TIMELINE 1
A TIMELINE OF SIGNIFICANT
EVENTS IN LOUGHBOROUGH'S HISTORY EARLIEST TIMES:
A low gravel hill rising from the Soar flood plain probably forms the heart
of the settlement that will become LOUGHBOROUGH. This is the "TOT HILL"
("Watching Post"), a name later remembered in TOOTHILL ROAD. The
hill lies against the edge of CHARNWOOD FOREST and rises in every direction
until it reaches it's highest point at the site of the present Parish Church.
Wells have tapped into underground springs in this area since the very earliest
times. Most of this water finds its way into the WOODBROOK which itself flows
from CHARNWOOD FOREST into other streams before joining the Soar.
c 1800BC:
ARRIVAL OF THE BEAKER PEOPLE IN BRITAIN
c300 BC: THE IRON AGE:
Pottery and querns from this date will later be found in nineteenth century
brick quarries on the outskirts of the present town. More will be discovered
on the site of the BRUSH company and the GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY.
400BC:
THE CELTIC INVASIONS
AD 43-410:
ROMAN TIMES
Floor levels and pottery from this time will later be found under the site
of the Old Red Lion pub at what is now the Market Place end of Churchgate.
FIFTH-SEVENTH CENTURIES:
THE ANGLO-SAXON INVASIONS
The area around LOUGHBOROUGH becomes part of MERCIA.
c597:
St Augustine converts England to Christianity
SEVENTH CENTURY:
There is a Saxon settlement in the area that will become LOUGHBOROUGH, witnessed
by the later find of burial urns from this period.
NINTH CENTURY:
829:
EGBERT OF WESSEX BECOMES OVERLORD OF ALL ENGLAND
878:
KING ALFRED cedes the area around LOUGHBOROUGH to the DANES as part of the
DANELAW
c890:
The area which is to become LOUGHBOROUGH is under DANISH CONTROL.
TENTH CENTURY:
918:
LEICESTERSHIRE, including LOUGHBOROUGH, is recaptured by the British.
c940:
Renewed invasions by the NORWEGIANS.
ELEVENTH CENTURY:
(LOUGHBOROUGH called "LUCTEBURNE")
Pre 1066:
The Saxon Manor of LUCTEBURNE (LOUGHBOROUGH) is probably held by five Thanes
during the reign of Edward the Confessor.
1066:
WILLIAM I, "THE CONQUEROR", BECOMES THE FIRST NORMAN KING
After the NORMAN CONQUEST, the Manor is given to HUGH LUPUS (HUGH THE WOLF)
OF AVRACHES, EARL OF CHESTER and nephew of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. This is
sub-let to five tenants: ROGER; RALPH; HUGH; GODRIC and a second ROGER.
1068:
LOUGHBOROUGH and the surrounding area suffers greatly during WILLIAM I's march
across Leicestershire to put down the rebellion of this year.
1086:
The DOMESDAY BOOK survey of land and property ownership. LOUGHBOROUGH is named
LUCTEBURNE and is listed as having 40 houses and manor with a population of
176.
1087:
WILLIAM II, "RUFUS" BECOMES KING
TWELFTH CENTURY:
1100:
HENRY I BECOMES KING
1102:
RICHARD, SECOND EARL OF CHESTER becomes Lord of the Manor of LOUGHBOROUGH.
He drowns in 1110.
1133:
GARENDON ABBEY is established
1135:
STEPHEN BECOMES THE LAST NORMAN KING
1154:
HENRY II BECOMES THE FIRST ANGEVIN KING
The DESPENSER FAMILY become Lords of the manor of LOUGHBOROUGH.
1177:
The Manor of LOUGHBOROUGH is restored to HUGH CEVELIOC, FIFTH EARL OF CHESTER
after he is freed from prison for rebelling against KING HENRY II.
1189:
RICHARD I, "LIONHEART", BECOMES KING
1193:
The first Rector of LOUGHBOROUGH is appointed - Bertram, Dean of Lichfield.
It is reasonable to suppose that the original Rectory is built close to this
date.
1199:
JOHN BECOMES KING
THIRTEENTH CENTURY:
(Between now and the late 15th century, LOUGHBOROUGH is known variously as
"LUGHTEBURG", LOUGHBURG", LOUGHEBURG", LUTTEBURG and "LITTILBURG".)
