High Leicestershire
Gaddesby
A small village with a Georgian pub, an exceptional medieval church and footpaths across rolling farm country.
- Best for
- Church architecture, village history and country walks
- Give it
- A few hours, or longer with a circular walk
- Don't miss
- The Colonel Cheney monument inside St Luke's
The Fox verdict
A church worth the journey
Gaddesby pairs one of Leicestershire's outstanding village churches with a characterful pub and walking country.
St Luke's brings together medieval stonework, early carved oak benches and an extraordinary Waterloo monument. Beyond it, named circular walks cross the rolling arable and pastoral landscape, while the Cheney Arms provides the village's sole pub stop.
Where to go
Places in Gaddesby
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesThe Cheney Arms
A Grade II listed, late-18th-century three-storey brick pub on Rearsby Lane, with a Swithland slate roof and a three-bay front.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- 2 Rearsby Lane
- Access
- Dogs are welcome in the public bar but not the dining room.
Hoby and Gaddesby Circular
A circular using the Leicestershire Round south to Frisby on the Wreake, then heading north on the Midshires Way through Brooksby and Rotherby.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 270 minutes
- Locality
- Via Frisby on the Wreake, Brooksby and Rotherby
Gaddesby via Barsby and Ashby Folville
An 8.4 km circular walk from Gaddesby through Barsby and Ashby Folville, returning to Gaddesby.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 150 minutes
- Locality
- Gaddesby, Barsby and Ashby Folville
Walks & outdoors
1 placeEast Goscote and Gaddesby Circular
A 12.1 km circular walk between East Goscote and Gaddesby, with 191 m of elevation gain and an estimated walking time of three to three and a half hours.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 210 minutes
- Locality
- East Goscote and Gaddesby
History & heritage
2 placesSt Luke's Church
A Grade I church with an early 12th-century nave, a mid-13th-century tower and broach spire, ornate 14th-century stonework and fifteen 16th-century benches with shaped ends and poppyheads.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Gaddesby
Colonel Cheney Monument
Joseph Gott's almost life-size 1848 marble monument to Colonel Edward Cheney shows a dying horse and rider above a chest with a relief panel.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- In the chancel of St Luke's
No places match this filter. Choose All places to reset the list.
Three ways to explore Gaddesby
Signature outings
The village's singular pub
Inside the Cheney Arms, the bar wraps around a central servery, with a separate dining room, a real fire and a rear garden.
Centuries in one church
Look from St Luke's early 12th-century nave to its 13th-century spire and the ornate 14th-century Decorated work outside the south aisle.
Marble in motion
Beneath the horse and rider, a relief panel fronts the marble chest, with military trophies at either end.
The village story
St Luke's, the Cheney Arms and Gaddesby's Country Paths
A Georgian pub, a remarkable medieval church and long views over High Leicestershire countryside.
The Cheney Arms
The Cheney Arms occupies a three-storey, late-eighteenth-century brick building on Rearsby Lane. Once a Cheney dower house, it became the pub after nineteenth-century street changes displaced an earlier inn.
The bar wraps around a central servery, with a separate dining room beyond. Regular ales include Everards Tiger and Old Original alongside a changing Everards beer. There is a real fire, a rear garden and a petanque court; dogs are welcome in the public bar.
Village Services and St Luke's
Groceries and a post office are available in East Goscote, and a mobile fish-and-chip van visits Gaddesby. FoxConnect Zone 2 provides an on-demand transport option for the village.
St Luke's is a Grade I church with twelfth-century fabric, a tower and broach spire, and richly carved fourteenth-century stonework. Inside are fifteen sixteenth-century benches with shaped ends and poppyheads. The building brings several centuries of village craftsmanship together in one visit.
The Cheney Monument and Country Walks
In the chancel stands Joseph Gott's 1848 marble monument to Colonel Edward Cheney of the Scots Greys. Almost life-size figures of a dying horse and rider rise above a chest with a relief panel and military trophies. The monument stood at Gaddesby Hall before it was moved to the church.
The Leicestershire Round passes through Gaddesby. An 8.4 km circular links Gaddesby, Barsby and Ashby Folville, three settlements served by Gaddesby Parish Council. For a longer outing, the East Goscote and Gaddesby Circular is 12.1 km with 191 m of elevation gain.
Templars, Domesday and country walks
Henry III granted the manor of Gaddesby, with Rothley, to the Knights Templar in 1231. Their interests later passed to the Knights Hospitallers. Gaddesby also appears in Domesday Book; in the centuries that followed, local agricultural prosperity helped the church grow.
The Hoby circular follows the Leicestershire Round between Frisby on the Wreake and Gaddesby, then returns north through Brooksby and Rotherby. It offers a way to see the church and village within a longer walk across the surrounding countryside.
Stay around Leicestershire
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Leicestershire, linked directly to their property pages.
Syston
Tilly's Townhouse with Parking
- Sleeps 4
- 2 bedrooms
Leicester
Rachel's House with Parking!
- Sleeps 12
- 4 bedrooms
Leicester
Upperton House - Central 5 Bedroom
- Sleeps 9
- 5 bedrooms
Rearsby
Vanessa's Haven - with hot tub and free parking for 3 cars!!
- Sleeps 5
- 3 bedrooms
Charnwood
UnPoplar House - Free in House Chris
- Sleeps 6
- 3 bedrooms
For homeowners
Own a holiday home near Gaddesby?
We manage holiday lets across the UK from 12% commission, charged after cleaning costs, with no lock-in. A co-founder visits before you decide.
How our holiday let management works →
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- The Cheney Arms — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- St Luke's Church — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Colonel Cheney Monument — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Hoby and Gaddesby Circular — walkingbritain.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- East Goscote and Gaddesby Circular — alltrails.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Gaddesby via Barsby and Ashby Folville — ramblers.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access