Shackerstone railway station

Shackerstone is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal and the River Sence. According to the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the village of Barton in the Beans, had a population of 811, including Odstone which had risen to 921 at the 2011 census.

Newton Burgoland Marshes is an 8.7-hectare (21-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Newton Burgoland in Leicestershire.This site is in two areas, with the northern one having wet grassland and species rich marsh, while the southern one is well-drained grassland. Herbs in the marsh include ragged robin, marsh marigold, meadow thistle and southern marsh orchid.The site is private land with no public access.

Odstone is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It stands on a marked promontory of high ground between two river valleys. In 1931 the parish had a population of 142.The village appears in the Domesday Book as Odeston, meaning either "Odd's farm or village", or "settlement on the protruding piece of land", oddr being the Old Norse for "point". Many local towns and villages share a similar Scandinavian heritage. Odstone became a parish in 1866, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Shackerstone.

Barton in the Beans is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. There are no shops or pubs in the hamlet, but it contains a Baptist Church and a post box. It was in the 18th century an important centre for the Baptist Church and the minister at Barton was the notable clockmaker Samuel Deacon (1746–1816). In 1931 the parish had a population of 177.One of the earliest mentions of this place is in the Domesday Book where it is listed amongst the lands given to Hugh de Grandmesnil by the King (the land required half a plough and there were 2 acres (8,100 m2) of meadow). During the Middle Ages the land passed through many hands including several members of the family of Hastings.

Congerstone () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England. It is three miles north west of Market Bosworth, of which it was historically a daughter parish. It is near the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal and the A444 road. In 1931 the parish had a population of 209.The Grade II* listed parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to 1179, although the current building is largely from the 16th century and was remodelled in the 19th century. The patron of the church was formerly the Curzon family of Earl Howe who also helped fund the village school. The church includes a monument by Sir George Frampton, dedicated to Georgiana, Countess Howe, first wife of Richard Curzon, 4th Earl Howe. The village has one school, Congerstone Primary School, on Shackerstone Road.

Bilstone is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is approximately 12 miles (19 km) west from the county town and city of Leicester, and 2 miles (3.2 km) east from Twycross and the A444 road. In 1931 the parish had a population of 68.The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Bildr' or 'farm/settlement on a corner or angle'.A half mile to the south, on Gibbet Lane, is a gibbet post, dating from 1800. The post was close to a contemporary murder. At the west of the village is a Grade II listed early 19th-century farmhouse. At the north of the village on Mill Lane is a disused 18th-century watermill, with adjoined 19th-century buildings. The mill was operational in the 1950s; today its machinery doesn't exist.Bilstone is listed in the Domesday Book as in the Guthlaxton Hundred of Leicestershire, with two ploughlands, three households and three freemen. In 1066 Countess Godiva was Lord, she remaining as such in 1086, also becoming Tenant-in-chief to William I.In 1870-1872 Bilston was a township in the parish of Norton Juxta Twycross with a population of 116 and 25 houses.In 1866 Bilstone became a parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Shackerstone.John Grundy, Sr., land surveyor and civil engineer, was born in Bilstone c. 1696.

Carlton is a small rural parish located East of the river Sence in Leicestershire, England, around 2.2 miles North of Market Bosworth. According to the 2011 Census, Carlton has a population of 305 However, from 2014 it is estimated that there are around 330 people living there with a total of 283 registered electors. There are four roads in Carlton: Main Street (where most of the population is centred) Barton Road (at the east end of the village leading south to Market Bosworth and north to Barton-in-the-Beans) Congerstone Lane (at the west end of the village) Shackerstone Walk (formerly Occupation Road).

