A Brief History of Broughton Astley

Broughton Astley today is the result of ribbon development from 1900 onwards. This linked together three previously separate centres of poulation:

(1) the original Saxon settlements of BROCTONE (Broughton) & SUTONE (Sutton-in-the-Elms),which date from around 550 AD;

(2) the Danish THORP (Primethorpe), which was established around 875 AD;and

(3) the late 19th Century industrial and residential community in the Dunton Road area, which included the now defunct Turner Jarvis Factory (1897-2004), the railway (1840-1962) and the Brickyard.

In 1086 Broughton, Sutton and Primethorpe housed 28 families. By 1960 the population had risen to 1,660. In 2005 it topped 10,000 for the first time, largely as a result of new estates first proposed in the 1969 Village Development Plan.

Absent Landlords

The Eastly family, from whom Broughton acquired its second name and the Community College its first, were Lords of the Manor from 1220 to 1402 when it passed by marriage to the Greys of Groby, Earls of Stafford, one of whom assembled the Leicestershire Militia at Broughton in June 1642 prior to the Civil War. The Greys sold their estate in 1679 to Sir Nathan Wright, Lord Chancellor to William III, and his great-grandson sold the land in parcels in 1769. The Rev John Liptrott, rector of St Mary's (1727 - 1778) purchased the Broughton Manor bringing an end to 367 years of absent landlords.

Agriculture has been the main occupation from the earliest times, firstly in open fields, Old Bradstone, Nether & Hungery, under the feudal manorial system and then after the enclosure in 1637 and its foundation of our present farming systems with hedged fields and outlying farms. Some of the old field names are now perpetuated as road names such as Sitch Close, Richardson Close and Kiln Close.

Persecution and Suffering

Industry came to the village in 1750 with the first stocking frame and by 1845 there were 1100 frames, making us the third largest centre in the country. With a total population of only 746, additional operators commuted from surrounding villages - hence 13 miles of footpaths within our boundaries. At this time Broughton was a Liberal stronghold and Gladstone still watches us from above the Liberal Hall doorway.

Early education, for the few, relied upon the Church and Chapel Sunday Schools. And the Charity School (1806), funded by a legacy of £100 in Zaccheus Duckett's Will left to the Rector and Church Wardens "to educate eight poor children of the Parish". The National School under the auspices of the Church opened in 1847 with 55 pupils, School Close occupies its site and Orchard Primary preserves the bell.

George Fox, founder of the Quakers, addressed his first open air meeting outside the "steeple house" in 1647 and the Quaker Cottage at Sutton stands today to remind us of the persecution and suffering of the early faithful at the hands of William Cotton, rector of St Mary's (1654 - 1691), and his brother a Justice of the Peace.

In the Shadow of the Elms

In 1650 those of the Baptist persuasion from nearby villages met secretly, in fear of persecution because of their non-conformity, in the shadow of the elms at Sutton forming the Baptist Chapel - the oldest in Leicestershire and the mother of subsequent Chapels in Leicester and elsewhere. Samuel Burdett (1836 - 1914), son of a Baptist minister went to America at the age of 12. At 23 he was admitted to the Bar, fought on the side of Lincoln in the Civil War, became a member of Congress and was then appointed Commander of the Republican Army.

The Church of St Mary, Roman Catholic until 1535, C of E thereafter, and her Rector, have fulfilled the spiritual needs of the Parish since the early 12th Century. The tower houses a peal of eight bells: the four oldest date from 1637 and another from 1680. A victory bell was added in 1945 and two treble bells in 1972, a gift of a former parishioner. Six of the windows contain fragments of early 14th Century stained glass, all that remains of fully decorated windows, one of which was of Thomas Eastly who died in 1385 and was intact in 1622.

The government of the village was for centuries in the hands of the Lords of the Manor, the Manorial Court and the reeve.

These powers were gradually eroded and replaced by the Church Council until 1894 when civil business was transferred to the newly formed Parish Council.

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