Friday, November 23, 2007


Belgrave is an area in northern Leicester, England. The old Belgrave Village is on the Loughborough Road, to the west of the A46, known at that point as 'Melton Road'.

Belgrave, Leicestershire History
The settlement has been meant in Domesday Book as Merdegrave (from Old English mearð 'marten' + grāf 'grove'). However, after the Norman Conquest the first part of the name merde was taken to be Old French 'dung' or 'shit', hence the people changed it to Old French beu, bel 'fair', 'lovely', in order to remove that unpleasant association.

No comments: