East Leake

East Leake

St Marys church
East Leake
 East Leake shown within Nottinghamshire
Population 6,337 (2011)
OS grid referenceSK5501726086
Civil parishEast Leake
DistrictRushcliffe
Shire countyNottinghamshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town LOUGHBOROUGH
Postcode district LE12
Dialling code 01509
Police Nottinghamshire
Fire Nottinghamshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
List of places
UK
England
Nottinghamshire

Coordinates: 52°49′45″N 1°11′00″W / 52.829167°N 1.183333°W / 52.829167; -1.183333

East Leake /ˈiːst ˈliːk/ is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, England, although its closest town and postal address is Loughborough across the border in Leicestershire. It has a population of around 7,000, measured in the 2011 Census as 6,337.[1] The original village was located on the Sheepwash Brook. Kingston Brook also runs through the village. Near the centre of the village is the historic St. Mary's Church,[2] which dates back to the 11th century. The church has six bells.[3]

One of the earliest mentions of East Leake is in the Domesday book recorded as 'Leche.' The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning wet land, since the village lies on the Kingston Brook, a tributary of the River Soar.

British Gypsum, a plasterboard manufacturer, has its headquarters in the village.[4] The manufacturing of plasterboard began in this area in about 1880.

Name

The origin of Leake appears to be Laeke (Old Norse – brook or stream), and is consistent with East Leake's position in the heart of the Danelaw, which had various forms over time before becoming "Leake".

Local amenities

Transport

East Leake lies close to the A60 and A6006 major roads and within 5 miles of the M1 motorway. Nottingham City Transport operate a frequent (15mins at peak times) bus service (no. 1) between Nottingham and Loughborough under the "South Notts" brand. An East Leake railway station used to exist, on the Great Central Railway. That line was controversially broken up in the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. The stretch from the point where the Great Central crossed the Midland Main Line in Loughborough through East Leake to Ruddington was retained to allow freight trains to travel to British Gypsum's works and to the MoD ordnance depot at Ruddington, but later fell into disuse. More recently this stretch has been re-opened as a heritage line running steam and heritage diesel locos between Ruddington and Rushcliffe Halt (which is located next to the Gypsum works at the northern end of East Leake). In the long term, the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) hope to reinstate a passenger service from East Leake station, although the fact that the area alongside the station has been redeveloped for housing would preclude the provision of public car parking in the area of the station.

Churches

There are five churches in the village:

Bluebells in Colonel's Covert
Kingston Brook at East Leake
Pinfold

Neighbouring villages

References

Publications

Sidney Pell Potter, A History of East Leake, published in 1903. Potter was the rector at the time.

Media related to East Leake at Wikimedia Commons

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