Community News & Events

“Charley is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cernelega, meaning a ‘rocky field’ as opposed to Cernewoda – a ‘rocky wood’ and was stated to contain 4 ploughlands belonging to Hugh Lupus, the Earl of Chester, who was a nephew of William the Conqueror.  Later Potter describes it as “a large tract of land, about 10 miles in length and 6 in breadth; in form somewhat square, and a hard and barren soil, full of hills, woods, rocks of stone, torres, and dells of a kind of slate.”

An Act of Enclosure for Charnwood Forest was passed in 1808 but did not dome into effect until 1829 because of the difficulties in apportioning the land which was said to have distinctive hedges in the valleys and walled stone in the ridges.  There were 11,000 acres to be divided by the Enclosure Commissioners and some 3,800 claims for land.  In 1828, after land set aside for three churches, quarries and ‘in common’ sheep washing places, the Award gave 939 acres to the Earl of Stamford and Mr. March Phillips received 642 acres.  These were the most substantial Awards given in this area.

“The Wastes of Charley” as it was known, was an extra-parochial area, meaning that it was outside the jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical parish and, therefore, paid no church or poor rates.  All extra-parochial areas were incorporated into Civil Parishes under the Local Government Act of 1894 and so the Civil Parish of Charley came into being.

After several boundary changes details of which seem not to have been retained locally, the parish now consists of 1323.258 hectares (3269.8 acres) and has seventy five dwellings dispersed around the area with 160 electors of whom some thirty plus are monks at the Abbey of Mount St. Bernard.” 

Taken from Charley Heritage Group, “Charley Parish Millennium Map”. 2000