Wanlip

{{cquote|

Mountsorrel he mounted at,

Rodely he rode by,

Onelep he leaped o'er,

At Birstall he burst his gall,

At Belgrave he was buried at.}}

{{center|Folk rhyme about a giant called Bell who boasted that he could reach Leicester in three leaps,}}

{{center|mentioning Wanlip as Onelep, a pun on "One Leap".{{cite book|last=Northall|first=G.F.|title=English Folk Rhymes 1892|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|year=2004|page=576|isbn=9781417978045|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5oK7fcOPnzMC|access-date=13 March 2009}}}}

An Iron Age settlement was unearthed just to the north of WanlipBeamish, M: [http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/Beamishvolume72vsm.pdf A Middle Iron Age site at Wanlip, Leicestershire]. Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. Hist. Soc. 1998 and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery was discovered during the building of Longslade School in 1958,Liddle P: [http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/wanliopPagesfromvolumeLV-3.pdf An Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Wanlip, Leicestershire]. Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. Hist. Soc. 1979

One of the earliest mentions of Wanlip is in Domesday Book, where it is listed as Anelepe, among the lands given to Earl AubreyDomesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. p.652 {{ISBN|0-14-143994-7}} by the King. The land described includes a mill. The Earl's son Aubrey de Vere II went on to become Lord Chancellor.

The surnames of the three families who have owned the manor over eight centuries are:

• Walsh 1230-1526
• Aston 1526-1626
• Palmer 1626-today {{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Michael|title=The Village of Weston|url=http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/birstall/ashorthistoryofwanlip.html|website=leicestershirevillages.com|access-date=3 July 2014}}

William Wilberforce, the 19th century MP and leading abolitionist, lived for some years at Wanlip Hall.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

There are four listed buildings in Wanlip: a brick ice house, the church of Our Lady and St. Nicholas, Manor Farm and Hall Farm.{{Cite web|url=http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/listed_buildings/search?location_type=settlement&listed-building_settlement=Wanlip|title = Listed Buildings in Wanlip - Charnwood Borough Council}}

File:Our lady wanlip.jpg

Much of the structure of this parish church was erected in the 13th and 14th centuries but there have been a variety of later alterations, including changes made in the 19th century and the south aisle which was built in 1904. The walls are constructed mainly of granite rubble with ashlar dressing. It is a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE|num=1177761|desc=|accessdate=9 May 2015}}

The chancel floor is notable for housing the brass that commemorates Sir Thomas Walsh and his wife Katherine. This comprises the figures of the couple with a border that is the earliest surviving example of an English inscription for a high-status tomb monument. The inscription reads:

“Here lyes Thomas Walssh knyght lorde of Anlep and dame Katine his wife whiche in her tyme made the kirke of Anlep and halud the kirkyerd first in Wurchip of god and of oure lady and seynt Nicholas that god have her soules and mercy anno domini millesimo CCC nonagesimo tercio [i.e. 1393].”

The memorial is the subject of a detailed article by Nigel Saul, who commented that the church is a distinguished building incorporating motifs from the state apartments at Kenilworth Castle that had been commissioned by John of Gaunt, with whom Sir Thomas Walsh was closely connected.{{cite journal|last=Saul|first=Nigel|year=2012|title=Language, Lordship, and Architecture: The Brass of Sir Thomas and Lady Walsh at Wanlip, Leicestershire, and its Context|journal=Midland History|volume=37|issue=1|pages=1–16|doi=10.1179/0047729X12Z.0000000005|s2cid=159548037|issn=0047-729X}}

In the churchyard is a substantial headstone with the following epitaph:

"Sacred to the memory of Rasselas Morjan, who was born at Macadi on the confines of Abyssinia and died at Wanlip Hall August 25th 1839 in the 19th year of his age. Rescued from a state of slavery in this life and enabled by God's grace to become a member of his Church he rests here in the hope of a greater deliverance hereafter. This stone is raised in remembrance of his blameless life by one whom he loved."{{cite web|title=Wanlip Church History|url=http://www.birstall.org/about-us/wanlip-church-history/|website=The Parish of Burstall and Wanlip|access-date=9 May 2015}}

Wanlip is said to be unusual because in 1906 the land there was all owned by just one family - the Palmers.

The Baronetcy at Wanlip has been held by the (later named Palmer) family since 1791 when it was awarded to Charles Grave Hudson.{{Cite web|url=http://www.leics.gov.uk/the_palmer_family_of_wanlip_hall.pdf|title=Leicestershire County Council | Serving the people of Leicestershire}} Notable members of the family include the artist Caroline Harriet Abraham and her father Charles Thomas Hudson Palmer, 2nd Baronet.

Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, father of socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, is a landowner in Wanlip and Birstall, responsible for the Hallam Fields development in next-door Birstall.

The current holder of the baronetcy is Sir John Edward Somerset Palmer, 8th baronet.[http://www.thepeerage.com/p31487.htm#i314867 Palmer]

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• [http://wanlip.leicestershireparishcouncils.org/ Leicestershire Parish Councils - Wanlip Village]
• [http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/wanlip/ Wanlip on Leicestershirevillages.com]
• [http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/wards/birstall_wanlip Birstall Wanlip councillors]
• [http://www.birstall.free-online.co.uk/index.html Birstall Post, a community newspaper]
• [http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/files/documents/wanlip/wanlip.pdf A map of Wanlip polling district]
• [http://www.wanlipvillage.uk/ Wanlip Parish Website]

{{Towns and villages of Charnwood}}

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Category:Villages in Leicestershire

Category:Civil parishes in Leicestershire

Category:Borough of Charnwood