Swithland Tourist Information

Swithland is a pleasant Forest village close to both the Woods and Reservoir, which also bear its name. The village is known well beyond Charnwood for its dark blue slate, which produced roofing material from the times of the Romans to the 19th century. The same durable material has also been used for headstones in many churchyards over a wide area of the Midlands.

The village has a number of slate built cottages, in a style unique to the Charnwood area. St Leonard's Church sits by the edge of the parkland of Swithland Hall, ancestral home of the Earls of Lanesborough.

The church is at least of 13th century origin and has an unusual brass memorial to Agnes Scott, a 15th century hermit of the Charnwood Forest. Each year a service is held, in the open air, in honour of the magnificent bluebells which are found in the local woodland.