Pronounced “groo-bee” the village was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1086. It is uncertain how the village got its name but “by” endings implies a link to the Vikings, Groo is a Viking word for pit and could refer to t he local quarry’
Groby Old Hall was built in the 15th century and owned by the Grey family, Thomas grey, Lord Grey of Groby, became MP for Leicester in 1649, fought on the Parliament side in the English Civil War and was the only aristocrat out of 59 signatories of the death warrant of King Charles I’
Groby Pool, became a SSSI in 1956 and is a wildlife haven with restricted access.
The Railway. In 1825 the 6th Earl of Stamford and Robert Martin his Leicestershire estate agent attended the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. They realised the potential of a railway at Groby to take granite from the quarry into Leicester and on to London where John Macadam needed great quantises of it in improving the roads of the city. George Stevenson and son Robert went to Groby to advise on the route. The railway; built to link with the Leicester and Swannington railway which opened in 1832; was already completed and that evening after the festivities, an LS&S engine collected 24 wagons of granite from Groby
. The church of St Phillip and Saint James built in 1840 by the Earl of Stamford.
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