18 June 2019

In 1830, the mine owners of NW Leicestershire faced a problem. They wanted to use the new technology of railways to bring their coal to the lucrative market in Leicester but in their way was the hill on which County Hall and Glenfield Hospital now stand. It was much too steep for early locomotives to climb and was even too steep for a stationary engine to haul the wagons up an inclined plane, as had been done at Swannington and Bagworth. They consulted the famous engineer George Stephenson, who designed what was then the longest steam railway tunnel in the world and recommended his son Robert to build it.

The tunnel is just over a mile long. It was built straight and level, based on existing models from the canal network but at a larger scale to accommodate trains. “Navvies” dug the tunnel from both ends and from shafts sunk along the route.   Smaller ventilation shafts were provided at intervals and now make interesting features in the gardens above! Surveyors expected that the tunnel would pass through rock but instead they found soft sand so the entire length had to be lined using locally made bricks.

The dimensions of the tunnel were always a limitation, from the opening ceremony when the funnel of the locomotive hit the roof, broke and covered the travelling dignitaries in soot! In later years it became difficult to find rolling stock small enough to fit: with only a few inches of clearance, speeds were limited to 4 mph so it took trains 15 minutes to pass through.

Although Glenfield Tunnel closed to rail traffic in 1966, it still exists and members of our Society were able to visit, thanks to the Leicestershire Industrial History Society. We walked about ¼ mile from the entrance to the first excavation shaft and our guide pointed out features of interest along the way, such as refuges where workers could avoid passing trains, and evidence of when Plessey and Marconi briefly used the tunnel for testing after its closure.

24 June 2019

Each summer, Leicester University runs a Field School to give experience of a real archaeological dig to its own students and to visiting students from around the world. This year’s dig was the fifth and final one to take place at Bradgate Park and on a pleasant evening at the end of June some of our members were shown round by the co‑director of the project, Dr Richard Thomas.

As we walked to the site, Richard reminded us of some of the project’s findings from previous years. First, the site of a late Palaeolithic camp, where flint tools were made by hunters returning to Britain at the end of the last Ice Age. Then a moated enclosure containing the foundations of a large hall, which is now thought to have been too grand for a warden’s residence and was probably an early medieval hunting lodge. Last year’s dig revealed many new features of the 17^th century stable but they are still waiting for a more detailed evaluation.

This year, several trenches have been opened up inside the ruins of Bradgate House, in particular to investigate an older stone building that sits at a slightly oblique angle within the courtyard. It turns out that the stone walls are quite extensive and, as they are cut through by the brickwork that we see standing today, they indicate that a substantial stone building previously stood on the same site. Several good finds from the Tudor period have been unearthed in the various rooms of the building, including a candlestick and some lead piping. (The team were still searching for the rest of the Cluedo set.) The dates of the finds suggest that the stone building remained in use during the 1540s, which raises the question: could this in fact have been the house in which Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) grew up? If so, then the familiar brick buildings including the Chapel, Great Hall and “Lady Jane’s Tower” might have been added only later, when Bradgate was restored to the Grey family towards the end of the century.

More investigation is needed!

19 November 2019

Our final meeting of the year included a brief AGM, followed by short talks from two of our members.

Brenda Hooper recounted some of the episodes in the life of Richard Waterfield, who was Rector of the Parish of Thurcaston, Cropston and Anstey from 1838 to 1864. Among the major works of this generous man were the repair and renovation of All Saints’ Church, Thurcaston; the erection of a monument inside in memory of Hugh Latimer; and the rebuilding of St. Mary’s, Anstey – all at his own expense. A beautiful stained-glass window in St. Mary’s is a lasting memorial to this ‘kind and agreeable man and clear-headed preacher’ (Mary Kirby). Waterfield Road in Cropston is also named after him.

Margaret Greiff then told us about Two Gentlemen of Thurcaston, who were associated with Thurcaston Manor during Shakespearean times.

