- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Markfield is a commuter village to the northwest of Leicester and in the Hinckley and Bosworth District of Leicestershire, England. The settlement dates back to at least the time of the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Merchenefeld. Nearby places are Newtown Linford, Groby, and Stanton under Bardon. In the 1841 UK census its population was recorded at 1,203. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 5,681.
Markfield has a long association with the quarrying industry and has a particular type of granite, "microdiorite" named after it. The granite stone (microdiorite) 'Markfieldite' is a very hard granite found in the local area and used in roadstone and railway construction.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Markfield.
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Markfield from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
- "MARKFIELD, a village and a parish in Market Bosworth [registration] district, Leicestershire. The village stands 3 miles SE of Bardon Hill railway] station, and 7½ NW of Leicester; and has a post office† under Leicester. The parish comprises 2,534 acres. Real property: £5,656; of which £432 are in quarries. Population in 1851: 1,261; in 1861: 1,391. Houses: 310. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to the Earl of Stamford. Granite is quarried, and stocking-making is carried on. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £500. Patron: the Marquis of Hastings. The church is old, with tower and spire; and was rebuilt and enlarged in 1865. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, a national school built in 1862, and charities £10."
Research Tips
- From this Findmypast page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
- From this Ancestry page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
- For both of the above sites, a subscription is charged. Transcriptions of these records may also be available free of charge on the FamilySearch website.
- A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Leicestershire.
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