View source for Kegworth

{{Short description|Village in Leicestershire, England}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2008}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Kegworth
| country = England
| region = East Midlands
| shire_district = [[North West Leicestershire]]
| shire_county = [[Leicestershire]]
| constituency_westminster = [[North West Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|North West Leicestershire]]
| post_town = DERBY
| postcode_area = DE
| postcode_district = DE74
| dial_code = 01509
| coordinates = {{coord|52|50|N|1|17|W}}
| population = 4,290
| population_ref = (2021 census)
| static_image_name = Long Lane towards Kegworth - geograph.org.uk - 557653.jpg
| static_image_caption = View of Kegworth from Long Lane
| website = {{URL|kegworthparishcouncil.gov.uk/}}
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}

'''Kegworth''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|ɡ|w|ər|θ}}) is a large village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[North West Leicestershire]] district of [[Leicestershire]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Kegworth (Parish Council)|url=https://www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk/local-council-contacts/kegworth|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> in the [[East Midlands]] region, England. It forms part of the border with [[Nottinghamshire]] and is situated 6 miles north of [[Loughborough]], 12 miles southwest of [[Nottingham]], 12.5 miles southeast of [[Derby]] and 17 miles north of [[Leicester]]. The population of Kegworth {{As of|2011|pre=the|lc=y}} census was 3,601.<ref>{{NOMIS2011|title=Kegworth Parish |id=E04005554|access-date=2020-07-19}}</ref>

Lying on the [[River Soar]], it is situated on the [[A6 road (England)|A6]] near junction 24 of the [[M1 motorway]] and is also close to [[East Midlands Airport]], the [[East Midlands Gateway freight terminal]] and [[East Midlands Parkway railway station]]. The village is served by a primary school that was rated good at its last [[Ofsted]] inspection,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50176903}}</ref> and which takes children from ages 4 to 10 years. Beyond the primary school age, most children attend schools in [[Castle Donington]] and [[Shepshed]]. The village has both Anglican<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth: St Andrews|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/5274/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.achurchnearyou.com|language=en}}</ref> and Baptist<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth Baptist Church|url=https://kegworthbaptist.org.uk/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Kegworth Baptist Church|language=en-GB}}</ref> churches. Shops in the village include a supermarket, butcher, pharmacy and optician.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth - Shopping and Shops Kegworth, Leicestershire|url=https://kegworth.2day.uk/section/LocalShopping|access-date=2020-07-22|website=kegworth.2day.uk}}</ref> There are a number of cafes, restaurants and takeaway food outlets including fish and chips, Indian and Chinese cuisine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=THE 10 BEST Restaurants in Kegworth - Updated July 2020 - Tripadvisor|url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g499587-Kegworth_Leicestershire_England.html|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.tripadvisor.com|language=en}}</ref> Kegworth has several public houses,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search results: pubs in kegworth - Tripadvisor|url=https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Search?q=pubs%20in%20kegworth&searchSessionId=7CCDD4A28B497D9F25208646AA731B6D1595437266516ssid&geo=499587&sid=0B0FAD5260487B75AD5CA072F87E40121595437378324&blockRedirect=true&ssrc=a|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.tripadvisor.co.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> a doctor's surgery<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth & Gotham Surgery|url=http://www.kegworth.net/areajoin.php|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.kegworth.net|archive-date=22 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722172703/http://www.kegworth.net/areajoin.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a village hall that hosts village events and the local playgroup.<ref>{{Cite web|title=KVH {{!}} Kegworth Village Hall|url=https://www.kegworthvh.org/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.kegworthvh.org}}</ref> Kegworth has thriving sports clubs, which include the Kegworth Imperial football club,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leicestershire & Rutland County FA - Kegworth Imperial|url=http://www.leicestershirefa.com/play-football/Football-Club-near-Leicester/Stanton-United-Old-Boys-FC?p.FaDwCentreId=19531908986&Provider.ProviderType=1&p.Northing=296196&p.Easting=455935&p.Distance=10&st=le86fa|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.leicestershirefa.com|language=en}}</ref> Kegworth Town Cricket Club<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kegworthtowncc.hitscricket.com/pages/page_2713/history.aspx|title=History of Kegworth Cricket Club|first=David|last=Buxton|publisher=Kegworth Town Cricket Club}}</ref> and Kegworth Bowls Club.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth Bowls Club, Kegworth, Derby|url=http://www.kegworthbowlsclub.co.uk/community/kegworth-bowls-club-8076/home/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.kegworthbowlsclub.co.uk}}</ref> There are five parks with play areas for younger children and a skate park.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-06-04|title=Sideley Park|url=https://www.kegworthparishcouncil.gov.uk/sideley-recreation-ground.html|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.kegworthparishcouncil.gov.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> The village has a library<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth Library {{!}} Leicestershire County Council|url=https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries/find-a-library/kegworth-library|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.leicestershire.gov.uk}}</ref> and a museum of local history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kegworthparishcouncil.co.uk/local-history.html|title=Local History|publisher=Kegworth Parish Council}}</ref> One Kegworth community group also organise many village events throughout the year such as the Easter Charter market, Sideley Park family fun day and food festival, and the Christmas market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://onekegworth.co.uk/|title=One Kegworth Organises Local Family Events in Leicestershire|website=One Kegworth|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref> The village is a short distance away from one of the [[Campuses of the University of Nottingham]] at Sutton Bonington, and the population is boosted by students living in the village.