Nicholas Gravenor was the last Lord of the Manor of Thurcaston who actually lived in the village. He was born in about 1560, presumably in the manor house which his father had recently built or extended (and which no longer survives). The Manor of Thurcaston also included Keyham and Maplewell and when Nicholas grew up he decided to build himself a new manor house, with a moat, at Maplewell (near Woodhouse Eaves). He was involved in several lawsuits for debt and it is said that Nicholas and his wife would avoid paying church dues by worshipping in a different parish each week! The land and title to the Manor was sold in 1627 and Nicholas died in Leicester two years later, leaving only 12 pence to each of his sons and 20 shillings to his daughter.

Nicholas Gorson was the only person from our immediate area known to have been charged with being a “recusant” Catholic, which means that he refused to attend Anglican church services. He was born in 1545 and probably studied law at Oxford, where his name is written in an early printed book at the Bodleian Library. He succeeded his father as the tenant at Thurcaston Manor and in 1595 his second marriage was to Ann Gravenor, who must be the sister of Nicholas Gravenor mentioned above. The Gunpowder Plot in 1605 led the Bishop of Lincoln to crack down on the “dangerous infection of popery” in his diocese, and in 1607 Nicholas Gorson was summoned to kneel before the bishop and promise to conform to the Anglican faith for the rest of his life. Documents show that he needed to raise money soon afterwards, probably for the payment of fines, and when he died in 1616 he left only modest sums to his children.

15 October 2019

The Danvers of Swithland Hall was the subject for our October 2019 meeting. Speaker Anne Horton told us that according to a 1752 plaque in Swithland Church, the English branch of the family goes back to 1066, when Norman d’Alverse came to England with William the Conqueror. The history of the Swithland Danvers began in 1412 when Margaret Walcote, inheriting a half share in the manor of Swithland, married John Danvers of Shackerstone. The other half share of Swithland went through various hands until 1629, when Francis Danvers bought it up. Francis, d. 1631, is the first member of the Danvers family known to be buried in the Danvers Chapel of Swithland Church.

Another branch of the Danvers family, one of whom married into the Swithland Danvers, lived in Oxfordshire. From that branch we heard the stories of three brothers, of whom one was a traitor, another a murderer and the third a regicide. Charles, the traitor, was beheaded in 1601 on Tower Hill. Middle brother Henry, one-time page to Sir Philip Sidney, shot dead a neighbour’s servant, but was pardoned and went on to serve his country. He was made Earl of Danby by Charles 1. The third brother, John, was among the 59 men who signed the death warrant of Charles 1. He avoided punishment by dying before the restoration of the monarchy!

The Swithland Danvers were involved in England’s 16^th/17^th Catholic v. Protestant conflicts during Oliver Cromwell’s ‘Commonwealth.’ Henry Danvers (1622-87), a Baptist and a Fifth Monarchist, planned insurrections against both Oliver Cromwell and Charles 11. He escaped capture, however, and died in exile.

Joseph Danvers, Henry’s grandson, restored his family’s reputation and fortune. He extended his Leicestershire estates, acquiring, for example, both the Lordships of Mountsorrel and Thurcaston. In 1727 he enlarged the family burial chapel in Swithland church, though chose to be buried on the east edge of Swithland Churchyard, in the slate table-top tomb that still stands proudly today. No one knows why Sir Joseph chose burial there rather than inside the church. Perhaps he wanted to stand on his own land on Judgement Day! (The ‘dog legend’, incidentally, was a piece of 19^th century imagination!)

Next came the eccentric and flamboyant Sir John Danvers. ‘He was remarkably fond, like the Chinese, of painting everything red: so much that every door, shutter and gatepost in the towns of Swithland and Mountsorrel was so decorated’. Sir John was responsible for moving the fifteenth century market cross from Mountsorrel to Swithland Park, replacing it with Mountsorrel’s Butter Market.

