Countesthorpe
Countesthorpe photos (9 available)
Countesthorpe maps (2 available)
Map of Leicestershire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Leicestershire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Countesthorpe books (13 available)
Market Harborough Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Melton Mowbray Town and City Memories
Paperback
Uppingham Photographic Memories
Hardback
- 9 photos on Countesthorpe appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Countesthorpe
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Countesthorpe and Leicestershire
Countesthorpe memories
Read and share memories of Countesthorpe and Leicestershire inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Leicestershire below.
Leicestershire memories
Basset Street School
I remember this school so well, my first born went to this school in 1983 and so did my daughter, it's a shame they pulled part of it down. I remember walking the children over to what is now the infant school to use their swimming pool, later when they pulled some of the old school down the children were moved to the infant school in South Wigston, on the Countesthorpe Road, where all three of my children went, they then moved on to South Wigston High School where they had a real good head master, Mr Bothamy (sorry about the spelling).
A memory of South Wigston contributed by ruth carroll
South Wigston, Gloucester Crescent
I moved to South Wigston in 1978 as a newly wed, I lived on Marstown Avenue which then was a two way road, and very busy, and I remember using these shops all the time. I used to do my shopping in what is now called Jacksons and is a Sainsburys shop. I notice looking at the picture of the 1960s that not a lot has changed but the end shop on the left of the picture is now a fish and chip shop, all that keeps changing is the type of shop. I no longer live in South Wigston but do get to visit it still, and even now in 2008 things are very much the same.
A memory of South Wigston contributed by ruth carroll
Blaby Road west end
This view is not much different from the forties. This photo has been taken from outside Rawlinsons butchers shop to the right and St Thomas's church to the left ( both out of shot). The first shop to the right is Eric Holmes Cycle shop. Eric Holmes Jnr was a school friend of mine and we both attended Basset Street Juniors(just round the corner). The road off to the right is Countesthorpe Road. The roof that appears to stick out of the line of roofs on the right is the 'Ritz' cinema (now a bingo hall)
A memory of South Wigston contributed by Richard Child
Happy childhood days
When I was about 6-7 years old we lived in Lansdowne Grove ( 1 mile approx) and Crow Mills was a favorite place to come and fish for minnows and frog spawn. The summers seemed endless and jam jars were a precious item to us as they were needed to bring home the results of the days exploits. I think the mill was still working then, I know the water wheel certainly was. All you needed was your jar of course a stick, some thin string or cotton, a few worms and a bent pin. We would spend hours there. Across the road were the 'Rally Banks' which was the railway embankment and bridges another favorite play ground; as there was ...read more here
A memory of South Wigston contributed by Richard Child
Extracts From Countesthorpe & Leicestershire books
The original heart of this sprawling village, the battlemented tower is the complete surviving remnant of the
medieval church. The remainder of this oddly proportioned building was designed or altered by Henry Goddard,
a prolific Leicester architect, in the early 1840s. His son Joseph, a rather more talented designer, was responsible
for the city’s Clock Tower in 1868.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".
Dating from 1220, St Andrew’s Church has a commanding view over the village centre. In the foreground, the pseudo-Tudor Bull’s Head has Briggs’ bike shop, newsagent and general store as its neighbour. Even when this photograph was taken, freshly baked bread and locally delivered milk were the order of the day.
An extract from from"Leicestershire & Rutland Living Memories".
Few buildings remain which pre-date the Enclosure Acts, effectively extinguishing the ties within rural communi-
ties in much of Leicestershire, and indeed the Midland counties. At the head of the street, the white cottage of
the later 16th century is one of few survivors, built prior to Enclosure in 1767. The remainder step down the street
in chronological order: later 19th-century shops, and the Bull’s Head Pub built around the turn of the century.
Countesthorpe is an industrialised village of very mixed architectural fortunes.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".
This solidly-built Edwardian shop is still trading as the Post Office, despite some alteration; it stands on the way down to the former station site. As with many Victorian villages, the station here was a fair distance from the place it purported to serve. Much obscured by the delivery lorry is the Railway Hotel.
An extract from from"Leicestershire & Rutland Living Memories".
The road extends to the now defunct railway line as 20th-century Countesthorpe balloons in an amoebic sprawl
westwards towards Cosby and Whetstone. In the residual hedgerows and trees lie clues to an 18th-century rural
landscape; the enclosures of the 1760s were hated by John Clare, the Northamptonshire poet, for its deleterious
effect on the lives of ordinary village people, and for its destruction of the open fields.
An extract from from"Leicester Photographic Memories".