5 August 2018

The final summer outing for Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society was to Beaumanor Hall. Our guide John told us the history and showed us the house and grounds.  What we see today is the Victorian house with obvious signs of its more recent past.

After the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror gave the land to his nephew as a hunting estate, but the first house was not built until 14^th century. The estate was purchased by the Herrick family in the 1550s.  The first Sir William made his fortune in gold, silver and jewellery.  Each subsequent owner was also called Sir William, when the 6^th Sir William died without a male heir the 7th, a bachelor from Wolverhampton inherited. In the 1830-40’s he pulled down the Georgian house (which no one had liked) and engaged a well-known architect of the time William Railton (Nelson’s Column) to build a new one. With a quote of £6,000 the house eventually came in over budget at £37,000!

Our tour started in the bar – originally the office from which Sir William ran the estate.  When he fell in a hunting accident (at the age of 82) he was brought back to the office and died with his wife beside him.  It was the first time she had been allowed into the office.  She continued to run the estate until her own death in 1915. In 1939 it was requisitioned by the War Office (and later bought by the Army) and used as a listening station and centre for military intelligence during World War II.  More recently in the 1970’s the hall was bought by Leicestershire County Council (LCC) to be used (and remains) as an education and conference centre.

The Library and the Morning Room retain much of their Victorian splendour with heavily decorated and carved wooden ceilings and marble fireplaces, however a similar ceiling in the drawing room did not survive the army occupation.  The magnificent stained glass window illuminating the Grand Hall and staircase was boarded up during this period and remains unscathed.  Upstairs the grand proportions can be seen, but the rooms have been repurposed first by the army and later by LCC.

Following a refreshment break we headed down to the cellars to see the working areas of a great house, including the bread kitchen, laundry rooms and meat preparation room.  One cellar has been set up as an air raid shelter, providing atmosphere for the final section of the tour.  In the grounds are a number of outbuildings that were part of the WWII listening station (Station Y) which intercepted and forwarded messages to Bletchley Park. These were made to look like agricultural buildings and farm cottages to disguise their real purpose from the air.  We saw inside Morse Cottages which had been used by radio operators.  This concluded an extensive and most interesting tour.

17 July 2018

On yet another warm July evening members of Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society (T&CLHS) loosely followed the Thurcaston Heritage Walking Trail, taking a wander around some of the interesting places in Thurcaston based on the parish guide produced by the Charnwood Roots project.  Our guide Brenda Hooper (Hon President of T&CLHS) provided extra local knowledge.

Starting in the churchyard we heard that the present church is the oldest building in the parish, with a Norman doorway and dating from the 12^th century. An earlier wooden Saxon church stood on the site and is mentioned in the Domesday Book.  The oldest gravestone in the graveyard is dated 1687.

From the churchyard we moved on to the neighbouring Church Hill field where humps and hollows can be clearly seen, signs of the first settlement of Thurcaston. The ancient track runs down towards the brook with raised earth platforms alongside where wooden huts would have stood.  Later, this field was incorporated into one of three great strip fields, before Enclosure.

Across the road from the church is the Old Schoolhouse, built by Richard Hill for the headmaster of the Charity School.  The present building was built on the site of the original school in 1875.  A couple of the group recalled memories of being at the school, which moved from this building in 1979.

On up Rectory Lane we went to the gates of the Grange, the former home of the rectors of the parish from the 1620s until the 1920s.  When Rector Richard Hurd (later Bishop of Worcester) lived here in the mid 18^th C he had the gardens landscaped.

Through the gate down Brooky Lane (now a footpath to Cropston) we passed signs of another early settlement, some of us walked down to Sandham Bridge, the packhorse bridge, this is likely to be an old salt route, and would have carried slate for building from Swithland to Leicester and beyond.

Latimer House, which dates from 15^th C, has had a number of uses: as a blacksmiths shop; at one time Baptist services were held here; and one wing was used as a reading room with free papers for parishioners to read.

The Memorial Hall was built in 1928 on land donated by Lord Lanesborough to commemorate the men who died in the First World War.  The poppy window on the first floor was installed in 2014.

A number of fine farmhouses were also pointed out as well as The Wheatsheaf Inn and the sites of two former public houses, the old Wesleyian Chapel and the old water mill. It all made a very interesting tour of the village.