With no son to succeed him, Sir John married off his daughter Mary to an Irish teenager, Augustus Butler, requiring that he change the family name to ‘Butler-Danvers’. The marriage produced the necessary heir, Mary went to live in London, and Augustus lived with his mistress in Swithland, squandering money and selling off parts of the Swithland estate. Dying in poverty in Boulogne, he was succeeded by his sober and sensible son George John, who inherited the Earldom of Lanesborough in 1847. The 5^th Earl tidied up the family finances, built the current Swithland Hall, as well as a new school building and many new cottages for his tenants in Swithland. His successors to the Earldom and to the Lordship of Swithland gradually became less Irish, more English and much poorer. When the 9^th Earl died in 1988, without producing a son and heir, he had sold up Swithland Hall and moved to Scotland. Fortunately for the village, however, the Hall was bought by Mr and Mrs Page who have restored it to a beautiful family home.

20 August 2019

Nearly 50 people joined a walking tour of Cropston to hear about the village’s history.

The –ton suffix probably indicates Anglo-Saxon origins, but most of the tour was about the last few hundred years, about which we know more.   For much of that time Cropston was a few houses clustered around the crossroads. The village still has houses dating from the last 600 years. The Thatch, Cropston’s most well-known house, was originally 2 cottages. Beneath the 20^th century black and white facade are earlier brick and cruck-frame constructions.

Causeway Lane was one of the entrances to Bradgate Park until the reservoir was built. The Gate House controlled access.

During most of the 19^th century White Lodge housed Cropston Brewery, as well as the house and outbuildings for a small farm of 49 acres.   The Burchnalls owned this, and the beerhouse next door, The Brewer’s Arms.   In the 20^th century the village bakery was here.

Life in this village of 110 people must have been turned upside down in 1865 by the arrival of 500-600 navvies to build the reservoir.   In addition to the inevitable disorder (an extra constable was employed), this provided a business opportunity, and beer was sold from a shed (“shanty” or “shant”) to the thirsty workers.   When the dam was complete, The Reservoir Hotel (now the Badger’s Sett) was built and served a different clientele: a standard daytrip from Leicester included a tour of the new pumping station and refreshments at the hotel.   The site had plenty of space from which to admire the view of the reservoir (since blocked by trees).

From the 1920s there was more provision for tourists:   Park Hill Holiday Centre, a 10-acre site between Causeway Lane and the Reservoir, advertised “luncheons, teas, caravans, bungalows, camping and tennis courts. Motor parties etc catered for.”

The road over the new dam replaced part of the original road to Hallgates. A small part of this road still exists between The Thatch and Corner Cottage and contains the pinfold, an enclosed area where stray animals were kept.

Cropston expanded rapidly after Rothley Station was opened in 1899, attracting professionals who could now commute to Leicester or Loughborough.   The population rose rapidly, from 191 in 1901 to 909 in 1931.

The Cropstone Land Society provided land outside the original village for some of the first new houses to be built, known collectively as “The Klondyke”.   The plots were long and thin, large enough to enable the householders to be self-sufficient in food.

Guild Close is built on the site of a holiday home run by the Leicester Guild of the Crippled (now called Mosaic).   The home provided an opportunity for disabled members in Leicester to have a week away from the city. It operated from 1923 to 1991.

Miss Sarah Jane Hind, who died in 1922, provided in her will the land and funds to build almshouses for deserving gentlewomen aged 60 or over who were members of the Church of England.   The Hind Sisters homes still operate today.

Cropston Chapel was built in 1879, providing new accomodation for non-conformists whose numbers had outgrown the house in which they had been meeting since 1850. The chapel played an important part in the life of the village, most recently with a thriving youth club.

Cropston used to be well provided with shops and traders:   milk was delivered from Astills Farm or collected in a jug from the Bradgate Arms, there was a butcher with its own slaughterhouse, a village store next to Corner Cottage and the Post Office and stores.

