Osgathorpe

For the suburb of Sheffield, see Osgathorpe, South Yorkshire.

The now dried up Charnwood Forest Canal south of Osgathorpe.

Osgathorpe is a small village which lies in a fold of the hills in North West Leicestershire, England, and is about a quarter of a mile the A512 Coalville to Loughborough Road.

The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Blessed Virgin and dates from the fourteenth century. It was heavily restored in the nineteenth century, with the addition of a polygonal apse to the chancel. A tower with a small pyramid turret was built at the south west corner of the church in around 1930 and contains two bells, which are rung using a clocking method. There are pleasing north and south windows to the nave and chancel, and in the south wall of the nave can be seen a very unusual hagioscope (or squint), which is set diagonally within the stonework, to allow a view of the altar.

Opposite the church is the village school, built in 1670, with almshouses of the same date. There is also a good example of a sixteenth century yeoman farmer's house just south-west of the church, with a fine Swithland slate roof.^[1]

Remains of a stretch of the long-abandoned Charnwood Forest Canal can be seen alongside a footpath to the south of the village, running from Thringstone to an area known locally as 'The Snarrows'.

The Storey Arms was a popular working class pub but now struggles to attract drinkers due to the clampdown on drink driving and the other pub the Royal Oak closed in 2000.

References

1. ^ W G Hoskins, A Shell Guide to Leicestershire (1970)

External links

• Map sources for Osgathorpe

Coordinates: 52°46′17″N 1°21′51″W / 52.77139°N 1.36408°W / 52.77139; -1.36408