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Sharnford
Sharnford
	Church of St Helen's
	Sharnford Location within Leicestershire
Population	985 (2011)
OS grid reference	SP482918
District	Blaby;
Shire county	Leicestershire;
Region	East Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Hinckley
Postcode district	LE10
Dialling code	01455
Police	Leicestershire
Fire	Leicestershire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	South Leicestershire;
	List of places UK England Leicestershire 52°31′16″N 1°17′41″W / 52.52122°N 1.29474°W

Sharnford is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. The parish has a population of about 1,000, measured at the 2011 census as 985.^[1] The village is about four miles east of Hinckley, and is near to Aston Flamville, Wigston Parva and Sapcote.

History

The Domesday hamlet or farmstead of Scerneford is mentioned in the tenth-century will of Wulfric Spot, earl of Mercia, and probably named after a "scearn" or muddy ford over the River Soar. It lies immediately north of High Cross, near the Roman station at Venonis (mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary) at the intersection of Roman Watling Street and the Fosse Way [1]. Sharnford was originally a single vill, divided into two manors.

During the English Civil War soldiers from the local garrisons visited Sharnford in search of fresh horses and "provinder". In June, 1646 the Sharnford constables claimed for provender ("provinder") taken by Captain Flower of the Coventry garrison, Robert Day claiming £5 for a horse taken by Captain Merrer's men [2].

John Nichols the county antiquary, provides a fine illustration of the old Sharnford parsonage house that once stood alongside Sharnford church, home to Nichols Horton, the rector of Sharnford and Little Peatling who lived here from 1738 to 1793. By the turn of the century Sharnford had grown into a sizeable settlement, the national census recording a population of 373. Nichols describes the inhabitants as being mostly yeomen and tradesmen. There were no "titled great" and no acknowledged lord of the manor.^[2]

Sharnford has a Church of England Church (St Helen's), a Methodist Church, 6 domestic buildings, a War memorial, and a Monument that are Grade II listed.^[3] The village also has a Church of England Primary school, Post Office, two public houses (The Sharnford Arms, and The Bricklayers) and a motor repair garage.

Sport and Leisure

Fosse Meadows has extensive paths through flower meadows, woodlands and arboretum, with a wildlife lake and bird hides. There is a permissive bridleway around the site marked by white topped posts. Fosse Meadows also has a permanent orienteering course, a children's play area with extensive play equipment.^[4]

Sharnford Cricket Club was an English amateur cricket club, situated on Lissman Fields, off Leicester Road. The history of the club dates back to at least the early 1900s, where evidence shows that Sharnford won the Lutterworth & District Village Cricket League Cup in 1903.^[5] The club later went on to join the Leicestershire & Rutland Cricket League, and in 2015 they achieved acclaim for winning one of the fastest cricket matches ever seen in Leicestershire, after they bowled out their opponents for eight runs and then won the game in just four balls, all within 50 minutes.^[6] The following year, 6 weeks into the cricket season, Sharnford had to withdraw from the League and cease activity due to a lack of players.^[7]^[6]

Transport

Sharnford has one bus service which is operated by Arriva Fox County (X55) running approximately every 3 hours (each way) between Leicester and Hinckley.^[8]

References

^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
^ Nichols, John (1811). The history and antiquities of the county of Leicester : Vol. 4, Part 2, containing Sparkenhoe Hundred. Vol. 4. Sparkenhoe Hundred: John Nichols. pp. 918–920.
^ "Sharnford Listed buildings". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
^ "About Fosse Meadows". active-together.org. Active Together. 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
^ "Lutterworth & District Village Cricket Challenge Cup Winners 1903-1939". acscricket.com. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Howzat for one of the fastest cricket matches ever seen in Leicestershire". hinckleytimes.net. The Hinckley Times, a Reach plc subsidiary. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
^ "LRCL Division 6 West - 2016". leicestershirescl.play-cricket.com. Leicestershire & Rutland Cricket League. 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
^ "X55 Bus Timetable". sharnfordparishcouncil.co.uk. Sharnford Parish Council. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2022.