Diseworth History

Ridge and furrow near Diseworth

Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Diseworth was inhabited in the Roman, Saxon and Viking periods. Its position in a sheltered valley next to the brook is a classic setting for early settlement, and the development of farmsteads. Diseworth has had many variations on its name, but almost always with the suffix worth, meaning enclosed settlement. The naming of the principal roads (Lady Gate, Hall Gate, Clements Gate and Grimes Gate) also shows their origins in Viking times.

At the time of the Norman conquest, Diseworth was sufficiently important to be part of an award to a Norman knight, and appear in the Domesday book. William Lovett held some 360 acres in Diseworth, although his tenure did not last for long.

By the early 12th century, land around Diseworth was held by the Earls of Leicester and Chester, and by Robert de Ferrers. Many disputes over the ownership of the land followed in the period up to the late 15th century, when in 1487 the estate was declared the property of Sir Henry Colet.

The nearby Langley Priory had exercised considerable control over the parish church and the villagers, many of whom worked for the nuns. Benefactors who donated land to the Priory often chose land in Diseworth. Shortly before the dissolution of the Priory, along with other religious properties and land in England, Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, purchased a considerable part of the village to found what became Christ's College, Cambridge.

For the next five hundred years Diseworth was dominated by the owners of Langley Priory estate and Christ's College, and saw the villagers paying rent to either the Reverend Gentlemen of Christ's, or the new owners of Langley: first the Grays, then the Cheslyns and then the Shakepears. The college sold their interest in Diseworth in 1920, but there remain a few farms and houses still owned by landlords.

Today, Diseworth is still notable for having several active farms contained within the village itself, although its proximity to East Midlands Airport is a constant reminder that its future prosperity is also dependent on the trade generated by its position in the M1 corridor, close to Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.

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