Blaby (/ˈbleɪbi/)[1] is a town[2] in the Blaby District in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre. At the time of the 2011 census, Blaby had a population of 6,194, falling slightly from 6,240 in 2001. Given Blaby's proximity to the city, it is part of the Leicester Urban Area.
Its name likely came from Old Norse. Blábýr = "farmstead or village belonging to a man named Blár" (where the -r is a case ending).[3] There seems to have been a dense patch of Viking settlement in Leicestershire, although some records in the Blaby Library indicate the origin of the village's name was from the first vicar. Blaby is twinned with the village of Villers-sous-Saint-Leu in France.
While there are few buildings of outstanding historical or architectural interest, old Blaby is a conservation area.[4] Old Blaby contains The Bakers Arms, a thatched public house that dates back to 1485. The other public houses to be found in Blaby are The Fox & Tiger, The Bulls Head and The Black Horse. The Tom Thumb and The Egyptian Queen have been demolished. Blaby is home to three schools: Blaby Stokes CE Primary School, Blaby Thistly Meadow Primary School, and Foxfields Academy.[5]
Parks
To the south of the Bakers Arms stands Bouskell Park, with a 19th-century ice house. Other parks include Northfield Park, used for football, cricket, fetes and fairs, and Oakfield Park, located off Hospital Lane.[6]
The "Blaby Special" heirloom tomato variety originates from the Shoults' Tomato Farm, which was located in Blaby from circa 1908 until 1948: the variety was thought to be extinct but was revived from a seed bank in 2005.[7]
A new school was incorporated (Blaby Stokes C of E) to absorb the influx of children from families new to the village taking up residence in the new development.
