Charnwood (borough)

For the electoral ward of Leicester, see Charnwood (ward).

Borough of Charnwood
—  Borough  —
Shown within Leicestershire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East Midlands
Administrative county	Leicestershire
Founded
Admin. HQ	Loughborough
Government
- Type	Charnwood Borough Council
- Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
- Executive:	Conservative
- MPs:	Stephen Dorrell, Nicky Morgan
Area
- Total	107.7 sq mi (279.0 km2)
Area rank	147th
Population (2010 est.)
- Total	166,800
- Rank	Ranked 106th
- Density	1,548.4/sq mi (597.8/km2)
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
- Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Postcode
ISO 3166-2
ONS code	31UC
OS grid reference
NUTS 3
Ethnicity	91.7% White 6.0% S.Asian 1.3% Afro-Caribbean
Website	charnwoodbc.gov.uk

Charnwood is a borough of northern Leicestershire, England. It is named after Charnwood Forest, which it contains. Loughborough is the largest town in the district and serves as the borough's administrative and commercial centre.

History

The district of Charnwood was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the municipal borough of Loughborough, the Shepshed urban district and the Barrow upon Soar Rural District. It was then granted borough status on 15 May 1974.^[1]

The symbol of Charnwood Borough Council is the fox, historically linked with Leicestershire, and this is also the symbol used by Leicestershire County Council. However Charnwood contains Quorn, which is believed^{[by whom?]} to be the birthplace of fox-hunting.

Geography

To the south it borders the City of Leicester, about 20 km away from Loughborough. There is a moderately urbanised A6 corridor between the towns and close to the River Soar, including Quorn, Barrow-on-Soar, Mountsorrel, Birstall, Thurmaston, Syston and East Goscote. Shepshed, to the west of Loughborough, is the other major town in the district.

Political representation

There are two Parliamentary constituencies covering the district. Charnwood is represented by the Conservative Stephen Dorrell, the former National Heritage Secretary (1994-5) and Health Secretary (1995-7) during John Major's government. Loughborough is represented by the Conservative Party's Nicky Morgan.

Demographics

Charnwood is the largest borough by population in Leicestershire, and has the largest school population as well.

Parishes

• Anstey
• Barkby, Barkby Thorpe, Barrow upon Soar, Beeby, Birstall, Burton on the Wolds
• Cossington, Cotes
• East Goscote
• Hathern, Hoton
• Mountsorrel
• Newtown Linford
• Prestwold
• Queniborough, Quorn
• Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Rearsby, Rothley
• Seagrave, Shepshed, Sileby, South Croxton, Swithland, Syston
• Thrussington, Thurcaston and Cropston, Thurmaston
• Ulverscroft
• Walton on the Wolds, Wanlip, Woodhouse, Wymeswold

References

1. ^ Charnwood Borough Council; The Mayoralty in Charnwood. Accessed 31 January 2006.

External links

• Charnwood Borough Council YouTube channel

Coordinates: 52°46′08″N 1°12′14″W / 52.769°N 1.204°W / 52.769; -1.204