My Street

Our aim is to feature every street in Swannington. If your street is missing or has very little information, perhaps you could help by providing:

• Photos of your street or house, ideally at least 1MB size
• Archive photos of people and events in your street;
• Scanned copies of your deeds or other records.

For the origin of Swannington road names see our Swannington Roads slideshow or read Swannington Roads pdf

Hough Hill

It is believed that Hough Hill takes its name from an old field and was possibly spelt Huff Hill.  It does not have a connection with John Hough who bought Thringstone Smock Mill (now Hough Mill) in 1878.

The Trust Research Team has identified the people living in Hough Hill at the time of

• the 1911 census Hough Hill 1911 Census
• and the October 1939 register used for ration books and ID cards Hough Hill 1939 Register

Have you a photo or information that you can share?  Contact the Trust.

Towards the bottom of Hough Hill is the Station Inn.  The 1911 census shows people intermingling their use of Hough Hill and Station Hill.

Jeffcoats Lane

Jeffcoats Lane was named after the Jeffcoat family who lived at the Talbot Lane end.

The Coleorton Railway crossed Jeffcoats Lane. To the north the horse drawn railway led to the tunnel under St George’s Hill, Loughborough Road and Tugby’s Lane.  To the south the track led to the bottom of the Incline, this part is now a public footpath until it reaches private land.

Limby Hall Lane

The origin of the name Limby Hall is unknown.  It could stem from a Saxon hall, but there is not any evidence of one.  It is possible that in the 18^th century coal miners came from the village of Linby in Nottinghamshire.  During the 19^th century the name was spelt Linby Hall. In the 1870’s and 1880’s many mining families from the Swannington area moved to Nottinghamshire pits including those at Annesley and Linby.

The wide grass verge on the north side of Limby Hall Lane was William Jessop’s 1794 horse drawn tramway.  This went to the Charnwood Forest Canal terminus near the George and Dragon public house on the Loughborough Road.

Limby Hall Lane is L shaped.  Italian WWII prisoners used to work the fields near the houses where the two parts of the lane meet.

Main Street

There are lots of interesting buildings in Main Street including the village hall, stone house, former coop shop, centre farm, Quaker smithy, two chapels and three former inns.  Read more about Main Street.

Moor Lane

Until at least the 1911 census this was known as Workhouse Lane.  Can anyone tell us how the name changed to Moor Lane?  It is believed that the Swannington Workhouse was a small building that predated the Ashby Union workhouse.

The house now known as The Dairy used to be Knight’s Cottages on the 1911 census.  Looking at the size they would have been very small.

To find out who lived in Moor Lane in 1911 and 1939, download Moor Lane Residents

St George’s Hill

The name is less than 200 years old, as St George’s Church was not built until 1825. The name had a wider usage at the beginning of WWII, when properties in nowadays Loughborough Road and Church Hill used St George’s Hill as their address.  The houses in St George’s Terrace are shown on the 1883 map.  Ivy Leigh Cottages first appear on the 1911 census.  The council houses were built around 1930, at one time they were known as Cademan View.   Read on for more information about St George’s Hill.

Station Hill

Named after the Station built by the Midland Railway on the Midland Railway deviation to Ashby and Burton.  Prior to that Station Hill formed part of the Hinckley and Melbourne Road through the village.

 

Tan Yard

As its name suggests, Tan Yard off Main Street is built on the site of a former Tannery.  After the tannery closed in the 1840s, the small cottages were built.  In some cases two cottages have been merged into one present day property.

Read about Tan Yard

• Life in the Tanyard
• Tanning in Swannington
• The Tanning Process
• The Railway Inn