Barwell
Barwell is a village in Leicestershire, England, known as the Stream of the Boar. It was on the lands of the Leofric, Earl of Mercia, a rich and powerful magnate who had fought alongside Canute in his wars against Wessex. In old English, wella is the word for stream and bar the name for boar, and so this clearing in the woods was known in the Saxon tongue as Barwelle. In 1043 Earl Leofric and his wife, Godiva, established a Benedictine Abbey at Coventry and gave the Abbot and his twenty-four attendant monks, lands for their upkeep. Barwelle, along with nineteen other villages passed into the domains of the Abbot of Coventry.
Following the Norman Conquest Barwelle was still held by the Abbey of Coventry. By 1086 there were 14 villagers with a priest, and 3 smallholders with 2 ploughs; a plough being a plot of land that can be cultivated by one team of oxen. There was a meadow 1 furlong by 1 furlong in size and woodland 1 league by 3 furlongs. The value of which was 30 shillings.
Barwell was the site of a major meteor impact in the UK. On Christmas Eve 1965, the village was showered with fragments, that when combined, were about the size of a traditional Christmas turkey. Fortunately, no one was hurt, although some minor damage to buildings and property occurred.
Until recent times, Barwell, together with neighbouring Earl Shilton, was a centre for shoe production in the East Midlands. The area is also known for hosiery, especially in nearby Hinckley.
