Castle Donnington, Leicestershire

Description
Castle-Donington, a town and a parish in Leicestershire. The town stands near the river Trent, and has a station on the M.R., is 9 miles SE from Derby, and 7 1/2 NW by N of Loughborough. It was known at Domesday as Dunitone; it takes the first part of its present name from an old castle, now a fragment, said to have belonged to John of Gaunt; and it contains vestiges of a monastery founded in the time of Henry II. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Derby. Acreage, 3840; population, 2591. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough; net yearly value, £205 with residence, in the gift of Lord Donington. The church is very old, has a large chancel, with fine east window, and a handsome spire 180 feet high, and contains a double canopied brass of 1458, and some old effigies. There are Baptist, Congregational, and Wesleyan chapels, and the Society of Friends have a meeting-house. The town possesses a large silk factory, and malting, tanning, plaster making, and brick making are also carried on. Other industries are basket making, framework knitting, and the manufacture of hosiery. The manor belonged formerly to the Plantagenets and the Huntingdons, and belongs now to Earl Cowper. Donington Park, a mile west of the town, is a grand edifice in a mixed style of Pointed and Tudor by Wilkins, has picturesque grounds of 400 acres, and contains an extensive library and a large collection of valuable paintings.