Worthington, Leicestershire

History

Worthington's toponym may derive from the family name "Werden" or a man called "Weorth".

The Domesday Book of 1086 records Henry de Ferrers as holding four carucates of land at "Werditone".

The Church of England parish church of Saint Matthew is Norman. Most of its present windows were added in the 13th century and the remainder were added in about 1300.

The parish lock-up is believed to have been built late in the 18th century. It is an octagonal building with an octagonal spire but is called the Round House. It is built of brick and is a scheduled monument.

Worthington Methodist Chapel was built in 1820.

In 1874 the Midland Railway extended its Melbourne branch through Worthington parish to and opened Worthington railway station to serve the village. The Midland's successor the London, Midland and Scottish Railway withdrew the line's passenger service in the 1930s and British Railways closed the line to freight traffic in 1980.

Worthington Primary school opened in about 1926. The school use an image of the 'Round House' as their logo which was created by Michael Colley, a local resident and landlord of the local pub the Malt shovel. He created the design in the early 1990s which substantially became the village logo.

The parish was predominantly rural until the 20th century, when the village was rapidly expanded to house workers for nearby collieries including New Lount Colliery. By the 1990s many of the local collieries had ceased operating and the village began to lose its mining identity.

Local nicknames for Worthington have included "Paraffin City" due to its late adoption of electricity, and "Yawny Box"

Amenities

Worthington has a public house, the Malt Shovel Inn. It used to have another pub called the Swan.

The village has a post office.

National Cycle Route 6 passes through the parish, and at the site of the former railway station it joins the trackbed of the former railway to Melbourne, Derbyshire. In the parish the cycle route is called the Cloud Trail.

The parish is in the hunting country of the Quorn Hunt.

Notes

References

1. "Area selected: North West Leicestershire (Non-Metropolitan District)". [[Office for National Statistics]].
2. "Civil Parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
3. Dane, Rev. H.A.. (April 2001). "Saint Matthew's, Worthington, a Short Guide". The United Benefice of Breedon and Worthington.
4. Mills & Room, 2003, page not cited
5. Walker, Ralph. (April 2001). "Part 1". The United Benefice of Breedon and Worthington.
6. Pevsner, 1960, page 268
7. Fragments remain of a [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic. Benefice]] of [[Breedon-on-the-Hill. Breedon]] and Worthington.http://www.benefice.org.uk/index.php [http://www.benefice.org.uk/index.php United Benefice of Breedon and Worthington]
8. {{NHLE. (7 June 2000)
9. {{NHLE
10. [http://www.worthington.leics.sch.uk/index.asp Worthington Primary School]
11. Walker, Ralph. (April 2001). "Part 3". The United Benefice of Breedon and Worthington.
12. which is an obsolete Derbyshire word for a donkey.Wright, 1857, page 1035
13. http://www.marstonspubcompany.co.uk/pubs/view/15224 [http://www.marstonspubcompany.co.uk/pubs/view/15224 Marston Pub Company: Malt Shovel Inn]