Hinckley


Hinckley is a market town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the second largest town in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Loughborough.
Hinckley is situated approximately at the midpoint between the cities of Leicester and Coventry and is near to the larger town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire.

History

Hinckley has a history going back to Anglo-Saxon times; the name Hinckley is Anglo Saxon: "Hinck" is someone's name and "ley" is a meadow. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Hinckley was quite a large village, and grew over the following 200 years into a small market town—a market was first recorded there in 1311. There is evidence of an Anglo Saxon church – the remnants of an Anglo Saxon sun-dial being visible on the diagonal buttress on the south-east corner of the chancel.
In 2000, archaeologists from Northampton Archaeology discovered evidence of Iron Age and Romano-British settlement on land near Coventry Road and Watling Street.

17th century

In the 17th century, the town developed a hosiery industry, producing stockings and similar items. Hinckley played a prominent part in the English Civil War. Its proximity to several rival strongholds—the royalist garrisons at Caldicote, Ashby de la Zouch and Leicester, those of the Parliamentarians at Tamworth and Coventry, and the presence of parties of troops or brigands occupying several fortified houses in nearby Warwickshire—ensured frequent visits by the warring parties. The local townsfolk were forced to decide whether to declare their allegiances openly or attempt to remain neutral—with the risk of having to pay levies, ransoms, and fines to both sides. In March 1644, Hinckley was occupied by a group of Royalist troops, though they were soon driven out by a force of Parliamentarians, who took many prisoners.
The Civil War years were a particularly unsettled time for the clergy in and around Hinckley. Parsons with parliamentary leanings like Thomas Cleveland, the vicar of Hinckley, suffered sequestration by the Leicester County Committee, like some of his "malignant" neighbours accused of visiting royalist garrisons or preaching against Parliament.
The town was visited by both parliamentary and royalists troops from the rival garrisons, particularly parliamentary troops from Tamworth, Coventry and Astley Castle in Warwickshire. Troops from Coventry garrison were particularly active in the town, taking horses and "free quarter" and availing themselves of 'dyett and Beere', and taking some of the inhabitants hostage for ransom. Royalist troops raided the town to threaten those with parliamentary sympathies. The notorious Lord Hastings of Ashby de la Zouch is recorded to have "coursed about the country as far as Dunton and Lutterworth and took near upon a hundred of the clergymen and others, and carried them prisoners … threatening to hang all them that should take the Parliament's Covenant". Parliamentary newssheets record that on the night of 4 March 1644, Hastings's men brought in "26 honest countrymen from several towns" intending to take them to Ashby de la Zouch, along with a huge herd of cattle, oxen and horses from the country people and a minister named Mr Warner. These prisoners were herded into Hinckley church and asked "in a jeering manner, 'Where are the Round-heads your brethren at Leicester? Why come they not to redeem you?'"
The Parliamentarians responded in a memorable "Skirmish or Great Victory for Parliament". Colonel Grey with 120 foot-soldiers and 30 troopers from Bagworth House rushed to Hinckley and re-took the town, routed the Royalists, rescued the cattle and released their imprisoned countrymen. No doubt the inhabitants of the town were as relieved as any when Ashby finally surrendered, as Vicars records, "a great mercy and mighty preservation of the peace and tranquility of all those adjacent parts about it."

19th century

At the time of the first national census in 1801, Hinckley had a population of 5,158: twenty years later it had increased by about a thousand. The largest industry in the early 19th century was the making of hosiery and only Leicester had a larger output of stockings. In the district, it was estimated ca. 1830 that 6,000 persons were employed in this work.
Joseph Hansom built the first Hansom cab in Hinckley in 1835.
In 1899 A Cottage Hospital was built to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria two years earlier. Money was raised by the local townspeople and factory owners notably John and Thomas Atkins who also had a hand in building many of the key buildings of Hinckley. The corner stone was laid by Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston.
This hospital was central to the people of Hinckley and supported by local workers who donated one penny a week for its upkeep until it was adopted by the NHS in 1948. Over the years it expanded to align with the town. Sadly now, this historic beautiful building, appears dilapidated in some areas and is currently threatened with closure, sale and demolition by West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS Properties LTD. The local community is facing a fight to save it for the town and petitions gave been signed both online and on paper.

