Wanlip History

Introduction

The village is located north of Leicester between Birstall and Syston. With the development of the A46 link to the M1 there are now more than 16 road signs indicating its location. Nevertheless, locating Wanlip is a good test of a recent road atlas.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book and for centuries was an estate village, owned from the 1600s by the Palmer family. Up to the 1940s, most of the residents were still tenants, farming or directly serving the families occupying Wanlip Hall.

Few of the tenants came from long established village families. Of those shown in the 1901 Census, only 15 residents were born in Wanlip and overall very few also appeared in the 1891 Census.

Palmers of Wanlip Hall

Rasselas Morjan - Rescued Slave Remembered in Wanlip Churchyard

Did World War II Save the Village?

In 1937, following the death of Lady Augusta Palmer, the whole village, including all the fields around, was put up for auction. At that time, much of the land was described as 'useful arable land or ideal for development'. Indeed, the former Wanlip Hall, the Park and adjacent land in Church Road was recommended for 'development on comprehensive lines as a Garden City Housing Estate'.

Perhaps the sense of an approaching war discouraged potential investors because much of the land is still owned by the Palmer Tomkinson family. War-time and post war building restrictions ‘held the fort’, then Green Belt and Village Envelope Regulations were introduced which preserved the current rural character of the village.

Did WWII preserve the village?

From 1841 to 1901 there were 21 to 24 households. Over the years, with the building in the Hall Gardens, the site of the former Rectory and more recently, Home Farm, this has increased to 68.

Useful Information