THURNBY AND BUSHBY SOCIETY
For more information
Tel. 0116 241 2377
TABS Thurnby And Bushby Society supports environmental, social and planning issues for the village
Archive
THURNBY AND BUSHBY
Thurnby and Bushby is administratively one Parish. Thurnby is the western partand
Bushby the eastern part, with the boundary running more or less north-south. The
Parish of Thurnby and Bushby is immediately east of the City of Leicester. It contains
a broad ridge running east-west and sloping down in the west to the City. The A47
main road runs centrally through it along this ridge. The older part of the village lies
on the southern side of the top of the ridge. The housing is chiefly on or near the top of the ridge and is surrounded by farm or nursery land except at the north-west corner where the housing is continuous with a Leicester suburb.
The landscape of most of the land surrounding the built-up area is a pattern of fields, bounded by hedges, with many hedgerow trees.
The older part of the settlement is a “street village” running parallel to and south of the A47 and consisting of a sequence of buildings, only one property deep, extending from Grange Lane via Main Street to Bushby Turn for about three-quarters of a mile. Within this is the old core of Thurnby referred to as Thurnby Village, which runs from The Square to the Rose and Crown. There are some fine Edwardian properties in Grange Lane, Main Street and Uppingham Road. The rest of the built-up area covers the full span of the twentieth century in age, and building continues to the present day.
TABS VILLAGE ARCHIVE
The Thurnby And Bushby Village Archive opened in May 2010. It is housed in a secure room at Wadkin's Pavilion, Wadkins Way, Bushby. It can be viewed by appointment only.
For more information contact Mike Lord on: 0116 241 2377. Click here for a list of contents
This encompasses The Square, where outbuildings of the demolished large private residence, Thurnby Court, survive in addition to The Firs farmhouse and four cottages. Opposite are the Dower Houseand a short cul de sac leading to the Vicarage and the Manor House. The run of cottages on the south side of Main Street shows humble vernacular architecture and includes the thatched timbered cottage “The Gilstead”. The Rose and Crown public house on the Thurnby/Bushby boundary is also thatched.
On the north side of Main Street is St Luke’s Church, St Luke’s School and the Memorial Hall. There are former village pumps on The Square and outside St Luke’s School. Bends in Main Street block linear outward views along them. The view down Main Street, looking west (downhill) from the Rose and Crown is “characterised by the massing of the buildings, the curve of the street and the Church at the back”. The run of cottages (two of which are listed) have a “vitality of altering roofline”. Main Street has an open feel and by virtue of slight changes in its direction presents a constantly changing view. The view leads the eye on to the core of the village. This is made up of The Square, dominated by St. Luke’s Church, the Vicarage, Manor House partly hidden behind its walls and high hedges, Dower House and neighbouring cottages. Important open land enhances Thurnby Village and contributes to its character –The Square itself, Manor Field, the grounds of The Manor, the green opposite St Luke’s Church, St Luke’s School playing fields and the two greens in front of the Rose and Crown.
Bushby Spinney, Main Street. Further east, Main Street narrows to pass between a pair of old cottages and Bushby House which has a very distinctive brick wall with a castellated outbuilding adding character to this part of Main Street. Then follows a triangular patch of open land planted with pines, known as Bushby Spinney.
It is fronted by four fine Edwardian houses.