

Sileby History


Its people and places. A community through time.


Transport and Infrastructure Maps
Sileby History Pages
The mapping of Sileby takes on a number of different forms. There are official Ordnance Survey Maps, estate maps, enclosure plans and also bespoke maps used to illustrate certain subjects such as landholding or infrastructure for example.
Ordnance Survey Maps

Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping in the early 19th century concentrated on producing small scale plans, mainly 1 inch to the mile. There was a need for larger scales and the 6 inch and 25 inch to the mile plans became the benchmark scales for most purposes, although a 50 inch scale became available for some towns and cities.
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Under the Ordnance Survey every county was divided into grid squares, and each square was further divided into 4 maps (for 6 inch scale) or 16 maps (for 25 inch scale). The plan above shows the Leicestershire index and the plans covering the area around Sileby parish. It shows Sileby map coverage as:
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6 inch to the Mile plans: XVIII.SW, XVIII.SE, XXV.NW and XXV.NE
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25 inch to the Mile plans: XVIII.11, XVIII.12, XVIII.14, XVIII.15, XVIII.16, XXV.2, XXV.3, XXV.4
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A collection of Ordnance Survey maps is held at the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland (ROLLR). The excellent National Library of Scotland website also showcases various OS maps, some shown below.
Examples of Ordnance Survey Plans covering Sileby
6 inch to the Mile Maps
(Click on the individual titles to reveal the plan)
25 inch to the Mile Maps
(Click on the individual titles to reveal the plan)
1:2500 Map
(Click on the individual titles to reveal the plan)
All OS maps here are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
Sileby Enclosure Preparatory Plan c.1758
The preparatory plan was surveyed and drawn about 1758, and allowed the enclosure surveyor and commissioners to assess Sileby's landscape and land claims to enable the old open field landscape to be dismantled by the Sileby Enclosure Award of 1760.
This plan has a couple of layers. Firstly, the village centre was drawn out and the old roads, open field furlongs and strips are mapped. The surveyor then added another layer over the old landscape features to show where the new enclosure allotments were to be made and to whom they were made to. These layers allow maps of pre and post enclosure landscapes and landholdings to be constructed. (see 'Other Sileby Maps' below)


The map on the left is a detail from the actual enclosure preparatory plan dating from about 1758 showing the village centre and the two layers overlying each other. The reconstruction on the right is the same plan without the 'proposed allotment layer' and also without its landowners and new boundaries.
St Marys parish church is shown on the left hand side (just above centre). A rectangle of roads can be identified as follows: King Street (going off to the right away from the church), followed by Ratcliffe Road (later to become Gate Lane and Swan Street) going south to the bottom right at the Banks, then left over the Banks to Brook Street (with the brook following within it!) to the stone bridge at the junction of High Street (going up to the church) and Cossington Lane (heading towards to bottom left corner). Barrow Road is the road heading to the top of the map away from the parish church. Seagrave Road didn't exist at this stage.
The Preparatory Plan is kept at the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Record Office in Leicester (ROLLR ref: MA/EN/A/292/1). Thank you to the staff of the ROLLR for permission to publish part of the original preparatory plan.
Other Sileby Maps
These are bespoke maps that were produced to show landscape features or landownership in the village during the past 250 years or so.

MAP One - Sileby : Enclosure Award Land Allotments 1760
Reconstructed from the Sileby Enclosure Preparatory Plan (ROLLR ref: MA/EN/A/292/1)
© Eric Wheeler 2010


Midland Railway Plan - Property and Transactions 1830s-1870s (c1875)
Used with permission from the Midland Railway Study Centre (Ref: 1971-384/583.38)
© Midland Railway Study Centre, Derby
From the late 18th century onwards the effects of technological change as a result of the industrial revolution began to be felt. Canals, railways, gas, electricity and water projects all came to the fore. They all needed surveying and mapping. Although Sileby was surveyed for each of these initiatives, not all plans have survived. Where they do survive they provide important evidence for existing landscapes and the built environment. For instance, a now defunct canal arm and a wharf reaching from the River Soar to near the current cricket club was mapped in railway plans dating from the 1830s.
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Some local sources for transport plans are:
Type
Canals
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Railway
Railway
Railway
Railway
Date
1790-1
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1830s on
1830
1835
1872
Reference
​QS 72/1
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1971-384/583.37-39
QS 73/3
QS 73/13
QS 73/197
Repository
ROLLR
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Midland Rlwy Study Centre
ROLLR
ROLLR
ROLLR
Title
​Leicester Navigation
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Midland (Counties) Railway property
Midland Counties Railway
Midland Counties Railway
Midland Railway widening
MAP Two - Sileby : Valuation Act Map 1909-10
Reconstructed from plans held at the National Archives (ref: IR 130/6/177-178, 180-182, 272-274)
© Eric Wheeler 2014

Mapping Sileby
Pages
MAPPING
SILEBY

Sileby History
Pages
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Sileby People
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Sileby Unveiled
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Sileby at Work
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Sileby Community
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Mapping Sileby
HOMEPAGE
MAP Three - Sileby : Land Ownership 1940-42
Reconstructed from plans held at the National Archives (ref: MAF 73/22/18 & 25)
© Eric Wheeler 2024