Brooksby: A Deserted Village Cleared for Sheep

Brooksby is a deserted village and former civil parish located in Leicestershire, England, now part of Hoby with Rotherby parish. It was historically significant as the ancestral home of the influential Villiers family. Tragically, the village was deliberately cleared during an earlier era to make way for sheep grazing, a common historical practice in England.

Today, only the magnificent 16th-century Brooksby Hall and the Church of St Michael and All Angels remain as remnants of the former settlement, which recorded a population of 69 in 1931 before its civil parish was abolished on April 1, 1936. The historic Brooksby Hall now serves as a venue for conferences and banquets, while the area is also home to Brooksby Melton College, offering specialized land-based education and apprenticeships.