Wigston Magna

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Great Wigston
latitude= 52.5812
longitude= -1.093
population = 2
shire_district= Oadby and Wigston
shire_county = Leicestershire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster= Harborough
post_town= WIGSTON
postcode_district = LE18
postcode_area= LE
dial_code= 0116
os_grid_reference= SP6197
map_type=Leicestershire

Great Wigston or Wigston Magna (see also Wigston Parva), is a town within Leicestershire, England just to the south of Leicester, on the A5199 road which leads to Northampton.

It runs directly into Oadby to the east, with which it shares Oadby and Wigston district council, and Leicester to the north. An area known as South Wigston is actually to the west. The town is part of the Leicester Urban Area.

History

One of the earliest mentions of this place is in the Domesday book where it is listed amongst the lands held by Hugh de Grandmesnil "Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration". London: Penguin, 2003. p. 652 ISBN 0-14-143994-7] for the King.

In the Middle Ages it was known as Wigston Two Spires as, unusually, there were two mediaeval churches there, All Saints and St. Wistans.

St Wistan's is known as that because it was one of the places where the body of St Wistan rested before burial. First, he was buried at Repton and finally in Evesham. St Wistan was a Mercian Prince who was assassinated but was regarded as a Martyr.

It was the birthplace of George Davenport, a notorious highwayman and Abigail Herrick, the mother of Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and former Leicester Sound and BBC Radio Leicester presenter, Mark Hayman. Graham Chapman, of Monty Python fame, also did much of his growing up in Wigston.

There is a Framework Knitting Museum here, as it was an important occupation in this area.

Wigston was the subject of W. G. Hoskins's pioneering historical study, "The Midland Peasant" (London: Macmillan, 1965), which traced the social history of this village from earliest recorded history into the 19th century.

Local economy

MacFisheries' MacMarkets was the town's major supermarket for many years. It became a branch of International Stores in the late 1970s and was later successively a Gateway Foodmarket, Kwik Save, Somerfield and Kwik Save once again before becoming vacant for quite some time; it has recently re-opened as a branch of Wilkinson which has relocated from elsewhere in the town. There is a Sainsbury's in the centre of the town, and Tesco on Blaby Road in neighbouring South Wigston.

Education

[http://www.abington.leics.sch.uk Abington High School] (built 1952, former secondary modern, ages 10-14), [http://www.bushloe.com Bushloe High School] (ages 10-14, completely rebuilt September 2006), [http://www.guth.org.uk Guthlaxton College] (built late 1950s, ages 14-18, former grammar school),and South Leicestershire College (formerly Wigston College) are all very near each other on "Station Road". The schools' results are average for Leicestershire, but below average for the UK. Close by, on the same road are the headquarters of the Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.

South Leicestershire College is set to be rebuilt on Canal Street, South Wigston and should be completed in 2010.

[http://www.1461squadron.co.uk 1461 (Wigston) Squadron] of the Air Training Corps is located in South Wigston, and recruits many members from the schools in Wigston.

Transport Links

South Wigston railway station lies on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line. Trains to Leicester run every two hours and take five minutes. Connections are frequent from Leicester Railway Station to London St Pancras, where Eurostar international services have operated since November 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.oadby-wigston.gov.uk Borough of Oadby and Wigston]
* [http://www.wigston-college.ac.uk South Leicestershire College]
* [http://www.webwigston.co.uk Wigston Community Website]
* [http://www.wigstonbrassband.com Wigston Band]
* [http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/libraries/county_libraries/oadbywigston_libraries/wigston_library.htm Library]
* [http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/wigston Leicestershire Villages]
* [http://www.wigstonmagna.leicester.anglican.org All Saints and St Wistan churches]
* [http://www.allsaintsprimary.com All Saints CE Primary School]
* [http://www.lrmf.org.uk/m_26_wig.htm Framework Knitting Museum]