Dunton Bassett
Encyclopedia
Harborough
Harborough is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering , the District is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the County....
of Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. It lies between Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
and Lutterworth
Lutterworth
Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, north of Rugby, in Warwickshire and south of Leicester. It had a population of 8,293 in the 2001 UK census....
, and close to Broughton Astley
Broughton Astley
Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south west of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley and about from the centre of Leicester.- History :...
, Ashby Magna
Ashby Magna
Ashby Magna is a small English village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The parish had a population of 294 at the 2001 UK census. It is in the south of the county, and lies midway between junctions 20 and 21 of the M1...
& Leire
Leire
Leire is a village in Leicestershire, England. The name is thought to originate from the old British name for the river Soar, which has a tributary with a source south of the village.Present day Leire has a population of around 500....
. It had a population of 795 at the 2001 UK census.
The village has two pubs (the Dunton Bassett Arms and the Merri Monk), one village shop / post office and one used car lots.
The village hall was donated to the village by Orson Wright, a successful builder who had been born in the village.
The Great Central main railway line
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
, the last main line to be built from the north of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was opened on 15 March 1899 and ran just to the east of Dunton Bassett, separating it from the village of Ashby Magna
Ashby Magna
Ashby Magna is a small English village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The parish had a population of 294 at the 2001 UK census. It is in the south of the county, and lies midway between junctions 20 and 21 of the M1...
, and a station was provided bearing that settlement's name although it was much the smaller village of the two. Dunton Bassett gave its name to a short (92 yard) tunnel just south of the station. The line closed on 5 May 1969. In its latter years it had been joined by the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
which parallelled it on the east side.