Gumley is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. The closest town is Market Harborough. The population of the civil parish (including Laughton, Leics) at the 2011 census was 209. The name Gumley is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon "Gutmundesleah" – meaning Godmund's clearing. History The village is first mentioned in 749. King Æthelbald of Mercia (r.716-757) held a synod at Gumley in that year, at the instigation of Saint Boniface, to answer accusations that he had been oppressing churches and monasteries. The outcome was that Æthelbald released the Church from all public burdens except the three common burdens of providing military service, and building and repairing bridges and fortresses. These obligations arguably initiated changes in the land tenurial system of England and eventually led to serfdom. King Offa visited Gumley in 772 and 779 for the witanagemot of the kings of Mercia. On the south side of Gumley Covert there is a pond called "the Mot" which may be a Saxon site. The pond stands in a small natural amphitheatre near a mound surmounted with trees. After the Norman Conquest Gumley was given to Countess Judith, the Conqueror's niece. At that time there were twenty inhabitants. In the medieval period there were dwellings below the village towards Thornhill Farm, of which little remains apart from some surface irregularities and cobbles on the footpath passing by Too Cottage. There were also houses by the 'holloways' in Crow Spinney beside the parish church. Gumley's population peaked in 1821 when 281 residents were engaged working the land as well as making lace and stockings. Now there are about 105 people on the electoral roll. Because Gumley has been surrounded by pasture predominantly, the medieval ridge and furrow method of working the land is particularly well preserved and its fields are subject to preservation orders. Gumley Hall Gumley Hall was built in 1764 for Joseph Cradock (d. 1826). It consists of a large three storey red brick central block, flanked by two-story pavilions connected to the main block by quadrant walls. Internally many of the features, including the main staircase with its cast-iron balustrade, appear to date from the earlier 19th century. These were probably inserted between 1823 and 1833 by Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp who apparently took over the house in an unfinished condition. South of the hall and opening upon the village