fruit Farms cordials and pressé drinks are sold on the United States east coast in Wegmans Food Markets , World Market , Harris Teeter , Dean & DeLuca , and in specialised British food stores such as Myers of Keswick (New York City), and
1891-763: The M1. The Midland Main Line provides important connections to Yorkshire and London, and the Birmingham–Stansted Line is essentially Leicestershire's east–west connection from Hinckley to Melton. Ibstock -based developer Wilson Bowden was bought in 2007 by Barratt Developments plc in a £2.2 billion deal. Charles Street Buildings (Leicester) and Jelson Homes are two other successful Leicester-based property companies. Hamilton-based Sofidel Group manufactures more than 600 million toilet rolls and kitchen towel rolls per year in its Leicestershire factories. Toy car company Corgi have their European operation at
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1952-534: The Meridian Business Park, although the toys are now manufactured in China and the company is owned by Margate-based Hornby . Leicestershire is twinned with Kilkenny , Ireland. Leicester's Cultural Quarter is an ambitious plan to drive the regeneration of a large run-down area of the city. It has delivered: a new venue for the performing arts, Curve; creative workspaces for artists and designers, LCB Depot; and
2013-525: The Vulcan Operating Company. Leicestershire has a long history of livestock farming which continues today. Robert Bakewell (1725–1795) of Dishley, near Loughborough, was a revolutionary in the field of selective breeding. Bakewell's Leicester Longwool sheep was much prized by farmers across the British Empire and is today a heritage breed admired. Commercial and rare breeds associated with
2074-543: The area. Many of the craggy rocks of Charnwood Forest are of volcanic origin and are very old, dating back through 600 million years to Precambrian times. It was the site of the first-ever recorded discovery of Charnia masoni , the earliest-known large, complex fossilised species on record, recovered from a quarry near the Charnwood village of Woodhouse Eaves . It was discovered separately in 1956 & 1957 by local schoolchildren Tina Negus and Roger Mason , although it
2135-482: The borough is not part of the forest). Furthermore, despite its name, Charnwood was never a royal forest , and was never subject to forest law . So although it is an ancient and well-established locality, it has only recently been officially defined, by the Natural England National Character Area (NCA) process, which takes a somewhat wider definition than many previous attempts to define
2196-531: The built environment. Local commitment to nurturing the upcoming cadre of British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University , De Montfort University , and Loughborough University . The Systems Engineering Innovation Centre and Centre for Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies are both based at Loughborough University . Private sector research and development organisations include PERA –
2257-509: The city and county includes popular British fish and chip shop pie Pukka Pies who are based in Syston. Walkers Midshire Foods, part of the Samworth Brothers group, makes sausages and pies in its Beaumont Leys factories. Samworth Brothers has operations in Leicestershire and Cornwall ( Ginsters ), making a range of products from sandwiches to desserts for UK retailers under their brands as well
2318-711: The city and county, the Glenfield , the General and the Royal Infirmary . Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust employs over 5,500 staff providing mental health, learning disability and community health services in the city and county. These services are commissioned by the three Clinical Commissioning Groups, led by local GPs. The British Psychological Society , the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) based in Wigston, and
2379-794: The company's own portfolio of brands including Dickinson & Morris, producers of pork pies and Melton Hunt Cake. Walkers crisps are made in Beaumont Leys using Lincolnshire potatoes. United Biscuits have their distribution centre in Ashby-de-la-Zouch as well as a snacks factory and they also have a biscuit factory in Wigston. The Masterfoods UK factory at Melton Mowbray produces petfood. Hand made chocolates are produced by Chocolate Perfection in Ashby-de-la-Zouch . Some 15 major Indian food manufacturers are based in Leicester including Sara Foods, Mayur Foods, Cofresh Snack Foods Ltd, Farsan, Apni Roti, and Spice n Tice. The 'Mithai' Indian sweet market
2440-454: The county council, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester City FC , is the fox . Leicestershire is considered to be the birthplace of fox hunting as it is known today. Hugo Meynell , who lived in Quorn , is known as the father of fox hunting. Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough have associations with fox hunting, as has neighbouring Rutland. The flag of Leicestershire features
