Willesley
| Willesley | |
|---|---|
 Willesley Church dates from the 14th century with a tower dated 1845 |
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 Willesley
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| Willesley shown within Leicestershire | |
| Population | c. 60 in 1830 |
| OS grid reference | SK355165 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH |
| Postcode district | LE65 |
| Dialling code | 01530 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Willesley is a place near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It was in Derbyshire but is now part of Leicestershire. In the 19th century it had a population of about 60 and Willesley Hall was the home of the Abney and later the Abney-Hastings family. Willesley is so small that it would be a hamlet except that it has a church.
Willesley is mentioned as a significant manor in the Domesday book. Willesley is listed among the large number of manors that are owned directly by Henry de Ferrers and its value was assessed as twenty shillings TRE and sixteen shillings in 1086.
There was once a stately home here called Willesley Hall built of red brick. The hall stood in a park of 155 acres (0.63 km2).
The village has always been small. The population remained around the figure of 60 from 1805 to 1881.
Little of the manor, but the church, remains today, but Willesley Lake see http://www.willesleylake.co.uk, which has been described as of serpentine design is still used for fishing. The lake was constructed to enable the water level to be controlled for power generation for the nearby Hall.
It was the birthplace of notable people including two called Sir Thomas Abney and Edward Abney whose letters were published recently giving an insight into early 17th century life. One of the Thomas Abney's became a mayor of London whilst another rose to be a judge of common pleas. The Abney family required that owners of the manor should be called Abney. Twice there has had to be a special Act of Parliament for people to add the name Abney to their surname. Sir Charles Abney Hastings, a High Sheriff of Derbyshire was the last person descended from the Abney line. The man who might have inherited the hall, after Sir Charles Abney Hastings died without children, was his younger brother, Frank, a veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar. Unfortunately he died prematurly fighting for the Greeks and was buried in Zante.
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Wikipedia