17 September 2019

Julie Attard is an old friend of the Society and in September she returned with a talk entitled "What's in a name? Exploring the history of Charnwood Forest through its place-names." It was based on research carried out through the Victoria County History's "Charnwood Roots" project, which Julie managed.

English place-names have absorbed a mixture of elements from the languages of successive waves of invaders. Different languages are often combined, for example, the first part of "Charnwood" is from the Celtic word for a cairn, while "wood" comes from Old English. Sometimes it is clear that new arrivals did not understand the meaning of the existing name — a classic example being Breedon on the Hill, which means "Hill Hill on the Hill" in various languages!

Analysing place-names can tell us about patterns of settlement and the way the inhabitants saw the landscape. "Thurcaston" is derived from a Viking forename Thorketil, combined with the Old English 'tun', meaning a settlement. This suggests a period when a new Viking lord took charge of an existing Saxon village. "Cropston" follows the same pattern, although it is not clear whether the forename in question is the Saxon Cropp or the Viking Kropp.

Some elements of Anglo-Saxon names could be very specific, e.g. "Stocking Close", which means an enclosure cleared of tree stumps, or "Swithland", which means land cleared by burning. After 1066 the Normans gave French names to a few local places, such as Beaumanor and Grace Dieu.

There are more than 2,000 surviving medieval documents that relate to Charnwood and they are both a valuable and rich source of old place-names. Julie showed us several examples, including a "perambulation" of an estate boundary from about 1300, in which roughly half of the names that appear can still be identified on a modern Ordnance Survey map. In the 18th and 19th centuries much of the countryside was enclosed and the associated maps and enclosure awards tell us the names of the old open fields and furlongs. Thurcaston and Cropston each had a Bybrook Field, which is straightforward to understand but it is less apparent that the name of Alitha Field in Thurcaston came from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "detached". Subsequent documents record the name as "Hallythawe", "Hollythorn" and "Albethough", which just goes to show how place-names can evolve as later generations try to make sense of these names in their own way.

21 May 2019

Heads and Tales: Coins found in our villages and the stories they tell.

At our May meeting the Society displayed coins received from Brian Kimberley who, using a metal detector, has found numerous coins and other artefacts in our area. Keen to pass on his enjoyment to others, Brian has given some of these to the Society for it to share with the current and future residents of our villages.  He was presented with an Honorary Membership as a thank you for his generous gift.

The coins on show, from various periods during the last 2000 years, were all found in our villages, “under our feet”.   There was also a display of enlarged photographs of them, and some descriptions of what was happening in our area at the time they were in circulation.

To help us understand the coins better, Wendy Scott, the Leicestershire Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), gave us a talk about the coinage of England.

The PAS provides an opportunity for members of the public to register archaeological objects they find  (which are not designated as treasure).    The database is an important study resource.  A particularly large number of Roman coins has been registered, and this has helped archaeologists gain a better understanding of the economy of that period.

Coins have been in use in England for just over 2000 years.   The earliest were based on Greek coins.  They were probably not used for purchasing, but given as diplomatic gifts, or used to show status or wealth.   Those found in our area were minted by the Corieltauvi tribe, who lived in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.

Later, under the Romans, coins began to be used as a means of exchange, as now.

However in the 9^th and 10^th centuries, in the parts of England occupied by the Vikings, the Scandinavian custom of payment using metal by weight (as ‘bullion’) prevailed.  Although the Vikings adopted the English custom of issuing coins, these were still weighed and used as bullion rather than relying on their face value.

Coins were minted by moneyers in various locations across the country, including Leicester.  A few very early coins were cast, but most were struck:  a blank was placed between 2 dies and the upper die struck with a heavy hammer.  This method produced coins which were all slightly different, with some off-centre.  Machines to mint better quality coins were available from the 16^th century onwards.

