Estate Agents Covering Desford

Desford is a small town and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, sitting on a low rise about seven miles west of Leicester.

The name goes back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Diresford, thought to mean Deor’s Ford after an early Anglo-Saxon settler. For centuries the parish belonged to the Earls of Leicester, later Dukes of Lancaster, and when their titles passed to the Crown in 1399 the reigning monarch became patron of the parish church, a role the King still holds today.

The Leicester and Swannington Railway arrived in 1832, one of the earliest railway lines built anywhere, and the larger houses along Station Road were put up for Leicester commuters not long after. Coal mining followed at Desford Colliery, which employed generations of local families until it closed in 1984.

Desford sits on the western edge of Leicester’s commuter area, and getting around, whether by car, bus or rail, is straightforward for a town of its size.

• Car & Road: Desford lies just off the B582 (close to a junction of the M1), which links north to Leicester and Nottingham and south towards Coventry. The A47 runs through nearby Kirby Muxloe and Leicester Forest East, connecting Desford with Leicester city centre in around 20 minutes by car and with Hinckley and Earl Shilton to the south west. Leicester itself is roughly 8 miles away by road.
• Bus: Services run from Manor Road through Kirby Muxloe to Leicester’s St Margaret’s bus station, taking around 40 mins.
• Train: Desford had its own railway station on the Leicester and Swannington line until 1964, but today the nearest station is Leicester, about 8 miles away. From there, trains run to London St Pancras in just over an hour, alongside other services to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield.

Desford is an historic village, and therefore contains many rarer, historical properties (alongside newer homes too). Explore what’s on offer below:

Property styles in Desford: The oldest part of the village, still built around the High Street and Church Lane, includes thatched houses and buildings like the Grade II* listed Old Manor House, alongside brick cottages that trace back to Desford’s days as a farming and knitting village.

Station Road holds a run of larger Victorian houses and newer properties, some of which were put up for Leicester commuters once the railway arrived in 1832. Away from the historic core, the small town is made up mostly of semi-detached and detached homes built from the mid-20th century onward, and Desford also has a steady supply of new build homes on plots such as Lindridge Lane and Peckleton Lane.

Desford might be a commuter village, but day-to-day life still runs at small-town pace, with most everyday needs covered on the High Street and Main Street.

Shopping: The High Street is home to a Co-op food store, opened inside part of a timber framed building within Desford’s conservation area. There’s a further convenience store and Post Office on St Martins Drive. For anything beyond everyday groceries, Leicester’s larger shopping centres are a only a short drive away.

Eating & Drinking: The Blue Bell on the High Street has served Desford since at least 1841 and is the last surviving pub within the old town core, while the Lancaster Arms, near the site of the former railway station on Station Road, dates from around 1860. In the hamlet of Botcheston, a short distance from the village, the Greyhound is a further long standing pub, converted from farm cottages in 1856.