Nearby places include [[Long Eaton]], [[Castle Donington]], [[Sutton Bonington]], [[Ratcliffe on Soar]], [[Zouch]], [[Kingston on Soar]] and [[Hathern]]. The [[post town]] is [[Derby]], with the Derby postcode prefix of DE74.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kegworth Village, Postcodes|url=https://www.kegworthvillage.com/postcodes.php|access-date=2020-07-22|website=www.kegworthvillage.com}}</ref>

Kegworth is [[Sister city|twinned]] with [[Bois-Guillaume]], a suburban town located on the plateau immediately to the north of [[Rouen]] in [[Normandy]], north-western [[France]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-19|title=Ville de Bois-Guillaume – Relations internationales|url=https://www.ville-bois-guillaume.fr/decouvrir/relations-internationales/|access-date=2020-10-19}}</ref>

==History==
The site of Kegworth was situated well within the territory of the Coritani (or [[Corieltauvi]]), one of the most powerful [[Ancient Briton|Ancient British]] tribes. A date cannot be put on the foundations of the first settlement, although [[Anglo-Saxon]] burials have been found in [[Kingston-on-Soar]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/researchframeworks/eastmidlands/attach/County-assessments/NotAngloSaxon.pdf|title=ANGLO-SAXON NOTTINGHAMSHIRE|website=Archaeology Data Service|access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref> and at [[Hathern]], a pin from the 7th century was also found near the [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]], which may indicate the date and location of the earliest settlers. The name of Kegworth comes from two languages, [[Old English]] and [[Danish language|Danish]], so it must date from some time between 874 and 1086. It means "worth" or "enclosure" of a man named Kaggi, the Danish name for redbeard.
However, some sources claim it may mean locked enclosure, from caega "key", an [[Old English]] word. It was recorded in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' as being held by [[Harold Godwinson|Earl Harold Godwin]], who became the last of the Saxon kings. After Harold's defeat at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066 the Earl Hugh of [[Chester]] was given the land by [[William the Conqueror]]. It was known in those days as Cachworde, Caggworth and Cogga.<ref name="village">{{cite web |url=http://www.kegworthvillage.com/show_record.php?table=k_pages&&id=1 |title=A General History of Kegworth |publisher=Kegworth Village}}</ref>

[[File:Kegworth Soar Bridge 2010.jpg|right|thumb|The view from Soar Bridge — the [[canal]]ised river is the border between the counties of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire]]
After the royalists defeated [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] in 1265, estates gained by the [[Earl of Gloucester]] included land in Kegworth. The privilege to hold a weekly market was granted in 1290. During the [[Middle Ages]] the parish was responsible for maintaining the condition of the roads. To try to improve the rough roads in the village, an [[Act of Parliament]] was passed in 1555 ordering every man in the parish to work for four (later six) days a year on the roads; each farmer had to provide horses and carts according to his land holding. This continued until the early 18th century when, with the increase in traffic, it became necessary to change this to paid labour.<ref name="village"/>

Although farming was a large factor in Kegworth life and still remains on the fringes, industry started in the late 18th century/early 19th century with the introduction of [[stocking]]ers shops. Some still exist (e.g. behind the former Britannia public house) and can be recognised by the long rows of windows on the first floor. As the industry grew, small [[courtyard]]s of cottages were built in the old farm yards. Women and children also worked when they could, and the [[hosiery]] and [[lace]] trade were ranked as two of the most important industries in the village from 1841 onwards. The Kegworth hand frame stockingers were highly skilled in the art of making [[silk]] stockings and they received many orders from royalty and people of high rank. [[Queen Victoria]], the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]], the [[Danish royal family]] and the [[King of Spain]] were all customers of the stockingers of Kegworth. Meeting House Yard lay behind the present 'Friends' Cottage', and included a [[Quaker]] graveyard. The last trace of these 'yards' was demolished when the entrance to Australia Yard was removed to make way for the library in High Street.<ref name="village"/>

[[File:KegworthSet3.JPG|upright|thumb|x280px|Kegworth sunset from the Soar Bridge]]
A depression in the 1890s coincided with the introduction of the [[internal combustion engine]], a [[motorbike]] factory was started that developed into the present Slack and Parrs. Domestic service was also important. In 1851 as many as 121 people were described as servants, housekeepers or [[charwomen]]. In 1899 their work was arduous with long hours, and the restricted personal freedom and the lack of privacy was poor by the standards of today but at the time they counted themselves lucky to be fed, clothed and housed. Industrialisation was the beginning of the end of this era in Kegworth's history, but there were still socks and stockings being made in the village as late as the 1940s. Despite the growth in trade and manufacturing, there was only a very slight increase in population during the 19th century.<ref name="village"/> The number of inhabitants rose from 1,416 people in 1801 to 2,078 a century later, but with actual decline in some decades, today there are approximately 3,500 people living in the village with 1,500 houses.

