A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Gartree Hundred. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1964.
This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Gartree Hundred. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1964.
This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.
Thurnby lies about four miles east of Leicester, adjoining the city boundary. The ancient parish includes the hamlet of Bushby and the chapelry of Stoughton; the civil parish of Bushby was combined with that of Thurnby in 1935, but Stoughton remains a separate civil parish. In this account Stoughton is separately described; the history of Thurnby and Bushby cannot readily be separated and they are dealt with jointly. The area of the former civil parish of Thurnby was 614 a. and that of Bushby 679 a., but in 1935 the westernmost part of Thurnby was transferred to Leicester. (fn. 1)
The parish lies on the western slopes of the east Leicestershire uplands, largely occupying the relatively high ground between two streams which join on the parish boundary and flow west to the Soar. The ground rises from below 300 ft. near the streams in the west to about 400 ft. in the south of the parish and over 450 ft. in the east. The parish boundary is formed by one of the streams on the north and mostly by field boundaries on the east and south; since 1935 the western boundary has followed the second of the streams but it previously lay further to the west, along field boundaries and the main Leicester road. The soil is sandy over a subsoil of gravel, and there are several disused gravel pits in the parish.
The Leicester-Uppingham road runs from west to east through Thurnby, following the highest ground in the parish. In the west it ascends Thurnby Hill and in the east, towards Houghton on the Hill, climbs Winkerdale Hill. The village centres of both Thurnby and Bushby lie along a continuous village street, roughly parallel to and south of the Leicester road and joining it at both ends. A minor road runs from the Leicester road northwards to Scraptoft, and a second leads southwards from the village street to Stoughton. The railway line from Leicester to Melton Mowbray crosses the parish in the north with a station on the road to Scraptoft; the line was closed for passenger traffic in 1953. In the late 19th century the only scattered buildings in the parish were Bushby Lodge in the south-east, Swains Lodge and Thurnby Lodge in the west, and one or two houses near the railway station. By the early 20th century there were two other large houses, both near the main road in Bushby: one was known as Winkadale. Since about 1930 the built-up area of Leicester has spread into the parish and much building exists on the land transferred to the city in 1935; both Swains Lodge and Thurnby Lodge are in the transferred area. Between the two World Wars houses were built along the south side of the main road between Bushby and Winkerdale Hill as well as between the main road and the railway line. By 1960 more new building had taken place both on the main road and in the village street. Much of the land which remained open on the western boundary of the parish and along the main road was cultivated as nursery gardens.
The old village of Thurnby extends along the village street eastwards to Bushby; during the present century the street has become known as Main Street. At the extreme west end of Thurnby stands The Lodge, a Queen Anne style house built c. 1920. On the north side of the street are the church, Vicarage, Manor House, and school. The Manor House was built as a brick two-storied L-shaped house in the earlier 18th century and raised to three stories in the early 19th century; later alterations include a north-east addition and semi-circular bay windows. A garden wall and a high gazebo are of the 18th century and a gate pier carries a lead plaque with the date 1808 and initials J.S.H. The Dower H