Thornton, Leicestershire
Encyclopedia
Thornton is a village in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The village is within the civil parish of Bagworth and Thornton
Bagworth and Thornton
Bagworth and Thornton is a civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,836. The parish includes the villages of Bagworth and Thornton....

. It is a linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....

 lying along a scarp overlooking Thornton Reservoir.

The Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of St Peter was built in the 13th century. The church door was originally at Ulverscroft Priory
Ulverscroft Priory
Ulverscroft Priory was founded by Robert de Bossu, Earl of Leicester in 1134 as a priory for eremites of the Order of St Augustine. It was closely connected with the Lords Ferrars of Groby. The last Prior was Geoffrey Whalley. On the suppression of the Priory in 1539, Whalley was granted a pension...

. It was reported in November 2011 that the church is being split in two by subsidence.

From 1832 until 1871 Thornton was served by Merry Lees railway station
Merry Lees railway station
Merry Lees was a railway station on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line in Leicestershire. It was opened in 1832 and closed in 1871.The Leicester and Swannington Railway opened the first Merry Lees station on 18 July 1832...

 on the Leicester and Swannington Railway
Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway was one of England's first railways, being opened on 17 July 1832 to bring coal from collieries in west Leicestershire to Leicester.-Overview:...

.

Thornton Reservoir
Thornton Reservoir
Thornton Reservoir is a small reservoir situated in the National Forest near the village of Thornton in Leicestershire. It has a surface area of and a perimeter of . It was originally built in 1854 when it had its own treatment works which were situated to the south of the current dam...

 has an area of 75 acres (30.4 ha). It is no longer used as a source of drinking water. Severn Trent Water opened it to the public in 1997.
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