On Sunday 17^th June members of Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society visited Breedon-on-the Hill for a very interesting guided tour of St Mary and St Hardulph’s church with Peter Liddle (former County Archaeologist).

Location: The village of Breedon-on-the-Hill (the name means hill in 3 languages: Celtic – bree; Saxon – don; and English - hill) is in fact at the foot of the hill, the church of St Mary and St Hardulph stands alone on top surrounded by its churchyard.  The hill has been quarried over the centuries but extensively since the 1940’s, losing much archaeological evidence of what was originally an Iron Age Hill fort. Some artifacts uncovered by the bulldozers were saved by the quarry owner, but no archaeological survey was done. Many bodies were also unearthed which may have been mid-late Anglo Saxon burials.

History: This important Anglo-Saxon religious site was created around 675-691 AD.  Within a couple of generations the Vikings arrived reaching the neighbouring monastery of Repton by 873.  There is no documentary evidence of what happened at Breedon-on-the-Hill but it is likely it was plundered like many other religious sites.  The monastery may have been re-founded in the 10^th century following the end of Viking rule.  By the 1120’s there were Augustinian Canons here (never more than about five) and it became a small priory under the auspices of Nostell Priory.  The Priory was dissolved along with Nostell during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.  Later, part was sold to the Shirleys of Staunton Harold who wanted it to bury their family dead.

Exterior architecture: The church today is half the size as it once was and marks showing the roof lines of former buildings can be seen on the tower. There is no architectural evidence of the original Saxon buildings but Norman doors, 13^th century lancet windows and later windows from the 15^th century re-fenestration can be seen.  There is no sign of earlier cloisters, dormitories or the nave, and because of the surrounding graveyard no excavations can be carried out, however ground-probing radar would probably be able to provide some clues.

Interior: The jewel of the church is the Anglo-Saxon sculptures and carvings.  There are long sections of wall frieze depicting vine scrolls, birds and beasts.  There is also a series of panels showing human figures and a lion known as the Anglian Beast.   We were able to go into the tower to see the Breedon Angel possibly the earliest known carving of an angel in England.  The church also contains the family mausoleum of the Shirleys, and the dark and heavily carved Shirley family pew dated 1627.

https://www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk/breedon-on-the-hill-st-mary-st-hardulph/

15 May 2018

At the May meeting of Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society we heard from Douglas Clinton about St Wistan, his death and afterlife.  He described the story of the murder, sanctification and cult of the 9^th century Mercian prince Wistan (aka Wystan or Wigstan).

It is thought Wistan died at Wistow Leicestershire in 849 AD. At that time it would have been the Bishop who awarded sainthoods not the Pope, so in Wistan’s case it would have been the Bishop of Leicester who gave his approval.

Wistan came from a line of Mercian kings descended from Offa.  He was the son of Wigmund and Aelfflaed (both offspring of Mercian kings).  Beorhtfrith was Wistan’s godfather, he wanted to marry Wistan’s widowed mother Aelfflaed, but Wistan refused, saying they were too closely related and it was against Church law.  Beorhtfrith went to visit him, supposedly in peace, but when they greeted each other he struck Wistan on his head with his dagger and his servant stabbed him with a sword, killing him and his companions.

Wistan’s death came prior to the Viking invasions.  The Vikings destroyed many documents so there is little written evidence of the time.  John of Worcester’s account, written two centuries later states “on 1st June on the eve of Whitsun Beorhtfrith son of Beorhtwulf King of the Mercians unjustly slew his kinsman St Wistan.  This man was the grandson of two Kings of Mercia”… when he died ”a column of light stretched up to heaven and remained visible for 30 days”. Wistan’s body was taken to Repton and buried in the tomb of his grandfather King Wiglaf.

Repton was a place of pilgrimage, but later St Wistan’s relics were moved to Evesham Abbey.  After the Norman Conquest, abbots questioned how saintly these local saints really were.  The Abbott of Evesham had Wistan’s severed head subjected to an ‘ordeal by fire’ which it survived unscathed!  In 1207 disaster struck Repton when the central tower of the church collapsed and broke the skull of St Wistan.

What ultimately became of his remains is unknown…

20 February 2018

Mathew Morris from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) visited to tell us about the community archaeology dig which has been run at Castle Hill in Beaumont Leys.  In 2016 and 2017, Leicester City Council and ULAS conducted the dig as part of the ‘Story of Parks project’, a two-year Heritage Lottery-funded project.  The aims were to increase understanding of the origins and development of Castle Hill with the help of local volunteers, involving 2 weeks on site in 2016 and 2017.

