Birstall is a large village and civil parish within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is three miles north of Leicester city centre and is part of the wider Leicester Urban Area. It is the largest village in Charnwood, with a population only marginally lower than the neighbouring town of Syston at the 2001 census. The village Birstall lies on the A6 and is the last major settlement before Leicester when arriving from the north. Birstall thus forms part of the Leicester Urban Area. The village centre lies just off the A6, along Sibson Road. The village contains two supermarkets, a garden centre and a variety of other shops. There are a number of schools, including Highcliffe Primary School, Riverside Primary School, Hallam Fields Primary School and The Cedars Academy. The village contains the Church of St James the Great, Birstall, the St Teresa Roman Catholic church and Birstall Methodist Church. There is a large housing estate in the north-west of the village, leading off Greengate Lane. The Grand Union Canal runs along the eastern side of the village, which is adjacent to Watermead Country Park, a series of lakes in the bottom of the Soar Valley, which have been set aside as a recreational area and country park. The Great Central Railway steam railway has its southern terminus near the village, where the A6 meets the Leicester outer ringroad at Red Hill Circle. Just north of Red Hill Circle, and west of the A6, is Red Hill filling station, which became a Grade II listed building in 2012. The railway also forms the boundary of the southern end of Birstall Golf Club. To the north of the village, the A6 meets the A46 Leicester Western Bypass and then continues on towards Loughborough along the Soar Valley. The symbol of Birstall is a Cedar tree. The original tree stands in Roman Road. It was once in the grounds of the now demolished Birstall Hall. The local Air Training Corps unit is 1947(Birstall) Squadron. The area of the Parish is . History The village's name means 'settlement built on the site of a fortification'. Saxon remnants have been found in the village and surrounding area. The village was called Burstalle in the Domesday Book when it belonged to Hugh de Grandmesnil. Willard held these lands for Hugh and the of meadow and a mill were said to be worth three