Hinckley Saxon frontier town to internationally renowned hosiery centre

"And Sir, do you mean to stop any of William`s wages,
about the sack he lost the other day at Hinckley fair?"

This mention of Hinckley in Shakespeare`s play `Henry IV part 2` might come as a surprise to many readers because this thriving industrial Leicestershire town is not thought of in historical terms in the same way as other county towns such as Melton Mowbray or Market Harborough. Nevertheless, Hinckley is a very ancient place and its name owes its origin to the Saxon settlement in the "ley" or clearing in the wood-land occupied by the followers of Hinck. There is also evidence of a Roman settlement having pre-dated the Saxon one.

After the Norman conquest in the eleventh century the Domesday Book records that there were 69 families in the town - four times as many as in contemporary Birmingham! Of the Norman period all that remains to be seen today is the bailey and part of the moat of the castle erected by 1151. The Argents Mead, adjacent to the castle, is public landscaped gardens surrounding the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Offices.

With the building of the castle the original settlement around The Borough and Bond Street extended into what is now Castle Street. Throughout the Middle Ages Hinckley was a market town with a market established since at least 1311. In 1551 King Edward VI granted permission for a market to be held every Monday, and today the town boasts a general market on Mondays (except Bank Holidays) and Saturdays, a bric-a-brac market on Fridays, and a Farmers` Market on the third Thursday of the month.

In 1640 an event occurred of great future significance for the town when William Illife set up the first stocking frame in Hinckley, thus marking the beginning of the hosiery and knitwear industry which has made Hinckley internationally known. A surviving example of framework knitters` cottages are preserved in Lower Bond Street and now house Hinckley and District Museum. Opposite the cottages, the Aspira hosiery factory is the successor of Atkins of Hinckley founded in 1722, the oldest hosiery manufactory in the world.

The parish church of St.Mary the Virgin dates largely from the fourteenth century, with a spire of 1788, and it was extended and ornamented between 1875 and 1890 by Ewan Christian and William Smith. Inside the church (open weekdays 10am-4pm) features of interest are the town chest dated 1613, and a monument to John Onebye dated 1662. In the churchyard can be seen the gravestone to Richard Smith, which according to local tradition "sweats blood" at midnight on the anniversary of his murder on 12th April 1727. Local tradition also suggests ghostly visitations at the Union Inn, The Borough, and at the Concordia Theatre in Stockwell Head.

Organised non-conformity in the town dates from the mid-seventeenth century , and the oldest of the non-conformist places of worship is the Great Meeting Chapel in Baines Lane. It was here where the celebrated theologian and hymn-writer Philip Doddridge preached the first sermon when the chapel opened in 1722.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the fame of a local surgeon, Robert Chessher, attracted many people to the town, including George Canning who was to reside in Castle Street from 1807-1811, and later to become Prime Minister. Other famous people connected with the town have included the Cavalier poet John Cleveland; the sports writer Charles James Apperley ("Nimrod"); romantic novelist Charlotte Mary Brame, whose residence at 35, Castle Street is commemorated with a Blue Plaque on the building; pugilist Nat Langham; Joseph Hansom , inventor of the Hansom cab, the prototype being built in the town in 1835; and Robert James Lees, spiritualist consultant to Queen Victoria and involved in the hunt for `Jack the Ripper`.

For the sports enthusiast Hinckley boasts a fine all-purpose indoor leisure centre. There are numerous parks and recreation areas, of particular interest being Burbage Common and Woods on the outskirts of the town. Hinckley can also boast the lively Concordia Theatre, offering a wide range and variety of dramatic and musical entertainment, and a thriving Music Club which attracts nationally known artists to perform.

Hinckley has much to offer to residents and visitors alike, from town centre pedestrianised shopping areas to religious and industrial heritage sites. Readers are cordially invited to share in the town`s rich heritage.