Firstly it was believed Castle Hill might have prehistoric or Roman origins. Later it was thought it could be a medieval estate of the Knights Hospitaller. The land was held by the earls of Leicester until Simon de Montfort granted it to the Knights Hospitaller in the mid-13th century, and it was held by them between c.1240 and 1482.  The Hospitallers were a militant monastic order set up to provide hospitality to and protect pilgrim routes to the Holy Land. Later it became a royal deer park but was disparked by Henry VIII in 1526 into private ownership, with no sign of later occupation until the 19th and 20th century when it was used as a sewage treatment site. Today, it is part of the Castle Hill Country Park and has protection as an ancient monument.

Following a 2015 geophysical survey by ULAS, volunteers were involved in digging 3 trenches in 2016 and 5 in 2017.  Trench 1 included a metalled surface running along the inside of the bank, the bank itself and the ditch and some evidence of an entranceway. Trench 2 unearthed stone kerbing, a land drain and stone surfaces that may have been a pond. In Trench 3 stone rubble, broken roof slates and medieval pottery were uncovered, and some signs of iron working. In 2017 the first 3 trenches were reopened, and two more dug, trench 3 finding further evidence of the footprint of the building including the paved yard with a stone hearth. Iron slag suggests it was used as a smithy.  In a well, a high water table has preserved wood that was probably timbers from the building. These are being conserved for further examination.

Overall, the finds agree with the dates of the occupation of the site by the Knights Hospitaller. The excavations show that damage from the sewage farm was minimal, with the medieval earthwork very well preserved; the enclosure comprises a large ditch and stone-built bank; inside, at least one building had a slate roof and glazed ridge-tiles, suggesting it was more than a simple farm building, and had more than one use. Pottery finds are consistent with occupation on the site between 1240 and 1484 and there is no evidence of earlier or later occupation, with the site probably being abandoned and demolished in the 15th century.  Much of the excavated material is still being examined and catalogued.  The trenches have been covered but it is planned to make an application for more funding with the hope of returning to the site in 2019. If successful, Mathew promised to return with an update.

For more information on:

The excavation:  https://www2.le.ac.uk/services/ulas/discoveries/projects/medieval/castle-hill-in-search-of-the-knights-hospitallers

The Story of Parks:  http://www.storyofleicester.info/explore-leicester/story-of-parks/

Castle Hill Country Park:   https://www.leicester.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/parks-and-open-spaces/our-parks/castle-hill-country-park

20 March 2018

The speaker at our March meeting was our Honorary President, Brenda Hooper, whose talk was intriguingly titled “The Kings' Briefs”.  Those hoping for salacious royal gossip might have been disappointed but everyone else enjoyed a fascinating insight into a system through which the people of our villages contributed to charitable causes in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. 

After the dissolution of the monasteries, parishes had largely become responsible for providing relief to their own poor but in circumstances such as natural disasters the cost would be more than a single parish could afford.  The victims could then make a petition for the King or Queen to issue a “Brief” and, if granted, copies of the Brief would be printed and distributed across the country.  In most cases, details of the catastrophe would be announced by the rector at the Sunday service and a collection would be taken from the congregation as they left.

A large majority of the Briefs related to fires: for example in 1676 a fire in Northampton destroyed 700 of the 850 houses.  Our churchwardens’ accounts show that Thurcaston donated 16s 11d and Cropston 14s 6d.  In 1679 a Brief was issued for the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire of London and our parish (then including Anstey) raised £1-06-11 in total.  Briefs occasionally related to other causes, e.g. replacing the lead roof of Edgbaston Church, which had been stripped to make musket balls in the Civil War; redeeming English captives and slaves under the Turks; or “the relief of Protestants fled out of Ireland”.

The procedure for obtaining a Brief and collecting in the funds was cumbersome and the expenses sometimes used up more than half of the sum raised.  There were also examples of abuse and parishioners became resentful of the increasing number of demands to support causes with no local connection.  The system of Kings' Briefs was finally abandoned in 1828, by which time insurance companies provided an alternative method of compensation for fires and floods.  However, the public’s willingness to help others in their hour of need has continued through national appeals such as the Titanic Disaster Fund and, more recently, the Disasters Emergency Committee and various crowd-funding websites.

