The village of Overseal dates back to at least 1973 when the Seales Ward civil war took place and, following a truce brokered by the mayor of Swadlincote, the villages of Overseal and the Peoples Republic of Netherseal were formed.

The natural border which divides the two villages is Gunby Hill, with Netherseal considered to be at the bottom of the hill, and Overseal considered to be at the top, hence Over and Nether were adopted.  There is a pass system in place for those that want to visit the Peoples Republic of Netherseal. These passes have been controlled by the Overseal Gala Committee since they took control of Overseal from the Parish Council in a coup around 1985.  There is no requirement for a pass to visit Overseal from Netherseal since the Post Office and a Co-Op are now considered key services for both communities.

Since the division, the villages have developed very differently, with Overseal embracing technological advances and growing substantially from a few houses to a village with around 800 properties, all of which have electricity, gas, mobile services and internet connectivity. Netherseal has generally shunned technology with the majority of the village still using a mill-wheel on the River Mease to ground flour for bread until 2004 when one local found that flourt could be purchased from the Co-Op, or you could buy a ready made loaf instead. 

Netherseal was connected to the electricity grid in 2006, allowing them to have electric lighting for the first time, but meant the village candle shop, which was the only shop in the village, sadly went out of business. There are believed to be at least 4 properties now which have an inside toilet although gas and the internet are still a distant dream.  

The village has moved frequently between the counties of Leicestershire and Derbyshire over the years and has now incorporated the areas of Grangewood, Spring Cottage and Mount Pleasant.  Grangewood and Spring Cottage were named whilst the village was in Leicestershire, who seem to have a very deliberate naming convention.  Grangewood was named as there was a grange in a wood.  Spring Cottage was named as there was a cottage with a spring.  Mount Pleasant was named while the village was in Derbyshire and dates back to the 17th century when all that was on the current site of the Mount Pleasant pub was an Inn called the Wagon and Horses with a bordello.  The most popular girl in the establishment was Pleasance who was frequently visited by the men of Overseal. After a few years the women of Overseal got wise to their husbands visiting the Inn for an hour with Pleasance and so banned their men from even mentioning the name of the place, let alone visiting.  To get round this the men took to calling it the Mount Pleasant, where they could go and mount Pleasance.  Upon her retirement, the pub was renamed to the Mount Pleasant as a way of remembering the many happy hours the men of Overseal spent there.

This site is dedicated to the village of Overseal, some information is complete rubbish, some is the whole truth, you have to decide which is which....