[[File:Kegworth Air Disaster Memorial Bench 2019.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Kegworth air disaster 30th anniversary memorial bench]]
47 people died in a plane crash on 8 January 1989, when it came down just short of the runway on the eastern side of the nearby [[East Midlands Airport]]. Although this was outside the village, it has subsequently been referred to as the [[Kegworth air disaster]]. A memorial to those who died in the crash stands in the village cemetery on Whatton Road.  There is also a plaque sited on the Ashby Road bridge over the M1, close to where the plane came down. Since 1989, the Parish Council and those who remember that fateful night have marked each anniversary by laying wreaths at both memorial sites.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kegworthparishcouncil.gov.uk/air-disaster.html|title=Air Disaster|date=2019-01-10|website=www.kegworthparishcouncil.gov.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref> A special commemorative service was held in 2019 at St Andrew's Church in the village, to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-46782519|title=Air disaster remembered 30 years on|date=2019-01-08|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-04-12|language=en-GB}}</ref> Survivors, relatives and emergency services first-responders attended.

Kegworth has always prospered from its advantages of trade and routes. Originally these were farming, road and river, later textiles, railway and canal, and now light industry, motorway and airport. It has been lucky in having relative prosperity and slow but steady growth, which has given it the character of a friendly, active community. The nearby [[University of Nottingham]] [[Sutton Bonington Campus]] has grown markedly since 2006 and many students now live in the village. A number of modern housing developments to the south of the village expanded Kegworth in the 2010s and further developments are making use of brown field sites. Kegworth was part of the [[Castle Donington|rural district of Castle Donington]] until 1974 when it became part of the [[Districts of England|district]] of [[North West Leicestershire]], whose administrative centre is located at [[Coalville]].

==Structures==
[[File:St Andrew&#039;s Church, Kegworth 02.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|North side of St Andrew's Church]]
The earliest surviving building is [[St Andrew's Church, Kegworth|St Andrew's Parish Church]]. The tower base dates from 1250 and the rest was built in 1370 when the two manors of Kegworth were united under a single [[Lord of the Manor]]. The next oldest building visible is the Cruck Cottage forming the street front of the Cottage Restaurant. This is from the 15th century, but the stucco covering conceals its age. Many other buildings similarly hide their oldest parts under stucco or modern fronts, as at the top of [[Packington]] Hill, where early 18th-century timber frames show at the rear.

Many buildings in High Street and London Road date from the 18th century, when the main [[London]] to [[Manchester]] road went up High Street and down Packington Hill. Some were town houses, others farmhouses with yards. Most of the latter have had their yards subsequently built on. The barn of number 55 High Street was demolished in 1979 to make room for another house, but the [[farmyard]] of number 48 remains, although the farmhouse was rebuilt in [[Victorian era|Victorian times]]. The internal road system of the village gradually developed as time went on as it became necessary to obtain access to neighbouring villages. The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] used a [[ford (crossing)|ford]] across the [[River Trent]] nearby and a [[Romano-British]] farm lies at the end of Long Lane. A [[Saxon]] cemetery was found two hundred years ago and the bumps and hollows between the [[A6 road (England)|A6]] and the [[River Soar]] may be the remains of a Saxon village.

==Notable people==
[[Thomas Parkinson (priest)|Thomas Parkinson]] was Rector of Kegworth from 1789 until his death in 1830.

Cartoonist [[Bill Tidy]] was a long-term resident of Kegworth in the 1980s and 1990s.

Olympic swimmer [[Adam Peaty]].

Biologist [[Keith Campbell (biologist)|Keith Campbell]] was resident in the village. He is well known as one of the team to clone the sheep [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly]] and produced further clones, sisters to Dolly, during his time in Kegworth.

Irish poet [[Thomas Moore]] lived at The Cedars, London Road, Kegworth, for almost a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tonyshaw3.blogspot.com/2010/06/thomas-moore-and-kegworth.html|title=Thomas Moore and Kegworth, Leicestershire|first=Tony|last=Shaw|date=28 June 2010|access-date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kegworth railway station]]
*[[Kegworth air disaster]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kegworth}}
*[http://www.kegworthvillage.com village web site]
*[https://onekegworth.co.uk Kegworth - One Kegworth]
*{{gbmapping|SK485265}}

{{Towns and Villages of North West Leicestershire |state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|52|50|13|N|1|17|1|W|type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Civil parishes in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:North West Leicestershire District]]
[[Category:Villages in Leicestershire]]