Oadby

Coordinates: 52°35′55″N 1°04′35″W / 52.5987°N 1.0763°W / 52.5987; -1.0763

Oadby is a small town in Leicestershire, five miles south east of Leicester City centre. The town is famous for Leicester Racecourse, situated on the border between Oadby and Stoneygate, and the University of Leicester Botanical Garden. Oadby had a population of 23,849 in 2011 and like its neighbour Wigston, Oadby is made up of five wards.

History

Angles, Danes and Normans

There has been a habitation in Oadby since an Anglian settlement in the early Anglo-Saxon period. Though the name Oadby is Danish (meaning "Outi's dwelling") it must have existed long before the Danish invasions as is shown by the existence of a pagan Anglian cemetery. The original Anglian name has been lost. In 1760, on Brocks Hill, evidence of an Anglian burial ground was discovered The Middle Angles came under the rule of the kings of Mercia and were later conquered by the Danish invaders. Oadby is one of seventy Danish settlements in Leicestershire ending with "-by", which means village or settlement. Its name probably came from Old Norse Auðarbýr = "Auði's settlement". Danish rule continued until 920, when King Alfred the Great won his battles against the Danes: the Oadby area is supposed to be the site of at least one of these battles.