Sharnford is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in Blaby

Blaby (district)

Blaby is a local government district in Leicestershire, England.The district is named after the village of Blaby. It covers the civil parish of Blaby and 23 others. Among these are Cosby, Countesthorpe, Enderby, Huncote, Narborough , Sapcote, Stoney Stanton, and Wigston Parva...

 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...

. The parish has a population of about 1,000. The village is about four miles east of Hinckley

Hinckley

Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...

, and is near to Aston Flamville

Aston Flamville

Aston Flamville is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district in Leicestershire, England. It is situated near Hinckley, but on the other side of the M69...

, Wigston Parva

Wigston Parva

Wigston Parva is a hamlet and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. The parish has a population of about 30. It is very near the county boundary with Warwickshire. Nearby places include Smockington, and Sharnford.-External links:...

 and Sapcote

Sapcote

Sapcote is a small village in the south west of Leicestershire, England, with a population of approximately 2,700. The well-known inland scuba diving site Stoney Cove is nearby.It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Scepecote...

.

The Domesday hamlet or farmstead of Scerneford is mentioned in the tenth-century will of Wulfric Spot

Wulfric Spot

Wulfric , called Wulfric Spot or Spott, was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. His will is an important document from the reign of King Æthelred the Unready...

, earl of Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

, and probably named after a "scearn" or muddy ford over the river Soar. It lies immediately north of High Cross

High Cross, Leicestershire

High Cross is the name given to the former crossroads of the Roman roads of Watling Street and Fosse Way in Leicestershire, England. It is located about a mile west of the village of Claybrooke Magna and was located in the hundred of Guthlaxton...

, near the Roman station at Venonis (mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary

Antonine Itinerary

The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another...

) at the intersection of Roman Watling Street and the Fosse Way

Fosse Way

The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...

*http://www.roman-britain.org/places/venonis.htm. Sharnford was originally a single vill

Vill

Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...

, divided into two manors.

During the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 soldiers from the local garrisons visited Sharnford in search of fresh horses and "provinder". In June, 1646 the Sharnford constables claimed for provinder taken by Captain Flower of the Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

 garrison, Robert Day claiming £5 for a horse taken by Captain Merrer's menhttp://www.coventryweb.co.uk/editorials/history/CoventryGarrison.html.

John Nichols

John Nichols (printer)

John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...

 the county antiquary, provides a fine illustration of the old Sharnford parsonage house that once stood alongside Sharnford church, home to Nichols Horton, the rector of Sharnford and Little Peating who lived here from 1738-1793http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/sharnford/theoldparsonagehouseatsharnford.html. By the turn of the century Sharnford had grown into a sizeable settlement, the national census recording a population of 373. Nichols describes the inhabitants as being mostly yeomen and tradesmen. There were no "titled great" and no acknowledged lord of the manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

.

The modern village has two public houses, the Sharnford Arms, now serving Chinese food, and the Countryman. The one garage that is in the village no longer serves fuel.

Sharnford has one direct bus service operated by thurmaston bus number 148 from leicester via fosse park and thurlaston

External links