Templar history and gas-lit rail
Rothley
A Leicestershire village of historic pubs, Norman and Saxon church details, park walking and an Edwardian heritage station.
- Best for
- Knights Templar history and heritage rail
- Give it
- A village walk, a station visit and a pub stop
- Don't miss
- Rothley Station's original gas lighting
The Fox verdict
Where Templar history meets gas-lit rail
Rothley brings together a surviving Templar chapel, a detail-rich parish church, heritage trains, a four-mile circular walk and three contrasting pubs.
Pair Rothley Station's Edwardian character with the parish church's Norman font and Saxon cross shaft. Rothley Court Hotel's Templar chapel houses the rediscovered effigy. The Rothley Park circuit offers a longer walk, while The Woodman's Stroke, Blue Bell Inn and Royal Oak provide pub stops and North's Deli adds a patisserie and deli.
Where to go
Places in Rothley
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesSt Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist
A Grade II* church with Norman foundations in the tower, a chevron-carved Norman font bowl and a Saxon cross shaft in the churchyard.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 40 minutes
- Locality
- By The Woodman's Stroke
Rothley Station
Opened in 1899 and restored to an Edwardian appearance, Rothley Station retains original gas lighting and buildings on the Great Central heritage railway.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Rothley
Rothley Park Walk
A four-mile circular through Rothley Park with an estimated walking time of about ninety minutes.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Rothley Park
Food & drink
4 placesThe Woodman's Stroke
A thatched free house with three regular real ales, a changing guest ale, real cider and weekday lunchtime food; its garden rolls down to Rothley Brook and includes a petanque piste.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- By the parish church
- Access
- Dogs are welcome in the extensive outdoor areas but not inside during daytime food service.
The Blue Bell Inn
An eighteenth-century inn on Town Green Street with a distinctive blue facade, a garden and a selection of ales.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- 59 Town Green Street, Rothley, LE7 7NW
The Royal Oak
An Everards village pub on Cross Green with three cask ales, including Tiger, while the other ales rotate. It has a courtyard garden.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- 14 Cross Green, LE7 7PF
North's Deli
Also known as Dominic at David North, this family-run patisserie and deli has traded for more than fifty years.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- 289 Station Road, near Rothley Station
Walks & outdoors
1 placeMountsorrel and Rothley Marshes
A 13-hectare wetland reserve on the Soar Valley floodplain, with public footpaths and a wildlife viewing platform.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Rowe Leyes Furlong on the edge of Mountsorrel
History & heritage
1 placeRothley Templar Chapel
The chapel, built around 1240, survives at the Grade I listed Rothley Court Hotel and houses a Templar effigy rediscovered in a rockery in 2004.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Within Rothley Court Hotel
- Access
- The hotel manages chapel access through reception and also uses the space for events.
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Three ways to explore Rothley
Signature outings
A garden down to the brook
Leicester CAMRA named The Woodman's Stroke its Rural Pub of the Year in 2024. Its outdoor seating includes heated parasols and gazebos.
The chapel and the lost effigy
The chapel has fifteenth-century roof timbers and a double piscina.
An Edwardian platform
At Rothley Station, a former goods shed has become a tearoom, and an original Great Central Railway signal box was moved here from Wembley.
The village story
Rothley: pubs, park walks, Templars and gas lamps
Explore Rothley's village pubs, Templar chapel and parish church, then follow a park walk or visit its Edwardian heritage station.
Pubs and village provisions
The Woodman's Stroke — known locally as the Woodies — is a thatched free house next to the parish church with a beer garden that rolls downhill to Rothley Brook. It keeps three regular real ales plus a changing guest ale and real cider. It was Leicester CAMRA's Rural Pub of the Year in 2024. Dogs are welcome in the extensive outdoor areas, where there are heated parasols, gazebos and a petanque piste, though not inside during daytime food service. Weekday lunchtime food is home-cooked.
On Town Green Street, the eighteenth-century Blue Bell Inn has a blue facade, a garden and a selection of ales. The Royal Oak on Cross Green serves three Everards cask ales, with Tiger retained and the others rotating; it also has a courtyard garden.
On Station Road near Rothley Station, North's Deli is a third-generation family business with a patisserie, cheese counter and cafe.
Landscape walks and Edwardian rail
Rothley's centre is arranged around Cross Green and Town Green, with the brook nearby. A published four-mile circuit crosses the village and Rothley Park estate; its route includes uneven paths and can be muddy. Farther afield, Bradgate Park covers 830 acres, while Mountsorrel and Rothley Marshes is a 13-hectare wetland reserve accessible from Rowe Leyes Furlong on the edge of Mountsorrel.
Rothley Station, on the Great Central Railway, opened in 1899 and has been restored to an Edwardian appearance. It retains original gas lighting and buildings. The heritage line connects Loughborough Central and Leicester North and includes the country's only double-track main-line heritage railway.
Templars, Macaulay and the parish church
The Domesday Book records Rothley as Rodolei among the king's lands. Rothley's wider soke included twenty-two dependent settlements, and the survey recorded household categories rather than a headcount. Henry III granted the manor and soke to the Knights Templar in 1231, and they built a preceptory with a hall and chapel. The chapel, built around 1240, survives at the Grade I listed Rothley Court Hotel. It houses a Templar effigy rediscovered in a rockery in 2004 and placed in a display case in 2011.
St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist has Norman foundations in its tower and a font bowl carved with chevron patterns. In the churchyard stands a Mercian cross shaft from the late eighth or ninth century. Thomas Babington Macaulay — historian, poet and Secretary at War — was born at Rothley Temple in 1800, in the house of his uncle Thomas Babington.
The 127 bus and station details
The 127 bus links Rothley with Leicester and Loughborough.
An original Great Central Railway signal box relocated from Wembley stands at Rothley Station.
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!
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Leicester
Upperton House - Central 5 Bedroom
- Sleeps 9
- 5 bedrooms
Rearsby
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- Sleeps 5
- 3 bedrooms
Charnwood
UnPoplar House - Free in House Chris
- Sleeps 6
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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 Woodman's Stroke — rothleyparishcouncil.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- The Blue Bell Inn — bluebellrothley.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Royal Oak — everards.co.uk other published source
- North's Deli — northsdeli.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist — rothleyparishcouncil.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Rothley Templar Chapel — rothleyparishcouncil.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Rothley Station — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Rothley Park Walk — glenfield-pc.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Mountsorrel and Rothley Marshes — lrwt.org.uk other published source