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Countesthorpe

Village in Leicestershire, England

Field	Value
country	England
static_image	File:St Andrew's Church, Countesthorpe - geograph.org.uk - 230099.jpg
static_image_caption	St Andrew's Church, Countesthorpe
coordinates
official_name	Countesthorpe
population	6377
population_ref	(2011)
shire_district	Blaby
shire_county	Leicestershire
region	East Midlands
constituency_westminster	Blaby
post_town	Leicester
postcode_district	LE8
postcode_area	LE
dial_code	0116
os_grid_reference	SP585954

Countesthorpe is a large village and civil parish in the Leicestershire district of Blaby, with a population of 6,393 (2001 census, falling slightly to 6,377 at the 2011 census. It lies to the south of Leicester, and is about 6 miles from the city centre, but only two miles south of the suburb of South Wigston. Nearby places are Blaby and South Wigston to the north, Kilby to the east, Peatling Magna and Willoughby Waterleys to the south, and Broughton Astley, Cosby and Whetstone to the west.

The name Countesthorpe originates from the 11th century when the area was part of the marriage dowry of the Countess Judith, niece of William the Conqueror. The 'thorpe' part of the name is a variant of the Middle English word thorp, meaning hamlet or small village.

The parish church of St. Andrew was started in 1220 by the family of Lord William of Ludbrook. It was restored in 1840 and again in 1907. The 14th-century tower still remains.

The village has three public houses: The Axe and Square, The Bull's Head and The Railway. Another public house, the King William IV was turned into a Tesco Express in 2013. Magna 73 of the Leicestershire Senior League are an association football team who play just north of the village.

The village is twinned with the town of Mennecy in France.

Education

Countesthorpe is served by one local primary school called Greenfield Primary School. The school achieved a rating of "good" in its 2010, 2014 and 2018 Ofsted reports.

Until September 2016 Countesthorpe had a separate high school named Leysland High School, with Ofsted reviewing it as "outstanding" in 2013, as well as a college called Countesthorpe Community College. Both schools were attended by members of the music group Kasabian. The two schools merged to become Countesthorpe Leysland Community College, which was subsequently renamed Countesthorpe Academy in 2020. The combined school was scored as "inadequate" in 2019.

Notable residents

Harvey Barnes - Professional footballer
William Buckingham, First World War recipient of the Victoria Cross.
Rosemary Conley – author and broadcaster on exercise and health.
Robert Gee, recipient of the Victoria Cross and a Conservative MP.
Ahmed Musa – Professional footballer.
Maurice Tompkin – first class cricketer and professional footballer. A Canadian Goose flew through the glass in a ladies front door in 2025. The goose and the lady are fine.

References

"Civile Parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
""Area: Countesthorpe CP (Parish)"".
"Key to English Place-names".
"Hundreds bid for 15 jobs at Tesco Express | Leicester Mercury".
"Greenfield Primary".
Ofsted Communications Team. (8 October 2020). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare".
Ofsted Communications Team. (29 February 2020). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare".
[https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-starlet-harvey-barnes-224715 Leicester City starlet Harvey Barnes commits future to club with four-year deal - Leicester Mercury] {{Webarchive. link. (23 June 2018 Retrieved 2018-03-09.)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813043601/http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/countesthorpe/countesthorpecottagehomes2.html Countesthorpe - Countesthorpe Cottage Homes (2) - Leicestershire Villages] Retrieved 2018-03-09.
(1 October 2021). "Victoria Cross hero and MP gets green plaque". BBC News.
[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/06/ahmed-musa-leicester-legal-action-wife Leicester’s Ahmed Musa considering legal action over reports he beat up wife. Football. The Guardian] {{Webarchive. link. (10 March 2018 Retrieved 2018-03-09.)
(2025-12-19). "Woman's shock as goose smashes through front door in Countesthorpe".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

villages-in-leicestershire civil-parishes-in-leicestershire blaby

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