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Somerby, Leicestershire

Borough of MeltonCivil parishes in LeicestershireLeicestershire geography stubsSomerby, LeicestershireUse British English from July 2015
Villages in Leicestershire
UK Somerby (Leicestershire)
UK Somerby (Leicestershire)

Somerby is a village and civil parish in the Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) south of Melton Mowbray. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 812. Somerby is a small country village containing a parish church (All Saints), a primary school, a Doctor's surgery, a pub, a small shop/post office, and a large Equestrian Centre. The population is close to 500. It is the largest village in the parish of Somerby and is located in East Leicestershire close to the border with Rutland; the parish also includes the settlements of Burrough on the Hill, Leesthorpe and Pickwell. The surrounding countryside is very attractive and is often referred to as 'High Leicestershire'. Much of the Parish is several hundred feet above sea level and there are often superb views to be found. Although predominantly a rural community there are a significant number of successful business enterprises in the local area. During World War II, the village was used as a base station and testing ground for Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack on Arnhem. It was in the parish of Somerby (but the village of Burrough on the Hill) that the surgeon William Cheselden was born.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Somerby, Leicestershire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Somerby, Leicestershire
Church Lane, Melton Somerby

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.687 ° E -0.849 °
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Address

Church Lane

Church Lane
LE14 2PS Melton, Somerby
England, United Kingdom
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UK Somerby (Leicestershire)
UK Somerby (Leicestershire)
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Nearby Places

Burrough on the Hill
Burrough on the Hill

Burrough-on-the Hill is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerby, in the Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) north east of Leicester. The parish church is St. Mary the Virgin. Burrough Hill is an Iron Age hill fort near the village and is in an 86-acre (35 ha) country park of the same name. The hillfort stands on a promontory around 660 feet (200 m) above sea level, 7 miles (11 km) south of the modern settlement of Melton Mowbray. In 1931 the parish had a population of 214. The village's name means 'fortification on the hill'. Though later forms of Old English show that it could mean 'the earthen fortification on the hill'.On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Somerby.The village shared John O' Gaunt railway station with the neighbouring village of Twyford. The station is adjacent to a 14-arch viaduct. Trains used to go north to Melton Mowbray, and south to Leicester and Market Harborough, but the line was closed in the 1960s. There is a local bus service to Melton Mowbray and Oakham. 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment During preparations for Operation Market Garden the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment were billeted in and around Somerby before setting off to join the action the day after the outbreak of the Battle of Arnhem on 18 September 1944. The 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment Memorial at Burrough on the Hill was completed and unveiled in September 2019 by Friends of the Tenth. A memorial garden has also been created looking over and across to the valley where the battalion practised parachute drops and training exercises in 1944.