A recurring problem over the centuries, which reduced confidence in the currency, was that of debased coinage:  the face value of the coins did not match their metal content.   Coins could be minted with a reduced quantity of precious metal, either by using an alloy or by having a base metal core coated with silver or gold.

Some coins (usually Viking) were ‘pecked’ (stabbed with the tip of a knife) in order to establish their quality before they were accepted as payment.

People often clipped the edges of coins in circulation to obtain gold or silver. Measures were put into place to discourage clipping.   The crosses on the reverse, used as an aid to cut the coins into halves or quarters (before halfpennies and farthings were available), were extended to the edge of the coin to establish its original size.  Machine-made coins had milled edges (ridged, similar to modern coins).

Wendy’s talk was well illustrated both with pictures and with original and replica coins for us to hand round.   They dated from the Iron Age to the 1700s and, together with the coins donated by Brian, we had plenty of oppurtunity to see a wide variety at close quarters.

19 February 2019

The Leicester and Swannington Railway Today: a Photographic Journey was the subject for the Feburary meeting of the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society.   Speaker Bill Pemberton, treasurer of the Leicestershire Industrial History Society addressed the history of this first coal-transporting railway in Leicestershire and took us through a fascinating photographic tour of what can still be seen today.

Coal from the Swannington area was mined from the 13^th century.  With Leicester’s 19^th century population explosion, however, demand rapidly increased.   Packhorses along muddy tracks were no longer good enough.  The Leicestershire mine owners competed with the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire miners, who had the advantage of transport along the 1779 Erewash Canal and the River Soar.  The Charnwood Forest Canal (built 1794) enabled Leicestershire mine owners to remain competitive, at least until the collapse in 1799 of the Blackbrook Reservoir Dam that fed the canal.  In the late 1820s, Swannington coalmine owner William Stenson and colleague William Ellis approached George Stephenson, the famous railway engineer.  He said ‘Yes’ to the Glenfield Tunnel project, putting it in the hands of his son Robert.   Construction began in 1830.   The Leicester and Swannington Railway line opened in 1832.  Other coalmines along the route benefitted, such as Stenson’s mines at Whitwick.  Furthmore, passengers could travel with the coal.  Hence the various Railway Inns en route.

The rail route from Swannington to its West Bridge terminus in Leicester passed through Coalville, Bardon, Bagworth, Merilees, Desford, Ratby and Glenfield.  Engineering challenges included the Swannington incline, the Bagworth incline and the hill between Glenfield and Leicester.  The Swannington incline required a stationary steam-powered winding engine to lift the coal wagons to a train system at the top.  The Bagworth challenge required a system of lowering full wagons of coal down the incline to join another train at the bottom.  The Glenfield Tunnel, opened in 1832, allowing rail transport of coal into Leicester’s West Bridge Station.  In 1846 the Midland Railway bought out the L&SR and used its middle part, now double-track, as part of their Leicester to Burton-on-Trent line.  The Swannington branch line closed in 1948.  The pumps at the former Calcutta colliery were kept operating until 1947, to prevent deeper mines elsewhere from flooding.  The Leicester branch from Desford to the West Bridge Station closed in the mid 1960s.

The second part of Bill’s talk was a fascinating photographic record of those historical remnats of the old line still visible to walkers exploring the old track today.  He ended with images of that part of the Glenfield Tunnel that is still open for organised group visits.   Those wanting to visit the Tunnel should contact the Leics. Industrial History Society (via its website www.lihs.org.uk).  Visits are organised in July and September.  Advance booking is essential.

15 January 2019

Adrian Lane is keen to share the knowledge he acquired during a 30-year career on the riverside team of Leicester City Council, and his enthusiastic talk entertained a record audience at our January meeting.

As the River Soar passes through Leicester it follows the course of the prehistoric River Bytham, which flowed north then east towards Great Yarmouth.  The Ice Ages reshaped the landscape so that water from the Soar now reaches the sea at the Humber Estuary.  The Soar is very much Leicestershire’s river, draining 90% of the county but hardly extending beyond it.

