East Leake is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, England, although its closest town and postal address is Loughborough in Leicestershire. It has a population of around 7,000, measured in the 2011 Census as 6,337. The original village was located on the Sheepwash Brook. Kingston Brook also runs through the village. Near the centre of the village is the historic St. Mary's Church, dating back to the 11th century, which Sheepwash Brook flows past, and an old ford, which provided access to the pinfold. The church has six bells. British Gypsum, a plasterboard manufacturer, has its headquarters in the village. The manufacturing of plasterboard began in this area in about 1880.
Name
The origin of Leake appears to be Laeke, and is consistent with East Leake's position in the heart of the Danelaw, which had various forms over time before becoming "Leake". One of the earliest mentions of East Leake is in the Domesday Book recorded as 'Leche.' The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning wet land, since the village lies on the Kingston Brook, a tributary of the River Soar.
East Leake lies close to the A60 and A6006 major roads and within five miles of the M1 motorway. Nottingham City Transport operate a frequent bus service between Nottingham and Loughborough under the "South Notts" brand. An East Leake railway station used to exist, on the Great Central Railway. That line was controversially broken up in the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. The stretch from the point where the Great Central crossed the Midland Main Line in Loughborough through East Leake to Ruddington was retained to allow freight trains to travel to British Gypsum's works and to the MoD ordnance depot at Ruddington, but later fell into disuse. More recently this stretch has been re-opened as a heritage line running steam and heritage diesel locos between Ruddington, Rushcliffe Halt and the SouthLoughborough Junction. In the long term, the Great Central Railway hope to reinstate a passenger service from East Leake station, although the fact that the area alongside the station has been redeveloped for housing would preclude the provision of public car parking in the area of the station, and would require permission from the Secretary of State.
In 2017 European bee-eaters nested at CEMEX quarry, attracting thousands of bird-watchers. The European bee-eater is a colourful bird usually found in southern Europe, and seldom nests in the United Kingdom.
Gallery
File:Bluebells wood.jpg|Bluebells in Colonel's Covert File:Kingston Brook.jpg|Kingston Brook at East Leake File:Pinfold east leake.jpg|Pinfold File:East Leake School Green - geograph.org.uk - 1293636.jpg|School green