2501-486: The county's legal name was "Leicester" rather than "Leicestershire", although the latter form was in common usage. In legal contexts the county was usually referred to as the "County of Leicester" where necessary to distinguish between the city and the county. In 1969 the government formally changed the county's name to Leicestershire at the county council's request. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished
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2562-612: The county, Long Clawson and the Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company. All-natural non-alcoholic fruit cordials and pressed drinks are made by Belvoir Fruit Farms and sold in supermarkets across Britain. Swithland Spring Water is sourced from the Charnwood hills. Breweries in Leicestershire and Rutland are listed on the Leicester CAMRA website. The county's largest beer brewer is Everards , and there are several microbreweries. Various markets are held across
2623-588: The county. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered marketplace in Europe and among the products on sale are fruit and vegetables sold by market stallholders, and fresh fish and meat in the Indoor Market. The annual East Midlands Food & Drink Festival held in Melton Mowbray had over 200 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors attending in 2007 making it the largest British regional food festival. Food processing in
2684-479: The derivation, meaning a tool used to grind grain and other materials by hand. The area was a source of stone for these tools, called quern-stones . Archeological evidence has shown that the area was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic period, approximately 4,000–2,000 BC. Beacon Hill is the site of a Bronze Age hill fort, dating from between 600 BC and 43 AD. This forms one of the last surviving visible features in
2745-506: The descendants of Bakewell's sheep include the English Leicester , Border Leicester , Bluefaced Leicester, Scotch mule, and Welsh halfbred. The Leicestershire County Show is held on the first Bank Holiday in May each year and includes animal showings, trade exhibitions, and show jumping. Melton Mowbray Market is an important regional livestock market. Field sports remain an important part of
2806-662: The division of Goscote into West Goscote and East Goscote , and the addition of Sparkenhoe hundred. In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as Lægrecastrescir . Leicestershire's external boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey. The Measham - Donisthorpe exclave of Derbyshire has been exchanged for the Netherseal area, and the urban expansion of Market Harborough has caused Little Bowden , previously in Northamptonshire to be annexed. Until 1969,
2867-506: The early spring, rock climbing and hillwalking . Popular places with public access include Bardon Hill , Beacon Hill , Bradgate Park , Swithland Wood , the Outwoods and Stoneywell cottage (National Trust). The area of hills and open land known as Charnwood Forest has no jurisdictional boundary (the Borough of Charnwood covers roughly two thirds of Charnwood Forest, and the eastern half of
2928-542: The eastern side, a much more recent series of rocks are found. Again igneous diorites, that formed deep underground, but these are Ordovician , from a mere 450 million years ago. These are extensively quarried in the areas near Mountsorrel . The earliest form of the name Charnwood is probably derived from cerne woda , from the Celtic carn , meaning cairn , and the Old English wudu , meaning wood. Some sources give cwern as
2989-495: The forest for use in agriculture. Quorn was established between 1086 and 1153, and all the land up to Woodhouse had been deforested by 1228. There were comparatively few major changes in land use in the post Medieval period, until the demand for timber and charcoal for the early Industrial Revolution contributed to a further loss of woodland. By the end of the 18th century, most of the woodland had disappeared leaving large areas of moorland and pasture. In 1957, Charnwood Forest
3050-454: The landscape known to the Coritani , the tribe who occupied most of the East Midlands area at the time of the Roman Conquest. According to Domesday Book , there was only one settlement in Charnwood Forest in 1086, at Charley whose name would appear to come from the same root, with the suffix -ley denoting open land, rather than forest. In the 200 years after the Norman conquest , newly created settlements took major areas of land out of
3111-415: The large Copt Oak pub-restaurant, a church, and a cluster of residential dwellings and farms. The Anglican Church of Saint Peter was consecrated in 1837 and was designed by William Railton , who later designed Nelson's Column in London. For many years the hostel, north of the junction of the A50 and the M1, was known for its small youth hostel in the old schoolhouse, which was closed and converted into
