Wibtoft Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Wibtoft
Coordinates:52.483°N -1.3005°W
Civil Parish:Wibtoft
Population:62
Population Ref:(2021)
Shire District:Rugby
Shire County:Warwickshire
Region:West Midlands
Post Town:LUTTERWORTH
Postcode District:LE17
Postcode Area:LE
Dial Code:01455
Os Grid Reference:SP4787
Static Image Name:Green Lane, Wibtoft - geograph.org.uk - 619260.jpg
Static Image Width:240
Static Image Caption:Green Lane, Wibtoft

Wibtoft is a small village and civil parish in north-eastern Warwickshire, England. The village was originally within the civil parish of Claybrooke Magna in Leicestershire. According to the 2021 Census, it had a population of 62.[1]

The village is next to the A5 road (Watling Street), which here defines the border between Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Wibtoft is about 8miles north of Rugby and is in an outlying part of the Borough of Rugby. About half a mile north of Wibtoft, on the corner of the parish boundary is High Cross (Veronae), the point at which the old Roman roads of Watling Street and Fosse Way cross. Near Wibtoft is the source of the River Soar.[2]

Due to its location in a sheltered valley just south of High Cross, and local finds of Roman coins and stonework, some historians have speculated that it sits upon the site of a Roman settlement; William Dugdale believed that it occupied the site of the Roman town of Cleychester.[3] [4] Wibtoft consists of a single narrow road called Green Lane. Due to its small size it has neither shops nor pubs, but does have a small church dedicated to St Mary[3] [5] The ecclesiastical parish crosses the county boundary and is 'Claybrooke cum Wibtoft'[6] and thus falls in the Diocese of Leicester.

The name of the village has Danish origin, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wibetot.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: All usual residents in parishes . Nomis . 15 October 2023.
  2. Web site: Parishes: Wibtoft . British History Online . 12 August 2021.
  3. Book: Geoff. Allen. Warwickshire Towns & Villages. 2000. Sigma Press. 1-85058-642-X. 152–153.
  4. Web site: Wibtoft . Shakespeare Country . 19 November 2018.
  5. Web site: Church of St Mary, Wibtoft . Our Warwickshire . 11 August 2021.
  6. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish/190263/ The Church of England