PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

CHARNWOOD BOROUGH - AN OVERVIEW (2)

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY:
The 18th century saw a radical change to the pattern of the countryside with the coming of large scale enclosures. Prior to this, agriculture had mostly been carried out on the "open field system" with each tenant working several scattered strips of land. Enclosure replaced these with compacted units of land surrounded by hedging. Some enclosing of land had been happening through the 15th and 16th centuries, usually to improve the rearing of sheep but most of the land in CHARNWOOD was still farmed under the open field system.

The aim of enclosure was to improve arable farming and had to be petitioned for by the landowners of a parish, as a separate Act of Parliament had to be passed for each one. With landowners often also being Members of Parliament, permission was rarely denied. Once an Act was passed, Commissioners were appointed to redistribute the common fields and waste land to give each landowner a unified acreage. The effect on the landscape was enormous and gave rise to the pattern of fields, roads and hedgerows we have today. Firstly, fields were now laid out in a uniform pattern and surrounded by a hedge, usually of Hawthorn. Second, roads were straightened as far as possible and were given wide verges on each side. The next change was that farmhouses were now located on their own land and away from the village centre. Lastly and perhaps most important, areas of woodland were planted for game and fox cover and common land was no longer freely available to all.

COTES, PRESTWOLD, BURTON ON THE WOLDS, COSSINGTON, WANLIP and BARKBY were all enclosed before 1700. Other early enclosures were on the edge of the FOREST: the western parts of WOODHOUSE and ULVERSCROFT and the BRADGATE PARK section of NEWTOWN LINFORD. All the rest of the Borough, except the remainder of WOODHOUSE, NEWTOWN LINFORD and ULVERSCROFT, were enclosed between 1750 and 1799.

In terms of national events, the 18th century was rather quiet in CHARNWOOD - but only just! In 1745, 10.000 troops camped outside LOUGHBOROUGH on their way to meet the army of BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE at Derby but there was no recorded trouble with the townspeople.

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a patchy but steady shift of power away from the old aristocratic landowners to smaller, middle class farmers. Several Lordships lapsed or were sold on to absentee "Lords", often institutions like Universities and churches rather than individuals.

The eighteenth century also saw knitting and hosiery become one of CHARNWOOD's foremost indutries. The opening of the LOUGHBOROUGH and LEICESTER NAVIGATION and the LEICESTER TO MELTON canals brought prosperity to towns and villages all along their routes. The CHARNWOOD FOREST line, on the other hand, was never very successful. The end of the century coincided with it's final demise when BLACKBROOK RESERVOIR burst, flooding land for miles around.

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
Up to the 18th century, the agriculturally wealthy east of the Borough had by far the larger population. But following enclosure there began a steady migration to the towns and larger villages, attracted by the employment prospects in the new industries. Almost half of the population growth in 19th century CHARNWOOD was in LOUGHBOROUGH itself. The town's population according to the first census in 1801 was almost double that of SHEPSHED (4,600 compared with 2,600) and even QUORN now had well over 1,000 residents.

The period from 1800 onwards was one of increasingly rapid industrial expansion all over CHARNWOOD but especially in the towns. New inventions in the knitting industry led to increased profits but also to job losses and protests. Chief among these was the LUDDITE RAID on Heathcote and Boden's LOUGHBOROUGH factory in 1817. It seems ironic that one of the best known characters from CHARNWOOD - ANSTEY's "NEDD LUDD", supposed founder of the LUDDITES - probably never actually existed! One connection that definitely did was anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce. He lived for some years at WANLIP HALL and it was during a stay at ROTHLEY TEMPLE that Wilberforce's first abolition bill was drawn up. Another poignant link with this horrendous trade in CHARNWOOD is the grave of a young Abyssinian named RASSALAS MORJAN in WANLIP churchyard, who died "AT WANLIP HALL, AUGUST 25TH, 1839, IN THE 19TH YEAR OF HIS AGE, RESCUED FROM A STATE OF SLAVERY".

The nineteenth century saw an marked increase in "Lords of the Manor" selling off their titles and estates, often to their own tenants. One of the most notable of these happened in LOUGHBOROUGH with Lord Moira's sale when 252 properties were auctioned off. The title of Lord of the Manor of LOUGHBOROUGH itself was finally bought for £52 some years later by the Local Board, on behalf of the people of the town .

By 1851, the hosiery and shoe industries had brought about an increasingly urbanised population. Within CHARNWOOD, this is seen not only in LOUGHBOROUGH and SHEPSHED but also in the "spread" of LEICESTER into BIRSTALL, ANSTEY, ROTHLEY and other villages close to the county town. Small rural parishes tended to decline or, at best, stay static in terms of population. For example, the population of WALTON ON THE WOLDS in the 19th century - and even the 20th - was about 250, not so very different from the number living there in the 17th century.

The process of enclosure in CHARNWOOD was completed in 1829 with the CHARNWOOD FOREST ENCLOSURE AWARD. Although sounding very grand, it dealt only with the small parts of WOODHOUSE, NEWTOWN LINFORD and ULVERSCROFT which had not already been enclosed.

CHARNWOOD was still a royal destination in the 19th century. In July 1842, QUEEN ADELAIDE, widow of KING WILLIAM IV headed for BRADGATE for a private picnic.

One of the most fundamental changes in this period was in rail transport. The opening of the MIDLAND LINE in 1840, the SYSTON TO PETERBOROUGH railway in 1846 and the GREAT CENTRAL in 1899 brought huge changes to the towns and villages with stations along the lines. The railway effectively ended the isolation of villages, opening up easy travel to the towns for work and pleasure. This was the birth of the commuter. By the end of the century, however, the railways were beginning to face stiff competition from road transport.