1215:
KING JOHN SIGNS MAGNA CHARTA
1216:
HENRY III BECOMES THE FIRST PLANTAGENET KING
1221:
HENRY III grants a MARKET and FAIR CHARTER to HUGH LE DESPENSER
1227:
The granting of the NOVEMBER FAIR CHARTER
1228:
The first documentary reference to LOUGHBOROUGH RECTORY as: "the dwelling
house of the church, which was Robert de Cortlinstok's near the church".
1229:
HUGH DESPENSER creates the LOUGHBOROUGH DEER PARK
1242:
Hugh de Lucteburg becomes the first known Freeman of LOUGHBOROUGH.
1272:
HENRY III BECOMES KING
1295:
FIRST MODEL PARLIAMENT SET UP IN ENGLAND
c1300:
There is one brief reference to there being a hospital in LOUGHBOROUGH at
this date. This may have been the Hospital of St John, built on what is now
Fennel Street, opposite Rectory Place.
FOURTEENTH CENTURY:
1307:
EDWARD II BECOMES KING
1314:
THE SCOTS DEFEAT THE ENGLISH AT THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN
1322:
An inquisition account lists two local bridge masters - William Bosarde for
LOUGHBOROUGH and Robert Observayne for COTES.
Robert of London is murdered by robbers on his way back to Leicester from LOUGHBOROUGH market. The culprits escape justice.
The Lord of the Manor, HUGH LE DESPENSER, is robbed by a dozen men who "broke the gates of the Manors and doors and windows of the houses therein and his chests there, took away his horses, oxen, sheep, pigs and swans, and broke his parks".
1327:
EDWARD III BECOMES KING.
The Lordship of LOUGHBOROUGH is given by EDWARD III to HENRY, LORD BEAUMONT.
c1330:
HENRY, LORD BEAUMONT sells "a certain parcel of wood in Holy-well Haw"
to the Abbot of Leicester for £28.
1337:
The population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 1,408
1338:
THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR BEGINS
1346:
A writ issued by EDWARD III calls for three armed men from LOUGHBOROUGH to
be taken to France to fight in the King's French Wars.
1377:
RICHARD II BECOMES KING
1381:
THE PEASANTS REVOLT
1387:
KING RICHARD II visits LOUGHBOROUGH to hold a Marshalsea (court) for six days.
Two chaplains are accused of poaching and assault.
1389:
The heretic WILLIAM DE SWYNDERBY preaches in the Market Place, probably as
part of a penance to recant his views.
1390:
KING RICHARD II pays a second visit to the town and "passed the night
with the Lord of Beaumonde, near Lowteborowe".
1399:
HENRY IV BECOMES KING. BEGINNING OF THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
FIFTEENTH CENTURY:
1413:
HENRY V BECOMES KING
1422:
HENRY IV BECOMES KING
1453:
END OF THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR
1455:
START OF THE WARS OF THE ROSES
1461:
EDWARD IV BECOMES KING. BEGINNING OF THE HOUSE OF YORK.
1464:
KING EDWARD IV grants the Lordship of LOUGHBOROUGH to SIR WILLIAM HASTINGS,
later created BARON HASTINGS.
1470:
KING EDWARD IV passes through LOUGHBOROUGH on his way back from exile.
c1477:
LOUGHBOROUGH MANOR HOUSE built.
1483:
RICHARD III BECOMES KING
An agreement is made between "John Fysher, parson, of LOUGHBOROUGH" and "Richard Clerke of Lockyngton" for Clerke to install a chime on the steeple of the Parish Church. This uses the five bells in the steeple to play "the song of Kyrie Rex Splendens..... to go and endure by night and day at every fourth hour". ("Kyrie Rex Splendens" dates from the 10th century and is reputed to have been written by St Dunstan). 1485:
HENRY VII BECOMES THE FIRST TUDOR KING AT THE BATTLE OF BOSWORTH. END OF THE WARS OF THE ROSES.
1486:
KING HENRY VII probably stays at the LOUGHBOROUGH GREAT HOUSE, next to the
MANOR HOUSE, following his coronation. This is part of a "Royal Progress"
during which he "roode to LOUGHBOROUGH", where a chronicler noted
that "the stokks and prisonnes wer reasonabley fylled with Harlatts and
Vagabounds".
c1495:
THOMAS BURTON, remembered as the founder of the LOUGHBOROUGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL,
dies. His will leaves money for the relief of the poor, repair of the town
bridges and other local causes. However, there is no specific bequest to found
a school. It is RALPH LEMYNGTON, one of the will's trustees, who decides the
money should be used for that purpose. The first school is housed in the chancel
of the parish church itself and is described as "A fre scole in Lughborowe".