16 January 2018

The first talk of 2018 was entitled ‘Power in the Landscape: The Grey and Hastings families in Leicestershire’ by Katie Bridger, a PhD student in the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester, whose principal interest is in people and the landscape.

Katie started by saying that throughout history it is important to anchor people and events down to places. Places have an important influence on people and vice versa. Her talk focused on two important landowners in Leicestershire during the 15^th century: Thomas Grey (1455-1501) 1st Marquis of Dorset, and William Hastings (1431- 1483) who was knighted at the battle of Towton.

A Yorkist, William Hastings became one of the key figures in England during the reigns of Edward IV and was buried at St George’s Chapel Windsor, close to the tomb of Edward despite the fall from grace which saw him executed for treason by Richard III. In 1474 he was given ‘licence to crenellate’ (fortify his property) at Ashby de la Zouch and Kirby Muxloe. At Ashby, his major achievement was the Hastings Tower. That the tower was built in a hurry can be seen from the haphazard arrangement of doors and windows. His ‘device’ is plastered all over the building, and the ‘sun in splendor’ and rose motifs around the fireplace demonstrate he was favoured by the King. At Kirby, he began a fortified redbrick house with a moat. The gatehouse and walls have his ‘device’, his initials, and other symbols picked out in blue brickwork. It was never finished because of his execution but the quality of construction can be seen.

Kirby Muxloe was built on the King’s Highway through Leicester Forest (roughly the route of the present day A47) and both the Hastings family and the Greys had land close to it. The highway was the scene of many disputes as local people would be supporters of one family or the other and there had been a long battle for supremacy in the area between the two.

Thomas Grey was the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville who later married Edward IV. He was made 1^st Marquis of Dorset in 1475 and had interests all over the country. In Leicestershire, his properties included Groby Old Hall and Bradgate Park.   At Groby, Grey built on what had been there before, very close but not on top of the old castle. Bradgate House is thought to have been started during the first Marquis’s time and shows a change in thoughts about building, for example: by locating it at the centre of the park rather than close to a highway and not at the highest point; manipulating the water supply; and the building itself was not so tall. All of this shows more evidence of building for comfort rather than purely for power. However, Bradgate still looks out over Leicester and the people of Leicester can always see Bradgate.

Further reading/ References used in the talk

Childs, J., Henry VIII’s Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (London, 2008).

Head, D. M., The Ebbs and Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk (Georgia, U.S.A., 2009).

Hutchinson, R., House of Treason: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Dynasty (London, 2009).

Skillington, S. H., ‘Star Chamber proceedings’, TLAHS, 12, no. 1 (1921), pp. 129-158.

Toulmin Smith, L. (ed.), The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the Years 1535-1543, J. Leland (London, 1907-1910), vols. 1-5.

21 November 2017

A brief AGM was followed by a lighthearted and nostalgic look at the development of the Seaside Holiday by Felicity Austin. She was dressed in a replica Victorian bathing suit made of a thick woollen material with long pantaloons. She also entertained us with popular songs with which we were able to join in, a scene from a Punch and Judy show and a rummage through a suitcase containing bathing costumes from different periods.

The Seaside Holiday was really a Victorian invention, prior to that only the wealthy went to the sea, usually for their health. Men cavorted naked in the waves because bathing costumes had not been invented. These came in during Queen Victoria's reign, as did new laws to prevent nude bathing. Felicity read us a short extract from Queen Victoria’s diary describing her first visit to a bathing machine and dip in the sea.

The ability of ordinary working people to go to the seaside came with the railway, the pleasure steamer and the Bank Holiday. Piers were built so the steamers could bring in the holiday-makers - it was only later that they became entertainment centres in their own right. Fishing villages grew to become seaside resorts e.g. Skegness and Blackpool. Railway companies made the journey much quicker and more affordable. For example, in 1841 the London to Brighton rail fare was 3/6d and took 2 hours whereas the stagecoach had previously taken 9 hours and cost £1.00.00. The Blackpool Tower was built in 1894 with bars and a menagerie but the ballroom came later. By 1898 Cromer was allowing some mixed bathing but men must wear suitable costumes covering them from neck to knee.

