22-02-2005

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"FROM ANSTEY AND BIRSTALL TO CROYDON VIA BELFAST AND BEYOND"

The first name given to Anstey, Leicestershire was Hanstige or Anstige, meaning a narrow forest track. The name was of Angle origin, these probably being the first settlers, though the site had been used during Roman times, for a road following the line of the present Gorse lane, connected Leicester with Chester. During the invasion of the Danes in the 10th century, the area witnessed much activity, and was almost certainly occupied by some Danes.

Anstey was the property of the Priory of Ulverscroft and following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1545 the place reverted to the crown until 1609 when the land was sold in lots to local yeomen. However the trend in the years that followed witnessed a major drift from the land to new trades and manufacture, figures in a survey taken in 1808 substantiate that out of a population of 660, 48 were employed in Agriculture and 221 in trades.

 
Local industry began with the home workers stocking frame, progressing gradually to machines, and eventually to small manufactories employing outside labour to whom a wage was paid.

 
Three times in history the village folk have brushed shoulders with royalty. Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days, spent her childhood in the nearby Bradgate house which was built by the Greys of Groby in Tudor times. A visit by King William in 1696 to the Grey family inaugurated the reconstruction of the bridge spanning the local brook, as it was found to be too narrow for the Royal coach. King Williams Bridge is pictured above. Evidence suggests that when Bonnie Prince Charlie's army turned back from Derby during the 1745 rebellion, a foraging party reached the commons of Anstey.

Though the growth of Anstey continued over the years, the development of public amenities failed to do so. There were no roads to the village except for the ancient and now vanished Dog Lane. Two roads 45 feet broad were planned by the king’s commissioners, both of which are now bridle roads or footpaths. It was not until after the first world war that Gorse Lane was continued to Leicester and the first bus service began. Up until that time workers and schoolchildren attending Leicester grammar schools had to walk along a footpath of five fields as Gorse Lane terminated on the hill just outside the village. The sole vehicular route was by Gynsill Lane, formerly Gins Hill Lane and then by Groby Road. Today, with a population of 6000 people this ancient village still with a cross of Saxon origin continues to pioneer a much sought after village lifestyle, blending light industry with peaceful agricultural charm.

The following is how the Anstey of today is described in the in a well known travel guide.

An averaged sized village, somewhere outside Leicester. It is one of those places with a lot of local history. It has all the usual hall marks of a sub rural community, an amateur dramatics society, a Gala, and of course, the Annual Duck Race. People here tend to celebrate their birthdays by plastering posters to every lamp post they can find saying "BOB IS 57 TODAY!!!" Although pretty large as far as villages go, the only place really worth note is the Nook, where the usual convenience stores, newsagents, post offices and opticians are. There's a pub, full of old men, and just outside the convenience store is a congregation of teenagers, saying that Anstey is a hole and that they'll get out soon as they get the chance. Fifty years from now they'll be some more old men in the pub...