Stretton en le Field

Stretton en le Field is a small village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. It is about seven miles (11 km) south-west of Ashby de la Zouch, and according to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 36. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of Chilcote.Stretton Bridge carries the A444 road across the River Mease, which forms this small parish's northern boundary.Stretton en le Field is one of the Thankful Villages having suffered no fatalities in the Great War of 1914-18 when eleven men went from the village to fight and all eleven returned.HistoryRoman originsThe name Stretton-en-le-Field is explained as a settlement ton/tun, lying in open country field/feld, by a Roman road stret/straet; with the influence of French on English history following the Norman Conquest having a clear impact on the village's current name.Of the seventeen Strettons in England, all but two are situated on Roman Roads; the Roman road from which the village gains its name, however, has not yet been positively identified. Evidence supports that both the A444 (Nuneaton-Burton Upon Trent) and the Tamworth Road (formerly the A453; Tamworth-Ashby-De-La-Zouch) were used by the Romans. Although the A444 passes closest to the village, the straightness Tamworth Road suggest it was the Straet the village gained its name from.