About rural Leicestershire

Leicestershire lies in the heart of England — a county of rich farmland, wooded valleys, and gently undulating countryside that remains deeply agricultural despite the pull of Leicester’s urban centre. Outside the city, traditional rural life continues across a landscape shaped by centuries of livestock and crop farming.

The Vale of Belvoir in the northeast is especially fertile and historically significant — a landscape of long fields, small villages, and the imposing presence of Belvoir Castle. Here, mixed farming thrives: cereals, oilseed rape, and sugar beet in the lowlands, with dairy and sheep farming on higher ground.

Villages like Market Bosworth, Billesdon, and Hallaton retain strong rural identities, with village greens, farm shops, and ancient hedgerows still defining their borders. The area around Melton Mowbray remains famous for its pork pies and Stilton cheese, continuing a food-producing tradition that runs deep in the local economy.

The county also hosts historic livestock markets and equestrian centres, while conservation and heritage groups protect key rural features — from ridge-and-furrow earthworks to old woodlands and managed nature reserves.

Leicestershire’s countryside is practical, productive, and proud — a place where the rural past is still very much part of the present.