Thorpe Arnold

Thorpe Arnold is a small farming village in the English county of Leicestershire.

Thorpe Arnold is situated on the top of a hill to the north-east of the town of Melton Mowbray.

Nearby major cities include Leicester, Birmingham, and Sheffield.

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Thorpe Arnold as follows:

"THORPE-ARNOLD, a parish in Melton-Mowbray district, Leicester; 1¾ mile NE of Melton-Mowbray r. station. Post town, Melton-Mowbray. Acres, 1,742. Real property, £2,811. Pop., 124. Houses, 25. The manor belongs to the Duke of Rutland. The living is a vicarage, united with Brentingby, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £400. Patron, the Duke of Rutland. The church is old."

The first recorded mention of Thorpe (Torp) goes back to 1086 when it appeared in the Domesday Book, among numerous English manors of Hugh de Grandmesnil, sheriff of the county of Leicester and Governor of Hampshire, richly rewarded by William the Conqueror for his part in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

From the 12th century, Thorp is known as Thorp Arnold by the name of its new owners, vassals of Earl of Leicester, whose family name for a long time was Erna(u)ld (Arnold) de Bosco (Bois).

First Barons de Bosco, Arnold I and his son Arnold II, took an active part in political life of England and Normandy. Arnold II supported Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and was rewarded by the earl with a grant of numerous manors in Leicestershire (including Thorpe Arnold, Brentingby, Evington, Humberstone and Elmesthorpe) and Warwickshire (Clifton-on-Dunsmoor and Shrewley).

In the 17th century, Thorp Arnold was owned by sir Martin Lister, english politician, whose stepdaughter Frances Thornhurst lately became the mother of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

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