Ravenstone is a small rural cluster village with a population of 2149,[1] situated just off the A511 road between Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in North West Leicestershire, and within the National Forest, England.
Archeological excavations carried out in 1981 to the South of the present village revealed the site of a Romano-British settlement.[2] Evidence was found that iron had been smelted, along with kilns and coins dating from the late 3rd century. There was also evidence of a Roman road crossing the southern part of the parish and through the settlement.[3] Unfortunately, the site was destroyed when around eight million tonnes of coal were extracted by opencast mining between 1982 and 1996.[4] The area has since been returned to open fields and is now known as the Sence Valley Forest Park.
The first documentary evidence of the existence of the village is in the Domesday Book when Donisthorpe, a manor in Derbyshire, was owned by Nigel of Stafford and it was valued at twelve pence.[5] Its name, which is derived from the Old Norse Hrœfnes, the name of a Saxon invader, and the suffix tūn, meaning "Hrafn's farm or village", suggests that the settlement was probably initiated by the Anglo Saxons.[6]
A castle, most probably consisting of an earth mound and ditch surrounded by a wooden palisade, is documented in a treaty concluded between 1147 and 1153 by the Earls of Chester and Leicester, in which it was agreed for it to be destroyed since it threatened their respective estates.[7] The exact site of the castle has so far never been established, but it may have stood on the North side of the village on or near the site of Ravenstone Hall.
The parish church of St Michael and All Angels is situated on the northern fringe of the village dates from 1323. The church is of sandstone believed to have been quarried at nearby Alton, one of the two abandoned villages in the parish. Alton, interestingly, means "old farm", suggesting that it had been established before Ravenstone.
The centre of the village was designated a Conservation Area in 1973.[8]
The neighbouring parish of Snibston is home to St. Mary's church, one of the smallest churches in Britain, which holds only about 30 people.