Modern

The hosiery industry remained important for much of the 20th-century, and by 1939 the Hinckley and District Hosiery Union alone had 6,000 members.
The area was subject to new housing developments in the 1950s, 1960s and 1990s.

Geography

West Hinckley, Forest View, Hollycroft, Middlefield, Saxon Paddock, Stoneygate and Wykin Estate are suburbs of Hinckley. The village of Burbage to the south is conjoined to Hinckley, separated by the railway line;c onjoined Burbage is the village of Sketchley.

Governance

Hinckley became an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, covering the ancient parish of Hinckley. In 1934, under a County Review Order, Hinckley urban district expanded to include the ancient parishes of Barwell, Burbage and Earl Shilton and most of Stoke Golding. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 the Hinckley urban district was abolished, becoming an unparished area in the borough of Hinckley and Bosworth. Since then, the civil parishes of Barwell, Burbage, Earl Shilton and Stoke Golding have been re-established. The core urban area remained unparished.

Landmarks

Hinckley is a traditional centre of the hosiery industry. The first framework knitting machine was brought here by Joseph Iliffe in the 17th century and by the 19th century Hinckley was responsible for a large proportion of Britain's hosiery production. Since the Second World War the hosiery industry has steadily shrunk in size although several textile firms remain in the area. Hinckley & District Museum, which is housed in a range of former framework knitters' cottages, tells the story of the hosiery industry and contains some examples of framework knitting machines.
Ultima Sports Ltd, a manufacturer of sports cars is based in Hinckley as is Paynes Garages Ltd, one of the oldest family-owned Ford Motor Dealerships in the UK. Established by JA Payne in 1907, the firm became Ford Dealers in 1922. The business remains family owned with Nigel Payne, grandson of the founder, one of the current Directors.
The town's central location and good links to the UK motorway network have made it a popular location for distribution warehouses. Hammonds Furniture, a family owned nationwide fitted furniture company, was established in the town in 1926 by Thomas Hammonds, and currently employs over 850 people in its two Hinckley factories.
Hinckley has housed the Triumph Motorcycles Ltd facility since 1990. Founded in 1902 Triumph is one of the oldest motorcycle producers still in activity. In the summer of 2017 there are plans for the reopening of a visitors centre and cafe, namely 1902, opening six days a week.
Hinckley is home to a well-established creative and technology community with designers, illustrators, artists and photographers taking up residence in the town, particularly in converted buildings such as the renovated Atkins Building and Graphic House on Druid Street, also a former factory converted to modern office and studio use.

Transport

The town is equidistant from Coventry and Leicester and to the east of Nuneaton. The small town of Ibstock is to the north on the A447.

Roads

The A47 was by-passed around the town during the early 1990s when the Northern Perimeter Road was completed. As well as relieving congestion in the town centre, new commercial developments have been built along the route.
Hinckley is served by the A5 and the M69. The M69 links Hinckley to the nearest cities, Coventry, and Leicester, and the M1 and M6 motorways.

Bus

are the main operator of bus services within the town centre operating services to Leicester, Burbage, Earl Shilton and Nuneaton from their depot in Barwell.
Stagecoach in Warwickshire also operate a number of other routes around Hinckley.

Railway

is on the Nuneaton to Leicester section of the Birmingham to Peterborough Line and has regular services between Birmingham and Leicester via Narborough and Nuneaton. Journeys to London can be made via the West Coast Main Line through Nuneaton to London Euston or the Midland Main Line via Leicester to London St Pancras.

Airports

The nearest airports are East Midlands and Birmingham.

