RATCLIFFE-ON-THE-WREAK, a village and a parish in Barrow-upon-Soar district, Leicestershire. The village stands on the Fosse way and on the river Wreak, 2 miles N by E of Syston r. station, and 7 N N E of Leicester; and has a post-office under Leicester. The parish comprises 880 acres. Real property, £1, 677. Pop., 126. Houses, 28. The manor belongs to the Duchess of Sforza. R. Hall is the residence of J. D. Harris, Esq. Shipley Hill is a barrow 40 feet high, and 350 feet in diameter. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £239.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is ancient, with a moderntower and spire; and was repaired in 1 859. Ratcliffecollege stands on a hill to the W of the village; is a Roman Catholic establishment; was founded in 1844, after designs by Pugin; was subsequently enlarged; and now forms a hollow quadrangle. There are a national school, and charities £10.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))