Whitwick a Very Brief History

Whitwick was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a village called Witewic, which could either mean a white farm or dairy farm belonging to a man called Hwita. At this time it was recorded that Whitwick Manor belonged to Hugh de Gretemaisnil. By the 12th Century the manor also include Bardon, Markfield, Newton Unthank, Worthington and some of Hugglescote. Whitwick Castle was probably built between 1135 and 1154 although no remains are left to date this accurately. The castle was heavily fortified some time between 1199 and 1216 during the turbulent reign of King John. At this time the manor belonged to the King but it changed hands a number of times over the preceeding ages finally being sold to the influential Hastings family in 1612 - 1613. The Hastings owned Whitwick Manor for nearly 200 years finally finally selling it in the 19th Century. Whitwick was granted the right to hold a market by a Royal Charter signed by Edward I on 6th June 1293. This market continued into the 20th Century, though competition from the larger and more recent market at Coalville eventually resulted in its discontinuance. The Church of St John the Baptist, was probably an adjunct to the castle and contains the tomb of the giant Sir John Talbot, who died in 1365. The Tower is from the 12th century and the remainder of the church from about 1300. At this time Whitwick was an important settlement and the church was the Mother Church for outlying villages as far as Markfield and Newton Unthank.

An 1888 map of Whitwick showing the castle mound in the centre

The village is situated partly over the coalfields of North West Leicestershire but also over the Thringstone fault. This is where the coalfileds end and the prehistoric rock has been forced to fold and contains faults due to to the stress of Palaeozoic era volcanic eruptions. The Thringstone fault runs from Bardon Hill to Ticknall and passes under the north east corner of the village.

Agriculture was probably the main source of income for the villagers in the early years. Arable farming would be difficult due to poor soil conditions and the proximity of Warren Hills and Bardon Hill causing the village to be colder than the surrounding county reducing the crop season by nearly two weeks. Keeping livestock would have been much more attractive especially as Charnwood Forest was common land. In the Middle Ages agriculture had been the key to Whitwick's existence but by the 18th Century the cottage industry of knitting saw Whitwick boom and in 1844 it was recorded that Whitwick had 423 knitting frames for a village that in 1676 only had a recorded population of 483. However, as knitting moved to the factories so Whitwick declined and in 1851 there were only 240 knitting frames.

In 1820 the Industrial Revolution brought the technological advances that meant mining of Whitwick's deeper coal seams was viable some 600 years after mining was first recorded in 1204 at Swannington. Long hours and hard work down the mines gave the inhabitants of Whitwick a great thirst and there were plenty of alehouses seeking to satisfy their craving. In 1890 the 200 yard stroll from the market place to the church provide a choice of eight Public Houses, the Three Crowns, Hastings Arms, Beaumont Arms, White Horse, Railway Inn, Crown and Cushion, Waggon and Horses and the Black Horse.

Whitwick has dallied with other industries the most notable being mineral water. At one point there were three mineral water factories in the village including Beckworth's which opened in 1875 and closed in the late 70's. Another thriving cottage industry was the manufacture of trinkets from alabaster quarried in Chellaston, Derbyshire. Known as Ornamental Spa Manufacture, locally it was nicknamed the bauble industry. Candle-sticks and eggcups made in Whitwick would reach as far afield as Niagara Falls although by the turn of the 20th Century the bauble industry had died out completely.

A view from Castle Hill showing the gable end of Beckworth's Mineral Water factory in the distance. The ivy covered house was built in 1900 by Sally Ashton to accommodate the Spa industry. In 1903 cheap German imports effectively destroyed the industry and the premises were occupied by Stinson's Mineral Water manufacturers.

In the early 1800s Coalville was no more than a crossing where the road known as Long Lane passed over the meeting point of the old townships of Whitwick, Swannington, Snibston and Hugglescote. Ironically it was the sinking of the first shafts at Whitwick Colliery by William Stenson in 1826 that would also bring into existence the town of Coalville. In 1892 the Coalville Local Board supplanted the Whitwick Local Board and the feeling that Coalville usurped Whitwick's position would linger well in to the 70s when people still referred to Coalville as Long Lane. It would only be the housing boom of the 60s and 70s which once again stimulated the villages growth.

The modern skyline of Whitwick was very different from todays during the 19th Century. The ornamental tower of the Holy Cross Catholic Church did not appear on the skyline until 1904. Whitwick had only received a parish priest in 1859 as a response to the influx of people from Ireland to work in the mines. Prior to this Whitwick Catholics were served from Mount St Bernards Abbey.

Other Items of Interest

Ale Houses of Whitwick
Church of St John the Baptist
Donington-Le-Heath Manor House
Mount St Bernards Abbey
Whitwick Reformatory
Whitwick Historical Society
Whitwick Colliery
Whitwick Colliery Mining Disaster
Leicestershire's First VC
Charnwood Forest Railway
Wartime Whitwick