Great Bowden is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is north-east of and a suburb of Market Harborough, although originally the parish of Great Bowden included Harborough. The population is around 1,000, being measured at the 2011 census as 1,017. It is the site of Great Bowden Hall.
The village was included in the Domesday Book, under the name 'Bugedone' and was worth 40 shillings per year to the King, who held it.
Places nearby include Market Harborough, Little Bowden, Sutton Bassett, Foxton and Thorpe Langton.
'Bugedone', the village's name at the time of the Domesday Book, is a combination of the Old English female personal name 'Bucga' and the word 'dun' (meaning 'a hill, a flat-topped hill, an open upland expanse'). It is one of the older villages in Leicestershire since it has Anglo-Saxon origins (it is older than the much larger market town of Market Harborough, which lies nearby).
Great Bowden was the centre of a large soke, which is known to have existed during the time of Edward the Confessor.
Coordinates: 52°29′N 0°54′W / 52.483°N 0.900°W