Newton Burgoland is a village in the civil parish of Swepstone and Newton Burgoland, in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The Swepstone parish used to include a small settlement named Newton-Nethercote, which formed part of the village, but that is now part of the rest of Newton Burgoland. The population is included in the civil parish of Swepstone. The place-name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Neutone. It is referred to as Neuton Burgilon in 1390. The name "Newton" means "new homestead or village". The "Burgoland" element refers to the Burgilon family, the name meaning "Burgundian".The village contains a public house, "The Belper Arms", which is identified as the oldest pub in Leicestershire. The pub dates back to 1290 when which it was named "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess Inn". During the Second World War, the village was highly affected by German bombing which took place in surrounding villages such as Odstone, Measham and Heather. In 1940, evacuees were escorted to the village notably from Coventry, Birmingham and London to escape the bombing in such cities. Nearby Gopsall Hall was later requisitioned as a barracks for British soldiers during the war, who visited public houses in Newton Burgoland such as "The Belper Arms" and "The Spade Tree". The village contains a primary school situated on School Lane. Children attending the school typically transfer when aged 11 to Ibstock Community College, The Market Bosworth School or elsewhere. The famous cinema and church organ builder, John Compton, was born in Newton Burgoland.

Bufton is a small hamlet in England between the Leicestershire villages of Carlton and Barton in the Beans. It has around 10–15 residents, mainly on farms.

Market Bosworth railway station is a former stop on the London and North Western Railway and the Midland Railway, who jointly operated the line between Moira West Junction and Nuneaton as the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.The station is to the west of the market town of Market Bosworth. Nowadays it is part of the heritage Battlefield Line Railway, some 3 miles (5 km) to the south of the railway's base at Shackerstone. Original station buildings survive on platform 1, used by the private Station Garage. The track in platform one is a siding, used for the storage of wagons and diesel shunters in various states of disrepair. Platform 2 is on the running line and is the only one in use. The signal box also survives, as do several semaphore signals, though this signalling is not in commission thus the station is an unsignalled halt. The waiting room was originally at Chester Road on the Birmingham Cross-City Line; when this line was electrified between 1991 and 1993, the building was dismantled and reconstructed at Market Bosworth. Volunteers have been slowly restoring the station. The station encountered severe vandalism at Easter 2008 with one building, the Permanent Way hut, completely destroyed by arson. Any windows that were originally intact in the signalbox were smashed. Nonetheless, the railway continues to restore the station. In May 2009, a passenger train hauled by LNER Thompson Class B1 No. 61306 halted at the station for the first time in at least ten years to allow passengers to see the progress at the station. On the weekend of 19–20 March 2011, completion of a foot crossing at the south end of the station enabled it to be opened to the public for the first time. There is a car park in the former goods yard but only very basic facilities for passengers. There is a long-term aspiration to restore the passing loop at the station to allow two train operation over the line.

Swepstone is a village in the civil parish of Swepstone and Newton Burgoland, in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, about five miles south of Ashby de la Zouch. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census 656. The parish includes the villages of Swepstone and Newton Burgoland. On 1 March 2023 the parish was renamed from "Swepstone" to "Swepstone and Newton Burgoland".The earliest documentation of the village is found in the Domesday Book where it appears as Scopestone. Later documentary appearances are given as Swepeston from around 1130 to 1471, and Swepston from 1234. The name is probably derived from the Old English personal name Sweppes, and the suffix tūn, meaning "Sweppi's farm or village". Swepstone farmers regularly sold their cattle in local market towns. In 1597 three Swepstone farmers, Richard Dudley, William Chilwell and Thomas Burrows were called to give evidence in an archdeaconry court case. It is recorded that the three were drinking together in an alehouse near the market square in Atherstone while their beasts were tethered outside.Swepstone's only public house is The Old Crown Inn, previously known as The Odd House, which serves food. Planting of The National Forest is taking place near the village.

Heather ( HEE-dhər) is a village west of Ibstock in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 949 at the 2001 census reducing to 920 at the 2011 census. In the Domesday Book of 1086, its name is recorded as Hadre, meaning "the heathland".There was an Iron Age settlement immediately north west of the village. As part of an open cast coal mining application, this was excavated in 1990. It identified a settlement from the late 2nd century BC through to early second century A.D.