{{Short description|Village in Leicestershire, England}} {{Use British English|date=December 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |static_image= File:Twycross Road in Bilstone - geograph.org.uk - 926274.jpg |static_image_caption= Twycross Road, Bilstone |label_position = bottom |coordinates = {{coord|52.6446|-1.46524|display=inline,title}} |official_name= Bilstone |population= |civil_parish= Shackerstone |shire_district=Hinckley and Bosworth |shire_county= Leicestershire |region= East Midlands |constituency_westminster= Bosworth |post_town= NUNEATON |postcode_district= CV13 |postcode_area= CV |dial_code= 01827 |os_grid_reference= SK362053 |london_distance_mi= 95<!-- straight line per MOS – constant and comparable with other place distances --> |london_direction= SE }}

'''Bilstone''' is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shackerstone, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is approximately {{convert|12|mi|0}}<!--straight line per MOS--> west from the county town and city of Leicester, and {{convert|2|mi|1}} east from Twycross and the A444 road. In 1931 the parish had a population of 68.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10370541/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Bilstone Ch/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=19 December 2022}}</ref>

The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Bildr' or 'farm/settlement on a corner or angle'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Leicestershire/Bilstone|title=Key to English Place-names|website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk|access-date=14 August 2021|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810065859/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Leicestershire/Bilstone|url-status=live}}</ref>

A half mile to the south, on Gibbet Lane, is a gibbet post, dating from 1800. The post was used to hang the remains of John Massey, who murdered his wife in 1801.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bilstone Gibbet Post - Gibbet Lane - Bilstone, Leicestershire - Punishment and Disciplinary Devices on Waymarking.com |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wmRD3T_The_Bilstone_Gibbet_Post_Gibbet_Lane_Bilstone_Leicestershire |access-date=2026-03-30 |website=www.waymarking.com}}</ref> The post was half an hour away from the murder site.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-188216-gibbet-post-shackerstone-leicestershire Gibbet Post, Shackerstone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225535/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-188216-gibbet-post-shackerstone-leicestershire |date=23 September 2015 }}, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 December 2014</ref> At the west of the village is a Grade II listed early 19th-century farmhouse.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1188242 |desc=Bilestone Hill Farmhouse |grade=II* |accessdate= 2 December 2014}}</ref> At the north of the village on Mill Lane is a disused 18th-century watermill, with adjoined 19th-century buildings. The mill was operational in the 1950s; today its machinery doesn't exist.<ref>{{cite PastScape|mnumber=921425|mname= Bilstone Mill|accessdate= 2 December 2014}}</ref>

Bilstone is listed in the ''Domesday Book'' as in the Guthlaxton Hundred of Leicestershire, with two ploughlands, three households and three freemen. In 1066 Countess Godiva was Lord, she remaining as such in 1086, also becoming Tenant-in-chief to William&nbsp;I.<ref>[https://archive.today/20141202192625/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SK3605/bilstone/ "Bilstone"], ''Open Domesday''. Retrieved 2 December 2014</ref>

In 1870-1872 Bilston was a township in the parish of Norton Juxta Twycross with a population of 116 and 25 houses.<ref name=Wilson>Wilson, John Marius; ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1870–72)</ref>

In 1866 Bilstone became a parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Shackerstone.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10370541|title=Relationships and changes Bilstone Ch/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=19 December 2022}}</ref>

John Grundy Sr., land surveyor and civil engineer, was born in Bilstone c. 1696.<ref>Skempton, Sir Alec et al. (2002). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: Vol 1: 1500 to 1830'', Thomas Telford, p.&nbsp;276. {{ISBN|072772939X}}</ref>

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==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Bilstone}} *[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LEI/Bilstone/ “Bilstone”], Genuki

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Category:Villages in Leicestershire Category:Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Category:Shackerstone