Administration and local government in the mid nineteenth century was not really very different from how it had been centuries before. The real changes only came as a result of industrialisation and urbanisation which brought with it problems of housing, public health, water supply and poor relief. The foundations of the principles of modern local government were laid by the 1834 POOR LAW ACT. This transfered a great deal of power from Parishes to the newly formed Union, under the control of central government. For the first time, a "rate" was raised to pay for services and contested local elections were held along political lines.

The later part of the century saw the beginning of recognisable, elected councils, led by the creation of LOUGHBOROUGH CORPORATION in 1888. Following the Local Government Act of 1894, village Boards became Urban or Rural District Councils with various mergings and assimilations taking place well into the 20th century. Parish councils were established in the same period.

TWENTIETH CENTURY:
Industry and commerce in CHARNWOOD have changed beyond all recognition since 1900. Although some of the old established industries continued, many were on a much smaller scale and they were joined by a host of new ventures.

The First World War affected thousands of people in CHARNWOOD, both at the front and at home. The front line was brought uncomfortably close to home when six people were killed by Zeppelin bombs in LOUGHBOROUGH.

A new wave of building began with the return of peace, one of the most important examples of which was the new SHELTHORPE VILLAGE in LOUGHBOROUGH. Housing developments began on Cedar Road, Leicester Road and the nearby streets. But the big advance came in 1927 when work began on the Council Housing estate that was to transform the area. Work was continuous, reaching as far as GRIGGS ROAD by the outbreak of war in 1939.

In the early 20th century, BRADGATE was the planned destination of an electric tramway - THE LEICESTER, ANSTEY, GROBY AND NEWTOWN LINFORD LIGHT RAILWAY - but the limited money making potential of the scheme in the face of road competition meant it never got further than the planning stage.

One of the events which was to have a lasting effect on the people of CHARNWOOD came in the late 1920s when CHARLES BENNION presented to BRADGATE PARK to the City and County of Leicester "that for all time it might be preserved for the quiet enjoyment of the people of Leicestershire". Likewise, 213 acres around BEACON HILL were bought by LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL from the BEAUMANOR estate in 1946 to be run as a recreational open space.

CHARNWOOD played a vital role, if unknown at the time, in the Allies victory in WORLD WAR II when "STATION Y" at BEAUMANOR helped BLETCHLEY PARK to break the German ENIGMA code. The Second World War dominated life in CHARNWOOD throughout the early 1940s, although there was no actual fighting here. As in 1916, however, an incident in the air brought the conflict frighteningly close when a German bomber narrowly avoided LOUGHBOROUGH to crash at BURTON ON THE WOLDS. WYMESWOLD AIRFIELD also played an important part in the war, as did temporary airfields at REARSBY and RATCLIFFE COLLEGE.

The increased affluence and social changes of the 50s and 60s affected CHARNWOOD as much as anywhere else in the country. Everything was changing, from the advent of television and mass communications to Comprehensive education and the birth of the "teenager". Increased demand for housing led to a great deal more building in CHARNWOOD. One of the most significant was the building of an entire new village - EAST GOSCOTE.

The cultural map of the area was also being redrawn. Charnwood has long been a host to settlers from around the world and other parts of the UK but in the post war period a number of distinguishable communities of people have come to settle in the borough. These include significant European communities from Poland and Italy as well as more diversified European economic settlement since the UK joined the European Union. The borough has also seen significant settlement of peoples with ancestral roots in South Asia. The largest group has it´s roots in the Indian state of Gujarat but mainly arrived here from Africa in the 1970´s. A second community came as economic migrants from Bangladesh and this largely Muslim community has predominatly settled in the east of Loughborough around the old industrial heartland of the town. Smaller groups have also arrived from the Punjab, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Through it´s university, industry, culture and commerce Charnwood attracts people from all over the world and people of nearly all nationaliities can be found somewhere in the borough!

Charnwood´s diversity is also changing through more localised migration as, mainly, Gujarati families move across the city/county boundary for a new life in the suburbs - in this case Charnwood´s southern urban fringe communities of Thurmaston, Birstall and the small town of Syston.

CHARNWOOD BOROUGH finally became a reality in 1974 under the LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT of1972.

The overtaking of rail by road transport led to a massive reduction in rail services. The CHARNWOOD FOREST LINE closed down completely and the Beeching station closures of the 1960s affected almost every corner of CHARNWOOD. Thousands more cars and lorries on ancient roads through busy villages became a huge and dangerous problem, eased somewhat by the opening of the QUORN-MOUNTSORREL BYPASS in 1991. The monopoly of the car was only challenged in 1994 with the opening of the IVANHOE LINE, reopening several village stations on the slow line of the existing MIDLAND RAILWAY .

In more recent years the industrial landscape of Charnwood has shifted to a more high tech future with the gradual demise of it´s old engineering and hosiery base and the creation of more and more new technology centres for innovation and production. The area has also become known worldwide for it´s development of many Olympic sporting stars.

Charnwood also, of course, plays host to Charnwood Arts - in itself a remarkable product of the ingenuity, creativity and collective hard work of thousands of local people over it´s three decades of existence. In 2004 Charnwood Arts was recognised as a national flagship organisation in the East Midlands region for it´s work in participatory arts and media. So, a big thank you from all of us entrusted with the current upkeep for all the amazing efforts over the years.