Bardon, Leicestershire

Coordinates: 52°42′29″N 1°20′13″W / 52.708°N 1.337°W / 52.708; -1.337

Bardon is a civil parish and former village in North West Leicestershire about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of the centre of Coalville. The parish includes Bardon Hill, which at 912 feet (278 m) above sea level is the highest point in Leicestershire.

History

East of Bardon Hill is an oval moat about 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 1.5 metres (5 ft) deep. It encloses an area measuring about 65 metres (213 ft) by 75 metres (246 ft), and the island thus created is raised about 1.5 metres (5 ft) above the level of the surrounding land. The site is a scheduled monument. This site is about 440 metres (1,440 ft) east of Kellam's Farm and a few metres north of the main east-west asphalt driveway (carriage road) linking Copt Oak and Bardon Hall.

South of Bardon Hill is a second moat. This moat is square or rectangular. The moat island is the site of the old Bardon Hall, which was demolished in about 1840 after the current Bardon Hall was completed further up Bardon Hill. The latter is a Tudor revival house designed by the architect Robert Lugar and completed in about 1837.

Leicestershire

Leicestershire (ⁱ/ˈlɛstərʃər/ or /ˈlɛstərʃɪər/; abbreviation Leics.) is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west, and Derbyshire to the north-west. The border with Warwickshire is Watling Street (the A5).

The county has a population of just under 1 million with over half the population living in Leicester's built-up area.

History

Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book in four wapentakes: Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and Gartree. These later became hundreds, with 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 Laegrecastrescir.

Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicestershire was a county constituency in Leicestershire, represented in the House of Commons. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs), traditionally called Knights of the Shire, by the bloc vote system of election, to the Parliament of England until 1707, to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 until 1800, and then to Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1832.

History

The constituency was abolished by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, when it was replaced by the Northern and Southern divisions, each of which elected two MPs.

Both divisions were abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when they were replaced by four new single-seat constituencies: Bosworth, Harborough, Loughborough and Melton.

Members of Parliament

1290–1640

1640–1832

References