Media and culture

The local radio station, Fosse Radio, 107.9 fm serves the town and the surrounding area. The main local newspaper is the weekly Hinckley Times, which has its own website. The daily Leicester Mercury no longer publishes a Hinckley edition. The free Hinckley Herald & Journal is distributed to most houses. Hinckley has its own community website and online news resource. take5 community news is a full colour gloss community magazine distributed free to homes and businesses. Hinckley also has its own hospital radio station Castle Mead Radio, which serves the patients and staff of Hinckley's two main hospitals.
There is a 400-seat theatre located near the centre of the town in Stockwell Head, which holds regular productions. Further, the local council holds an annual 'Proms in The Park' event.
Hinckley Photographed was set up in 2012 and is an ongoing visual documentary about Hinckley, using photographs, videos and stories about the people and the place Hinckley for people to learn more about the residents of Hinckley and the changing landscape. The documentary has an extensive presence on social media at https://www.facebook.com/HinckleyPhotographed/ and is widely supported by the arts.
setup in February 2014 for the local people of Hinckley to find out more about local history, current events, finding old friends, colleagues, photos, etc. New people to the area as well as people who have left the area find the friendly group very useful. The group has an extensive website at and a popular .
Hinckley remembers the contribution of Simon de Montfort to participatory democracy. Montfort's banner described as the 'Arms of Honour of Hinckley', per pale indented argent and gules, shown in the stained glass image in Chartres Cathedral, is used by the town of Hinckley in the town coat of arms, various local sports teams and other organisations. Combined with his personal Coat of Arms, it also forms part of the club crest for the town's football club Hinckley A.F.C.

Sport

The town has had six notable football clubs over the years –
Hinckley Rugby Club, was formed in 1893 and has been based at the Leicester Road Sports ground since 1968. The club has played in league rugby since 1987. The first team currently play in National 2 North.
Hinckley Ladies' Netball Club is based at the Leicester Road Sports Ground and has four senior teams in the Coventry and Warwickshire Netball League. Hinckley Gymnastics Club, established in 1971, is based at Clarendon Park.
Hinckley Basketball Club was founded in 1974, and included staff, ex-students and students of John Cleveland College. The team folded after the 2012–13 season, because of player shortage. The Club, reformed in 2014, plays home games at Green Towers club on Richmond Road. The two club teams are the Hinckley 69ers in Division 2, and Hinckley Hail in Division 4, of the Leicestershire men's league.
Hollycroft Park, in the centre of Hinckley, contains two tennis courts, a golf pitch'n'putt and a lawn bowls green with pavilion. Greentowers, a self-funded charity, is a youth club at Richmond Park which contains a climbing wall, skate park, astro turf pitch, and a BMX track.
On 8 May 2014, the Hinkley to Bedford second stage of The Women's Tour Great Britain cycle race, departed from Hinckley.

Education

The main primary schools in the area are Battling Brook CP, Richmond, Hinckley parks, St. Peter's Catholic, St. Mary's Church of England, Westfield Infant/Junior and Sketchley Hill Primary School. The high schools include Redmoor, St Martin's Catholic Voluntary Academy and Hastings — all feeder schools for Hinckley Academy, the two schools in the town for Years 10 and 11. The school also operates a sixth form. North Warwickshire & Hinckley College, a Further Education college, is also in the town. The only other major college in the area is William Bradford. Within Hinckley there is also Dorothy Goodman Special School that caters for both juniors and seniors with disabilities, with units integrated within other local schools.

Cultural associations

Hinckley and District Museum was opened in 1996 and it's open season is Easter Monday to the end of October each year.The Museum prepares new exhibitions for each season. The Museum is housed in a row of thatched 17th Century Cottages in the centre of the town.

Notable people

Hinckley was known to its residents for many years as "Tin 'At". It is reputed that, many years ago, one of the itinerant sheep drovers bragged that he could drink a hat full of ale. The local landlord put this man to the test by getting the local blacksmith to make a tin hat, which he then filled with ale. Thereafter, the town became known as "Tin 'At". Another explanation is that the people of Hinckley used to place buckets on water pumps to keep them clean and prevent the spread of illness, the bucket obviously being the "Tin 'At". A tin hat can be seen on top of the flag pole which sits on the roof of the Coral branch at the corner of Castle Street and Market Place. There is also a pub called The Tin Hat and a fair held annually during December in the town centre called The Tin Hat Fair.

Twinning

Hinckley is twinned with Le Grand-Quevilly, France, and joined with Herford, Germany in the early 1970s. Hinckley is also twinned with Midland, Ohio, United States.