Sileby Conservation Area

Sileby Conservation Area was designated in March 1988.

The full text of the Conservation Area Appraisal was adopted by Cabinet in March 2007.

Sileby is an industrial village about 5 miles south-east of Loughborough. It sits beside a brook on gravel terraces to the east of the River Soar flood plain.

The Conservation Area covers 11 Hectares centred on St Mary’s Church at the crossing of Barrow Road - High Street and King Street - Mountsorrel Lane. The boundary of the Area generally defines the settlement that existed at the end of the 19^th Century but it excludes most of the Victorian industrialisation and urban expansion that took place outside the historic core.

The village, probably of Danish origins, developed as a linear settlement along the gravel terrace. It is typical of settlements in the East Midlands occupying the slopes beside a flood plain. The meadows were used as pasturage for cattle, the slopes have good sources of spring water and the wolds above are good for arable cultivation. There are fine views of the village from the valley and St Mary’s church at the highest point is a dominant feature from many places within the village.

The church was first built in the second half of the 12^th Century, enlarged during the 13^th Century and completed in the 15^th Century. Because of its size and fine architectural features it has been called ‘The Cathedral of the Soar Valley’.

During mediaeval times the village was agricultural with an open field system, rotating the crops between three principal fields, Howgate Field to the north east, Highgate Field to the south east  and South Field, with large areas of meadowland in the valley. The pattern changed dramatically when an Enclosure Act was passed in 1760 and landowners, no longer tied to community needs, converted arable land into more profitable pasture for the rearing of livestock for sale in local markets.

The arrival of the Soar Navigation canal in 1792 and the railway in 1840 improved transport and allowed new industries to develop. In 1844 there were more than 500 knitting frames in the village and during the later half of the 19^th Century the boot and shoe industry grew. By the end of the century the hosiery trade in workers’ homes was in decline as the industry moved to factories in Leicester. But the boot and shoe industry thrived so that Sileby had the second largest concentration of boot and shoe factories in the County outside Leicester. The third industry was lime working which has been carried on around the village for many centuries. However, little now remains of these traditions in the Conservation Area. The most significant surviving range of industrial buildings is the former brewery and maltings behind the Malt House pub in the High Street.

The growth of the economy of the the village was reflected in a surge of house building and improvements to facilities, such as a gas works, an infants school and a number of chapels. In the 20^th Century house building continued along the valley side to the south and up the hill to the east. 

One of the oldest surviving buildings is the Free Trade Inn. Dating from the 16^th to 17^th Centuries it is the only surviving timber-frame and thatched property in the village. The Church and the former school on Barrow Road are built of stone, using local granite rubble with ashlar dressings and a number of domestic buildings have distinctive rubble stone plinths. The predominant building material is brick, which characterises the buildings of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries and provides a uniformity of material and appearance. The brick is often laid in Flemish bond with contrasting headers and stretchers.

Welsh slate is the predominant roofing material but a substantial number of roofs in the Area are still covered in Swithland slate.

There has been a good survival of historic joinery with a range of original doors and windows, such as sash windows and Yorkshire sliding sash windows.

As a longstanding commercial area, a particular feature on High Street and King Street is the number of surviving timber shop fronts that make a significant contribution to the historic character of the Area. Typical shop fronts contain large shop windows framed by decorated pilasters with brackets supporting a cornice over the fascia. Many of the shops have flats in the upper floors and these are often lit by attractive oriel windows.

Sileby Conservation Area Map (PDF Document, 0.1 Mb)

Sileby Conservation Area Character Appraisal (text only) (PDF Document, 0.6 Mb)

Sileby Conservation Area Character Appraisal (illustrated) (PDF Document, 2.6 Mb)