It lies off the A42, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the National Forest.

The Domesday Book of 1086 has it belonging directly to the King, as part of a royal estate centred at Repton.

[10] Given the ownership by the crown and then the Earls of Chester, neither actually resident, it appears the De Measham family held the manor as feudal tenants, rather than formal owners, probably in return for military service.

[11] The original chapel of ease dated from 1172, but the present St Laurence's Church was built in 1340, under the auspices of Repton Priory.

[10] On 24 March 1311, King Edward II granted charters to William de Bereford, Lord of the Manor of Measham, to hold a market and a fair.

[12] The charters allowed for a market on Tuesdays and an annual three-day fair around the festival of the Translation of St Thomas the Martyr (7 July).

[9] In 1596 Measham was dismissed by William Wyrley as "a village belonging to Lord Shefield, in which are many coal mines, [but] little else worthy of remembrance."

[9][10][13] In 1767, William Abney built an alternative manor at Measham Field, north-east of the village, which by 1817 had passed to his son Edward.

[9] In 1839 the village received an official visit from Queen Adelaide, who in her widowhood frequented the area, staying at nearby Gopsall Park, home of her previous Lord Chamberlain, The Earl of Howe.

Development of a British Car Auctions site in the south-west of the village after the Second World War prompted what has become the Westminster Industrial Estate.

The traditional industries began to die, with the boot and shoe factory closing in the 1960s and Measham Colliery in 1986.

[13] The 1960s saw many of the village's fine buildings demolished, including the Manor House, Measham Hall and the Vicarage.

[19] Measham ware has a dark brown Rockingham glaze with white-clay additions colourfully painted, usually with flowers and often a personal motto.

[22] Measham Ware was also popular among farm labourers in Norfolk and Suffolk: after harvesting in their own counties, they often travelled to Burton Upon Trent to work in the maltings and other industries associated with brewing.

A branch of the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway (ANJR) opened to Measham in 1873, with through services to Burton-on Trent, Leicester, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Moira and Shackerstone, allowing changes for Coalville and Loughborough via Hugglescote.

The Battlefield Line Railway, a surviving section of the ANJR, now runs services to Shenton via Market Bosworth.

Leicestershire County Council recently renovated the station building as part of the Ashby Canal restoration, to serve as premises for the Measham Museum.

Measham hosts the National Forest Taekwondo group, which started in 2013 and trains at the Church Hall.

It welcomes all practitioners from the age of eight up, and covers training in all areas of this Olympic sport, from self-defence to the traditional patterns.