It is believed that Celtic settlers’ name for the river was Leire – possibly from the same origin as the River Loire – which in turn gave rise to the name Leire-cester.  The chosen site of the town was a small, glacial hill, close enough to the river for convenient transport and water supply but high enough to avoid flooding.  The Romans built walls on three sides, with the river forming a boundary to the west.   Although Leicester eventually grew and spread beyond the walls, there was almost no development on the other side of the river until the 19^th century.

Coal was four times more expensive in Leicester than in Loughborough until the opening of the Soar Navigation in 1794, which allowed cheap supplies from Derbyshire to be brought to a wharf near Belgrave Road.  The Leicestershire coal owners soon fought back by building the pioneering Leicester and Swannington Railway, with a station at West Bridge.  Industry has since declined and factories no longer face onto the river and canal but many of their chimneys still form landmarks on the skyline and are preserved by planning rules.  The owners complained at first but later reaped the benefits when sites for mobile phone aerials were needed!

Flooding was a recurrent problem in Leicester until a grand scheme in the 1870s lowered the bed of the River Soar by 10 feet.  This also made it possible to create Abbey Park on land between the river and the canal.

Commercial use of the waterways dwindled after WWII but a rally in Leicester in 1967 attracted 350 boats, marking a renaissance of the river and canal for leisure activities.  Today nature is returning: there are badgers living in Abbey Park and otters have been recorded along the whole length of the River Soar.

20 November 2018

The November meeting of the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society included a brief Annual General Meeting and three short talks by members.

Friendship: the Herricks of Beaumanor and the historian Nichols.

Anne Horton told us a little of the friendship between the Nichols family and the Herricks of Beaumanor Hall focussing on two members of the Nichols family.  John Nichols from London who wrote ‘The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester’ spent much time in the area and was friends with William Herrick and his younger brother John, and he writes of taking “strenuous outings” with them.  His grandson, John Gough Nichols, spent 20 years cataloguing the Herrick estate and was involved in the commissioning of the stained glass armorial window in Beaumanor Hall during its rebuilding in the 1840’s.

The planned Bradgate Railway through Cropston.

Peter Smith showed us plans for the Leicester, Groby and Bradgate Park Railway, proposed in 1898. It would have been a privately owned branch line from Newtown Linford joining the Great Central Railway at Rothley. Its route ran through Cropston, crossing the junction between Leicester Road, Station Road and Bradgate Road (but no station at Cropston was planned). A Private Members Bill was needed for its construction and the petition stated that it was mainly intended for passengers. It was in fact hoped to get stone from quarries in Sheet Hedges Wood to the railway network, and also open up the possibility to quarry in Bradgate Park.  The Commons Committee held on 20^th March 1899 felt there was a ‘flimsy case” for the railway and it was rejected.

A light-hearted look at the Peninsular War.

Finally, Brenda Hooper took a seasonal look at the Peninsular War by giving a rendition of ‘Sam Small’s Christmas Pudding’ in the style of Stanley Holloway.  The monologue was written by Marriott Edgar (he wrote sixteen for Holloway).  In this, Sam is fighting Napoleon’s troops at the Siege of Badajoz in Spain and …“By an unprecedented mis'ap, The puddin' 'is mother 'ad sent 'im,  'Ad blown Badajoz off the map!”

16 October 2018

Georgina Maltby visited the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society in October to tell us about her cousin the stained glass artist Theodora Salusbury and the art of stained glass making.

First of all Georgina Maltby explained what needs to be taken into consideration when creating a stained glass window, and the steps involved in the process: the space and shape of the window are important; how the light will come through it; and whether there are any shadows from outside that will affect it.  Then a cartoon is drawn, the glass is cut and coloured, then leaded up and finally installed.

