- Sharnford
Sharnford is a village and
civil parish in Blaby ofLeicestershire . The parish has a population of about 1,000. The village is about four miles east ofHinckley , and is near toAston Flamville ,Wigston Parva andSapcote .The
Domesday hamlet or farmstead of "Scerneford" is mentioned in the tenth-century will of Wulfric Spot, earl ofMercia , and probably named after a "scearn" or muddy ford over the river Soar. It lies immediately north of High Cross, near the Roman station at "Venonis" (mentioned in theAntonine Itinerary ) at the intersection of Roman Watling Street and theFosse Way * [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/venonis.htm] . Sharnford was originally a singlevill , divided into two manors.During the
English Civil War soldiers from the local garrisons visited Sharnford in search of fresh horses and "provinder". In June, 1646 the Sharnford constables claimed for provinder taken by Captain Flower of theCoventry garrison, Robert Day claiming £5 for a horse taken by Captain Merrer's men [http://www.coventryweb.co.uk/editorials/history/CoventryGarrison.html] .John Nichols the county antiquary, provides a fine illustration of the old Sharnford parsonage house that once stood alongside Sharnford church, home to Nichols Horton, the rector of Sharnford and
Little Peating who lived here from 1738-1793 [http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/sharnford/theoldparsonagehouseatsharnford.html] . By the turn of the century Sharnford had grown into a sizeable settlement, the national census recording a population of 373. Nichols describes the inhabitants as being mostly yeomen and tradesmen. There were no "titled great" and no acknowledgedlord of the manor .The modern village has two public houses, the Sharnford Arms, now serving Chinese food, and the Countryman. The one garage that was in the village no longer serves fuel.
References
Sources: John Nichols, "Antiquities of Leicestershire" Vol. IV, pp 920 et seq.
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