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#17328948396393172-727: The most rapidly expanding villages is Anstey , which has recently seen many development schemes. Engineering has long been an important part of the economy of Leicestershire. John Taylor Bellfounders continues a history of bellfounding in Loughborough since the 14th century. In 1881 John Taylors cast the largest bell in Britain, "Great Paul", for St Paul's Cathedral in London. Norman & Underwood have been making sand cast sheet lead roofing and stained glass since 1825 working on many of England's major cathedrals and historic buildings, including Salisbury Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, and Chatsworth House. There were three coal mines that operated in Coalville from
3233-477: The north-west of the county, around Coalville , forms part of the new National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 m (912 ft), which is also a Marilyn ; with other hilly/upland areas of c. 150–200 metres (490–660 ft) and above in nearby Charnwood Forest and also to the east of the county around Launde Abbey . The lowest point, at an altitude of about 20 metres (66 ft),
3294-502: The protection of the Multi Fibre Arrangement which ended in 2004. Cheaper global competition, coupled with the 1999 slump in the UK fashion retail sector, led to the end of much of the cheaper clothing manufacturing industry. Today Leicestershire companies focus on high quality clothing and speciality textiles. Other local companies manufacture knitwear such as Commando Knitwear of Wigston, and others specialise in technical textiles for industrial or medical purposes. Clothing and fabric for
3355-548: The rural economy of Leicestershire, with stables, kennels, and gunsmiths based in the county. Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses and the pork pie are the three most famous contributions to English cuisine from Leicestershire. Leicestershire food producers include Claybrooke mill, one of the very few commercially working watermills left in Britain producing a range of over 40 flours; meat from rare and minority breeds from Brockleby's; and Christmas turkey and goose from Seldom Seen Farm. Two dairies produce Red Leicester cheese in
3416-414: The south of the county near the Warwickshire border, and flows northwards, bisecting the county along its north–south axis, through 'Greater' Leicester and then to the east of Loughborough where its course within the county comes to an end. It continues north marking the boundary with Nottinghamshire in the Borough of Rushcliffe for some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) before joining the River Trent at
3477-431: The technology based consultancy in Melton Mowbray, and MIRA – the automotive research and development centre based on the outskirts of Hinckley. Automotive and aerospace engineers use the test facilities at Mallory Park , and Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and proving ground. On 18 October 2007, the last airworthy Avro Vulcan was flown from Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome after 10 years of restoration there by aerospace engineers of
3538-477: The town of Loughborough . Other large towns include Ashby-de-la-Zouch , Coalville, Hinckley , Lutterworth , Market Harborough , Melton Mowbray , Oadby , Shepshed and Wigston . Some of the larger of villages are: Burbage (population estimated around 16,500 in 2014), Birstall (population 11,400 in 2004), Broughton Astley , Castle Donington , Kibworth Beauchamp (along with Kibworth Harcourt), Great Glen , Ibstock , Countesthorpe and Kegworth . One of
3599-468: Was Mason who received the credit (thus masoni ). Since this find in Charnwood Forest, Precambrian fossils have been discovered across the world. Along the western edge of Charnwood Forest the rocks are mainly Precambrian igneous diorites . These formed from molten lava deep within the sedimentary rocks, cooling slowly to produce hard, blocky rock with large crystals. This is extensively quarried for roadstone around Groby , Markfield and Whitwick , and
3660-450: Was considered for designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but the designation was not made due to the construction of the M1 motorway through the area. The area was the inspiration for "Charnwood Poems", a collection of poems by the author, playwright and poet Albert Francis Cross (1863–1940). It is also the setting for the speculative fiction novel Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce (2012), in which it
3721-524: Was situated at the back of the present churchyard. It was blown down in 1855 when tradition says it was 2000 years old. in 1855 it was 20 feet high and 24 feet in circumference. 52°42′40″N 1°17′20″W / 52.711°N 1.289°W / 52.711; -1.289 This Leicestershire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Leicestershire Leicestershire ( / ˈ l ɛ s t ər ʃ ɪər , - ʃ ər / LEST -ər-sheer, -shər )
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