Theodora Salusbury (who liked to be known as Miss Salusbury) was born in Leicestershire in 1875, and was one of five sisters, none of whom married.  Her father was a solicitor in Leicester and they lived close to the church of St James the Greater on London Road, before moving to Birstall.   The family was very fond of birds and she often depicted them in her windows, and sometimes used a peacock as a signature which she chose as it is a symbol of resurrection.  Unfortunately all her papers were destroyed after her death in 1956 so it has been a ‘wonderful treasure hunt’ for Georgina Maltby to find her windows.  One of the first  she created was The Annunciation (1920) which is in St James the Great Church, Birstall.

Leicester was an advantageous place to live and Miss Salusbury and two of her sisters studied at the Leicester School of Art.  There were a number of well-established families who would commission work and there are more than a dozen of her windows in Leicestershire, including three in Birstall and one in Woodhouse Eaves.  She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, and later trained with Christopher Whall (a leading stained glass artist in the Arts and Crafts Movement), before setting up her own studio in St Agnes in Cornwall.  Her career really began after the First World War when she was 45.  Her work is characterized by her use of vivid colours and finely drawn figures, particularly babies and children. At some time (probably during World War II) she moved to Bath to live with her sisters, and it is here that Georgina Maltby remembers meeting Cousin Dora and being given a gift of a peacock feather by her.  Miss Salusbury died in 1956.

If you would like more information about Miss Theodora Salusbury and to see photographs of her windows, Georgina has just finished a finely illustrated book.  ‘Theodora Salusbury 1875-1956: Stained glass artist’.  By Georgina Maltby and Andrew Loutit.

18 September 2018

Cropstone House Farm is the attractive stone-built building which is set back on the right hand side of Cropston Road, just as one leaves Cropston village.

Anne Horton’s research revealed the amazing lives (and secrets) of many of its owners and tenants. In addition, the farm’s current owner, Stephen Burrows, was happy to add to Anne’s account, bringing the Society’s Members up-to-date with the family’s history. The Burrows Family have owned the house and land for over 80 years.

Anne gave us details of previous owners of land in Cropston: probably a man called Cropp/Kroppr; another named Ulf, before the Norman Conquest; also Hugh de Grandmesnil, who received the estate as a gift from William the Conqueror around 1068; the Beaumonts and the de Quincys in the C12 and C13 ; the Ferrers family from 1264; and the Grey family from 1405 to 1925.

In 1925, the Grey family put Cropstone House Farm up for sale and it was bought, for the sum of £8000, by local brothers Charles and Robert Moss. They later installed Alf Burrows as their tenant and this later resulted in the purchase of the house and land by the Burrows Family in 1937. They were a talented family, undertaking a range of occupations as identified by census data since 1841. They were identified as lace-makers, teachers, artists and farmers. Richard Burrows, who purchased the farm, was already a farmer. Anne’s account of individual family members was really interesting and was accompanied by some wonderful photographs.

Of special note was Louie, daughter of Alfred and Louisa Burrows. Born in 1888, she was a head-teacher in a number of Leicestershire junior schools from 1908 and became well-known as a defender of women’s rights. In later life, she and her husband lived at The Garth (now The Cedars), in Thurcaston. Louie’s relationship with D.H. Lawrence resulted in his many visits to our local area. He claimed he had proposed to her on a train between Rothley and Quorn and his poem ‘Kisses on a Train’ bears witness, in typical D.H. Lawrence language, to that intimate moment. Louie is believed to be the woman on whom Ursula was based in ‘The Rainbow’. The relationship ended when Lawrence met another woman!

Photos of Cropstone House Farm revealed a beautiful building with casement windows, a porch supported by ornamental columns, and additional wings. Stephen described the walls as being comprised of many different kinds of stones, held together with lime mortar He supplemented Anne’s research by showing us ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of some of the farm buildings –the Grain-store; the Chapel; the Mill; and the Stable, describing the alterations made as they were converted.

The history of Cropstone House Farm is complex and fascinating – Anne and Stephen certainly helped to bring it to life!