By the 1920s, people’s seaside destination depended on which train lines went from their local station, the rules for bathing became simpler, people had knitted costumes and seaside entertainment was growing. Billy Butlin introduced dodgems to his holiday camps, and Wall’s produced ice cream. Seaside holidays ceased during the war and Butlin’s in Skegness became a naval training camp. In the post-war period workers started getting paid for one week’s holiday each year. By the 1950s more people owned their own car and were able to go further afield and the West Country became a popular holiday destination. By the late 1950s people were gradually starting to go to the continent. In 1968 75% of holidays were still taken in England, by 1999 it was down to 44% but there has been a slight resurgence in recent years.

17 October 2017

What have medieval peasants done for us? Visitors to the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History meeting in October were given some answers to this question posed by Chris Dyer, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Leicester.

Prof Dyer suggested that when looking back at history too much importance is paid to kings, and that there should be more focus on ordinary people who helped to create the world we know. Their names are one such inheritance. For example the poll tax records for Thurcaston in 1379 show that people’s surnames were often: place names such as Normanton, Langton or Birstall; trades - Smith, Carter and Wright; or characteristics - Big, Long, and Brown. First names included William, Henry and Alice, all of which are in fashion today.

Society was divided broadly into three: those who pray – the clergy; those who fight – the Lords; and those who work – the peasants. Everyone was bound together in a community working for themselves and each other. There is an abundance of written evidence, for example, the surveys conducted by Leicester Abbey, and the archives of Merton College Oxford who owned Kibworth Harcourt that provided a very full picture of an English village (this was one of the reasons that it was chosen for Michael Wood’s Story of England TV series.) https://www.kibworthvillage.co.uk These accounts were not written by the peasants themselves, however, as they would have been unable to read and write.

Evidence of the way peasants lived remains. Excavations in Anstey found a 14^th century peasant’s house, and there are more than 70 cruck-framed buildings surviving in Leicestershire, including cottages, barns and farm buildings. Locally, examples can be seen at Town Green Rothley and in Newtown Linford.

Lords of the Manor had a say over all parts of peasants’ lives, for example they would have to get permission to leave the village. They paid rent for their land and worked on the Lord’s land a certain number of days each week. Leicestershire, however, was a less oppressed county than some. The Lord’s manor was run day to day by the tenants, with reeves and churchwardens playing an important part in collecting rents and raising money for the church.

Giving many examples from written sources, Chris Dyer showed that peasants were active participants in the life of the village, local government and industry but that they had largely developed themselves out of existence by the 19^th century unlike some European countries where the peasantry still survives.

Other Links

Browning, J and Higgins T. Excavations of a Medieval Toft and Croft at Cropston Road, Anstey, Leicestershire. Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. and Hist. Soc., 77 (2003)

19 September 2017

Jess Jenkins' aim was to tell stories of less well-known women (and men) who took part in the fight for votes for women. There were many other women and organizations fighting for the vote, not just the well-known such as the Pankhursts, Emily Davison and the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Firstly Jess reminded us that until the Reform Act of 1832 very few people had the right to vote at all. In 1866 when the first petition from women was sent to Parliament five Leicestershire women signed it, and there were1302 petitions between then and 1905, but it was not until 1928 women finally won equality. Many had been campaigning peacefully for 40 years before Christabel Pankhurst realized that only protests and arrest would raise awareness in the minds of politicians. In 1884 the new Reform Bill gave all male householders the vote, but still ignored the claims of women.

The Leicester and Leicestershire Women’s Suffrage Society was founded in 1887 following a successful meeting at which Millicent Fawcett spoke in Leicester (she would later come to the very forefront of the women’s suffrage movement). Various well-to-do local ladies were involved in the early movement including Edith Gittins, a corn-dealers daughter and Sunday school teacher and Mrs Agnes Fielding Johnson, who was manager of Wyggeston Girls School and also campaigned for a maternity hospital in the city.

As protests became more militant, women from Leicester joined protest marches and demonstrations. The Joint Women’s Franchise Demonstration (1907) included, among others, Mrs Margaret Ramsey McDonald wife of the MP. Alice Hawkins who worked in the boot and shoe industry and her husband Alfred were arrested by the police on many occasions and Alice imprisoned seven times. Among other men who supported women in their fight was Henry Nevinson a founder member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage.

Successive governments failed to take the claim for women’s suffrage seriously, but in1914 the start of the First World War put an end to the militant campaigns. In 1918 The Representation of the People Act enfranchised all men and women over the age of 30. Finally in 1928, The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, gave the vote to all women over 21 on equal terms with men.

