Packington is a village and civil parish in the district of North West Leicestershire. It is situated close to the A42 road and the towns of Ashby de la Zouch and Measham. The population of Packington according to the 2001 UK census is 738, reducing slightly to 734 at the 2011 census. Nearby villages include Normanton le Heath and Heather.
Packington has a public house called the 'Bull and Lion' (reputedly the only one in Britain) and a local shop called 'Daybreak Services'. It is part of the National Forest and the Gilwiskaw brook runs through the village.
History
Origins
Packington's origins are unknown. Its placename suggests an Anglo-Saxon settlement, possibly established by followers of a leader named Pacca or similar. The settlement may already have been in place in the heyday of the Kingdom of Mercia under Aethelbald and Offa during the eighth century. However, this is merely speculative. It is likely that the course of the Gilwiskaw Brook played a critical part in the process of settlement; the brook's unusual name has roots in both Old English and Old Norse, reminding us that the wider area became part of the Viking Danelaw from the late ninth century.
Middle Ages
The first known report of Packington occurs in 1043. In this year Leofric, Earl of Mercia, endowed St. Mary's Abbey, Coventry, with the manor of Packington (and also other settlements in what is now Leicestershire). The Abbey (which became a Priory in 1102) retained it up to the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539-40. Domesday Book (1086) confirms the Abbey's holding of eight and a half carrucates (one carrucate being the amount of land which one team of oxen could plough in a season) and reports that "in demesne is one plough; and three villeins with a priest and one bordar and five sokemen have three ploughs. There is a mill rendering 12 pence and three acres of meadow. It is worth 20 shillings."
It is unclear whether there was a church in Packington when Domesday Book was recorded, though mention of a priest suggests the possibility. The oldest parts of the present Holy Rood Church are believed to date from the late eleventh century, or at the latest from the reign of King John (1199-1216).
By 1130, a link had already been established between Packington and Snibston (now part of Coalville). In that year records show both being held by Hugh, Sheriff of Leicester, presumably under an arrangement with the Priory. By 1220 a chapel at Snibston was to be served by a chaplain appointed by the vicar of Packington. This link continued for centuries, long after the Priory had been dissolved. In 1257, St. Mary's Abbey was granted a licence by King Henry lll to hold a market in Packington.
Early modern times
Following the dissolution, Packington passed into the hands of the Duke of Suffolk, who was subsequently executed for treason. In 1563 it was granted to the Earl of Huntington, head of the Hastings family, who then resided at nearby Ashby Castle. Links with the family continued for over 350 years. Successive Earls held advowson regarding the vicars of Packington for most of this period.
During the English Civil War the vicar, Thomas Pestell, was ejected from the church by Parliamentary troops and replaced by a Mr. Pegg. This appears to have been unpopular with the villagers and following the restoration of King Charles Rev. Pestell was himself restored in 1662, continuing in office until his death in 1690.
In the 1730s Theophilus, the then Earl, commissioned a map of his estates, which was produced in 1735. Packington as shown on the map has the same main routes as the present-day village. The map gives field names for the surrounding area, much of which belonged to the Hastings estate. It also shows holdings of independent landowners of the time. Most of the manor was dedicated to farming, although one area along the road to Normanton, known as Coalpit Heath, was the scene of sporadic coal production and had been since at least the sixteenth century.
In 1790 Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon, gave the manor of Packington to his illegitimate son Charles, who became General Sir Charles Hastings after military service in the Napoleonic Wars. Sir Charles married Parnell Abney, heiress to the Abney family of nearby Willesley Hall, and took up residence there. On his death in 1823, his son Sir Charles Abney Hastings succeeded. He established the first school in Packington (now called "Old School House") and built the bridges over the Gilwiskaw Brook. The alliance of the Hastings and Abney families is commemorated in the name of Packington's village inn: The Bull and Lion, formerly known as the Bull's Head and Lion, reflects heraldic symbols of both families.