Little Bowden

Little Bowden was an ancient parish in Northamptonshire.{{cite web |title=Little Bowden Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10278200#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=29 October 2023}} In 1879 a local government district was created covering the three parishes of Market Harborough, Great Bowden, and Little Bowden, but excluding the hamlet of Little Oxendon from Little Bowden parish.{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1880 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=501 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBcwAQAAMAAJ |access-date=29 October 2023}} When elected county councils were established in 1889, local government districts were placed entirely in one county, and most of Little Bowden parish was transferred from Northamptonshire to Leicestershire, leaving only Little Oxenden in Northamptonshire.Local Government Act 1888 Little Oxendon was subsequently transferred to the parish of Great Oxendon in 1896, after which the parish of Little Bowden was entirely in the Market Harborough Urban District. Little Bowden remained a civil parish until 1927, but as an urban parish it had no parish council of its own, instead being administered directly by Market Harborough Urban District Council. In 1921 the parish had a population of 2,768. The three parishes within the urban district were combined into a single parish of Market Harborough in 1927.

• Two pubs, The Cherry Tree and The Oat Hill (formerly The Greyhound)
• The 13th-century Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas, which is part of the Diocese of Leicester.
• Little Bowden County Primary School
• Little Bowden Recreation Ground, which is the home ground of Harborough South Cricket Club.

Windy Ridge is a hill near Little Bowden. The area was often used for walks by local people. There were several attempts to build on Windy Ridge, all of which had been opposed by residents concerned by the effect development may have on the skyline and hazardous effects of battery landfill. However, the most recent proposal to build on this land was accepted by the council and is now completed.

The new estate built upon Windy Ridge by Redrow Homes is called Rockingham View.

A further scheme of development has received planning permission for another 400 homes.

• Arthur Eaglefield Hull (1876–1928), music critic and musician
• Kathleen Nunneley (1972–1956), tennis player
• Monica Redlich (1908–1965), writer, lived in Little Bowden as a teenager, where her father Reverend Edwin Basil Redlich was rector{{Cite book|title=The Pattern of England: Some Informal and Everyday Aspects|first=Monica|last=Redlich|date=1945}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=J. M. |last2=McKinley |first2=R. A. |year=1964 |title=A History of the County of Leicestershire |volume=5, Gartree Hundred |series=Victoria County History |place=London |publisher=Oxford University Press for the University of London Institute of Historical Research |pages=38–49, 133–153 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol5 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author1-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Williamson |first2=Elizabeth |last3=Brandwood |first3=Geoffrey |year=1976 |orig-date=1960 |title=Leicestershire and Rutland |series=The Buildings of England |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin Books }}

{{commons category|Little Bowden|position=left}}

• [http://www.michael-milsom.org.uk/litboweb/start.htm Little Bowden Society]
• [http://www.harborough-anglican.org.uk/teamchurces-stnicholas St Nicholas] parish church webpage

{{authority control}}

Category:Villages in Leicestershire

Category:Former civil parishes in Northamptonshire

Category:Former civil parishes in Leicestershire

Category:Areas of Market Harborough

{{Leicestershire-geo-stub}}