If you would like to read more, Jess Jenkins has written a book entitled ‘The Burning Question: the struggle for women’s suffrage in Leicestershire.’ IBSN 978-0-85022-487-0. Printed by Leicestershire County Council.

19 August 2017

The final outdoor visit of the summer was to Donington Le Heath Manor House near Coalville. We were shown around by a very enthusiastic volunteer called Liz dressed in costume of a housekeeper of the Manor in the 1620s.  

The House was originally built in the 1290s but was updated by the Digby family in the 1620s and has been restored and refurnished to that period by Leicestershire County Council.

On the lower floor the servants would have worked, whilst the upper floor was used by the family and for entertainment. From the outside you can see that the roof and the mullion windows are from the 1620s whereas the older windows are much smaller and originally would have had no glazing. It was a family house until the 1930s but by the 1960s was used as a pigsty, when the farmer wanted to upgrade it the Council realized how important the building was and bought it.

The guide led us through the various rooms that are furnished as they would have been in the 1620s.

The first was the scullery with its original stone floor, 13th century doorways and lintels, and rustic furniture and kitchen equipment. She showed us marks on the doorways and the chimney-breast, designed to deter witches (during this time it was very important to try to rid the land of witches). The spoons on the table had their bowls turned downwards which was also to prevent witches from causing mischief.

In the kitchen/parlour we were shown a spice chest to which the lady of the house would have had the key and inside which rare spices such as cinnamon and sugar, and medicinal herbs were kept.

Off the parlour was the buttery (which is named after butts of wine and beer which would have been stored here). In the dairy we were shown more witch detection and protection: for detection a feather which you could wave about in the air to tickle the witch - if you heard it laugh you knew there was one; for protection a bellarmine jar, a pottery jar which could be used to counteract and expose harmful magic and spells.

Upstairs were Mr Digby’s study, the receiving lobby, the great chamber and two bedrooms all of which would've been used by the family.

The bed in the second bedroom was a splendid four-poster, the base of which may have been slept on by Richard III on his last night because it came from The Blue Boar Inn.  In the great chamber we were lucky enough to hear live lute music being played, the lutenist then explained the Renaissance lute and other related instruments and some of the music they played which made a pleasant end to a very enjoyable and informative tour.

Outside we were able to explore the gardens at our leisure, which have also been planted to recreate the same period.

For more information about the house: www.doningtonleheath.org.uk.

Tuesday 18 July

Tuesday 18^th July saw a group from the Society taking an evening walk around Loughborough with Lynne Dyer, an accredited Leicestershire guide and resident who gave us lots of interesting facts and stories about the town.

We started outside the Public Library in Granby Street looking first at the façade of the Carnegie funded library built in 1903-5. Standing outside the newer section built in 1965 is a bronze statue of a boy extracting a thorn from his foot. This was a gift from Loughborough’s twin town - Epinal - in 1957.  It disappeared one day in the 1980s and was later found in the River Ouse in Yorkshire.

Crossing Granby Street car park where the cattle market was held and the selling ring floor still remains, past Clarks dye works and down Old Bleach Yard to Wards End, we heard about the alabaster and bleach works once based in the area.

Looking up in Devonshire Square above the length of discount store and shops is a mural, painted by Wei Ong in 2014, representing the town, its people and local landmarks.

Walking down Cattle Market and into Market Square the buildings take our attention. The Odeon cinema (formerly the Empire and the Essoldo) was built in 1914, later an Art Deco façade was added, tiled in Hathernware tiles. The NatWest bank is a fine example of the Gothic style with turrets and carvings. The Town Hall, built as the Corn Exchange in 1855, has a fine clock. If you stand beneath it, you can see that it is angled in a way that makes it visible from both ends of the town. The HSBC bank has a base made from polished Mountsorrel granite. On the corner, atop Lloyds Bank, is an allegorical female figure holding a scroll, sadly her other arm which used to hold a moneybag has dropped off sometime in the last few years!  Finally in the Market Square - the Marmite moment - you either love or hate the Sockman sculpture, created by Shona Kinloch in 1998, he represents the hosiery and knitwear industries that are part of Loughborough’s history.

The take-home message from our walk must be: when walking around a town, look up and down and you’ll find many interesting reminders of the past.

Lynne writes a blog about Loughborough and her website includes some self-guided walks http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.co.uk with much more detail than is included here.