Barkestone-le-Vale
| Barkestone-le-Vale | |
|---|---|
 Chapel Street, Barkestone-le-Vale |
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 Barkestone-le-Vale
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| Barkestone-le-Vale shown within Leicestershire | |
| OS grid reference | SK7834 |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Nottingham |
| Postcode district | NG13 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
Barkestone-le-Vale is a village in the north east of Leicestershire, England. The population is included in the civil parish of Redmile.
The village originated as a 7th-century settlement, and is mentioned as a parish in the 1086 Domesday Book. Since 1936 it has been part of a joint parish that includes Redmile and Plungar.
There are 120 dwellings in Barkestone-le-Vale. The village used to have a primary school, which was closed in the late 1980s, by which time it had only 11 pupils. The school building was converted for residential use, as was the former mill house. A large derelict farmhouse is also undergoing conversion.
The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a listed building Grade II* dating mainly from the 14th century, with 15th-century additions. Most of the windows are in Perpendicular style. Parts of the church were rebuilt in 1840 and the whole was restored in 1857. The church congregation belongs to the Vale of Belvoir group.
A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1825. This was not mentioned in gazetteers later in the century. It closed for lack of support in 1927.
A number of footpaths lead to the village, one of them connecting it to Belvoir Castle. The rural nature of the area makes it suitable for bird-watching. Some species that may be observed in the countryside surrounding the village are buzzards, quail, and reed and sedge warblers.
The Grantham Canal, opened in 1797 but no longer in commercial use, passes to the north and west of the village, parallel with the disused railway.
The nearest railway station is Bottesford (5.5 miles, 8.9 km) on the Nottingham to Grantham/Skegness line. Redmile railway station (1.5 miles, 2.4 km), with trains between Melton Mowbray and Grantham or Newark-on-Trent, closed to passengers in 1951.
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Wikipedia