Visit Mountsorrel Places

Welcome to Visit Mountsorrel Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Mountsorrel

  

Mountsorrel Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Mountsorrel

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Mountsorrel history

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Early history

A Roman villa is supposed to have existed on Broad Hill during the 4th century AD, the site of today’s quarry. A castle was built in 1080 by Hugh Lupus, but there is evidence of an earlier Norman settlement in the area in the form of pottery fragments. In 1151, Robert le Bossu, the Earl of Leicester acquired the tenancy of Mountsorrel castle.

Recent history

The Leicester Navigation was opened in 1794 and the first barges between Loughborough and Leicester departed on 26 October. The village was visited by Methodist preacher John Wesley, where he preached in a building which now belongs to Stonehurst Family Farm, a tourist attraction. Mountsorrel was the site for a hospital for the mentally ill, which had 91 beds in 1979, but has since closed and been converted to a housing estate.

The Butter Market

The Butter Market was built in 1793 by the Lord of the Manor, Sir John Danvers, to replace the fifteenth century Market Cross, which he had removed from his estate in Swithland, where it still remains. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

The Old Rectory

Adam Style building opposite St Peter’s Church was built in 1783 for Ralph Tebbutt. Formerly known as Mountsorrel Hall it was a vicarage until 1983. A copy of this building was erected in Liverpool in 1790 and William Ewart Gladstone was born there.

Mountsorrel geography / climate

Mountsorrel is in the borough of Charnwood, surrounding a steep hill, once crowned by a castle, and is bordered to the east by the River Soar. The village is renowned for the Buttercross Market in the village centre as well as its granite quarry, the largest in Europe. The Leicester arm of the Grand Union Canal runs through the village.

Geology

Leicester’s Humberstone came from this granite, originally known as Hunbeort’s Stan. Another piece of Mountsorrel granite is at an RAF memorial at Screveton in Nottinghamshire near the A46.

You can visit Mountsorrel places with Walkfo Mountsorrel to hear history at Mountsorrel’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Mountsorrel has 51 places to visit in our interactive Mountsorrel map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Mountsorrel, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Mountsorrel places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Mountsorrel & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 51 audio facts unique to Mountsorrel places in an interactive Mountsorrel map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Mountsorrel Places Map
51 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Mountsorrel historic spots	Mountsorrel tourist destinations	Mountsorrel plaques	Mountsorrel geographic features
Walkfo Mountsorrel tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Mountsorrel

  

Best Mountsorrel places to visit

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Mountsorrel has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Mountsorrel’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Mountsorrel’s information audio spots:

St Mary & St John Church, Rothley St Mary & St John is a Church of England parish church in Rothley, England. It has a congregation of mixed ages and backgrounds. It aims “to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ”

Swithland railway station Swithland was a railway station on the Great Central Main Line between Rothley and Quorn and Woodhouse. The station was due to open in March 1899 but was never completed. The line through the station site was closed in May 1969.

River Lin The River Lin is a river which runs through North Leicestershire. The source of the river is in Ulverscroft, near Charnwood Forest. The river also feeds Cropston Reservoir and Swithland Reservoir.

Beacon Brook Beacon Brook is a brook which runs through North Leicestershire. The source of the rivulet is in Beacon, near Woodhouse Eaves. The river runs for around 6 kilometres between its source and confluence with the River Lin.

Barrow upon Soar Barrow upon Soar is a large village in northern Leicestershire, in the Soar Valley between Leicester and Loughborough, with a population at the 2011 census of 5,856.

Thurcaston Thurcaston is best known as the home to Bishop Hugh Latimer. It borders the villages of Anstey and Cropston, as well as the Leicester suburb of Beaumont Leys. The Rothley Brook flows through the village, separating it from the A46 Leicester Western Bypass.

List of local nature reserves in Leicestershire Leicestershire is a county in the East Midlands of England. The area of the administrative county is 806 square miles (2,090 km) and the population according to the 2011 census is 980,000. Leicester City Council is a unitary authority, with seven district councils in the second tier. As of December 2017 there are 23 local nature reserves in the county, the largest is Burbage Common and Woods at 85 hectares (210 acres)

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. The village is known for the slate that was quarried in the area.

Woodhouse, Leicestershire Woodhouse is a small village and civil parish in the heart of Charnwood, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,319, including around 300 term-time boarders at the Defence College. Beaumanor Hall, ancestral home of the Herrick family, was used as listening station during the war and intercepted signals intelligence for Bletchley Park.

Visit Mountsorrel plaques