Great Bowden

Great Bowden is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is north-east of and a suburb of Market Harborough, although originally the parish of Great Bowden included Harborough. The population is around 1,000, being measured at the 2011 census as 1,017.[1] Places nearby include Market Harborough, Little Bowden, Sutton Bassett, Foxton and Thorpe Langton.

Great Bowden
Great Bowden Village Sign
Great Bowden is located in Leicestershire
Great Bowden
Great Bowden
Location within Leicestershire
Population1,017 (2011 Census)
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMARKET HARBOROUGH
Postcode districtLE16
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

Anglo-Saxon origins

The village was included in the Domesday Book, under the name 'Bugedone' and was worth 40 shillings per year to the King. 'Bugedone', is a combination of the Old English female personal name 'Bucga' and the word 'dun' (meaning 'a hill, a flat-topped hill, an open upland expanse').[2] It is one of the older villages in Leicestershire since it has Anglo-Saxon origins (it is older than the much larger market town of Market Harborough, which lies nearby). Great Bowden was the centre of a large soke, which is known to have existed during the time of Edward the Confessor.[3]

Parish

The Great Bowden parish included Market Harborough and parts of St Mary in Arden.[4] In 1613, St Mary in Arden was unified with Market Harborough[5] Market Harborough was a separate parish by 1881.[4] The first mention of a parish church in Great Bowden was in 1220.[4] St Peter and St Paul, the current parish church, includes features from the 13th century, but it was considerably altered in the 15th century.[4] In 1886-87 the building was restored by Talbot Brown and Fisher, architects from Wellingborough.[4] The churchyard contain gravestones that date from the 17th century.[6]

Great Bowden parish church

Education

The National school was built adjoining the parish church in 1839,[4] and opened on 2 December 1839,[6] In 1930, it became solely a primary school and older children were educated in Market Harborough.[4] The National school building remained in use until the school relocated to Gunnsbrook Close in 1983.[7] On 1 July 2012 the school became an academy.[7]

Listed buildings

There are 73 listed buildings and structures.[6]

Site of scientific interest

Great Bowden Borrowpit is a 2.4-hectare (5.9-acre) site of special scientific interest.

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Offivce for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. Bourne, Jill (2003). Understanding Leicestershire & Rutland Place Names. Wymeswold: Heart of Albion Press. ISBN 1-872883-71-0.
  3. "Victoria County History, A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Great Bowden". Archived from the original on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  4. "Great Bowden | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. "St Mary in Arden". specialcollections.le.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. "The List Search Results for Great bowden | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  7. "Parents Handbook 2017 to 18" (PDF). Great Bowden Academy: A Church of England Primary School. 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
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