(BURTON was a wool merchant of the historic Staple of Calais. His date and
place of birth are unknown but he was probably the son of William and Joan
Burton of LOUGHBOROUGH. His wife's name was Emma and they had four sons -
Christopher, Roger, Edward and Thomas - and three daughters - Elizabeth, Alice
and "the wife of Charles Villers". His famous will was drawn up
by Richard Canill, Public Notary and witnessed by the then Rector, John Fisher).
SIXTEENTH CENTURY:
(LOUGHBOROUGH known variously as "LOUGHTEBURGH", "LOUGHTBURGH",
LUGHLEBURGH", LUGHBORROUG", "LUGHBROW" and "LUGBORROW").
1509:
HENRY VIII BECOMES KING
1515:
Plague is first mentioned in LOUGHBOROUGH in the will of Geffery Salesbury.
1521:
A bequest is made to the Parish Church "to the edification of the steeple".
1527:
The Lordship of LOUGHBOROUGH is granted to THOMAS GREY, MARQUIS OF DORSET
by KING HENRY VIII. GREY was the father of LADY JANE GREY.
1529:
HENRY VIII BECOMES HEAD OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH
1536:
GARENDON ABBEY is dissolved. It's role in caring for the sick and poor now
devolves on the Parish.
1538:
The town's first PARISH REGISTERS begin.
1540:
A school is mentioned in the parish registers for the first time in an entry
about the baptism of John Dawson, who, when he was 61 years old, had "been
schoolmaster of the Grammar School at LOUGHBOROUGH 37 years....."
GARENDON ABBEY is sold by HENRY VIII to the EARL OF RUTLAND.
1547:
EDWARD VI BECOMES KING
1551:
"The Sweating Sickness claimed many victims in LOUGHBOROUGH" . This
is the first mention of Plague in the Parish Registers. The church tower is
damaged on January 13th: "this day there was a great wind which overturned
six pinnacles at the top of the tower and broke the apex of the church and
caused much oter damage" (Translated from the Latin).
1553:
MARY I BECOMES QUEEN
1554:
The HASTINGS FAMILY take over as Lords of the Manor of LOUGHBOROUGH.
Parish registers stop during the reign of QUEEN MARY I "by reason of
the alteration of religion and often changing of priests in those times and
years until the first year of our Sovereign Lady, the Queen's Majesty Elizabeth...".
1558:
ELIZABETH I BECOMES QUEEN
There is an outbreak of Plague in the town which will last, on and off, for about 100 years. 295 people die in the space of eighteen months, compared to the normal figure of around 80. One of the victims is described as an "organ player" - possibly the church organist?
SIR EDWARD HASTINGS is created the first BARON HASTINGS OF LOUGHBOROUGH.
Parish registers resume.
1563:
Population of Loughborough estimated at 1,024
1564:
Plague forces the Leicester Assizes to meet in LOUGHBOROUGH
c1570:
LOUGHBOROUGH GREAT HOUSE, now a private house belonging to Thomas Evington,
passes to the Crown.
1577:
LOUGHBOROUGH falls victim to an outbreak of "The Hot Ague".
1578:
Repairs are made to the whipping post, stocks and pillory.
HENRY SCATTERGOOD is appointed as BELLMAN for the town, a post which ties
him very closely to the PARISH CHURCH.
1579:
A menagerie visits the town, with fatal consequences for ROGER SHEPPARD, son-in-law
of Nicholas Wollands, the town bailiff: "He was sleayne by a Lyoness
whiche was brought into the town to be seyne as would gyve money to see her.
He was sore wounded in sundry places, he was buried on August 21st 1579".
1581:
Gypsies are mentioned in the Parish Registers for the first time.
1588:
THE SPANISH ARMADA
1589:
The "GREAT HOUSE", now Crown property, is granted to Walter Copinger
and Thomas Butler by QUEEN ELIZABETH I
c1590:
The THOMAS BURTON FREE SCHOOL relocates from the Parish Church to a separate
building in the churchyard. (The site of this building is now marked by the
large tree at the east end of the Church).
Copiger and Butler sell the LOUGHBOROUGH GREAT HOUSE to SIR GEORGE HASTINGS,
FOURTH EARL OF HUNTINGDON.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY:
(For the next 200 years, LOUGHBOROUGH is known usually as "LOUGHBOROW"
but also as "LOGHTBOROHT", LOUGHBOROWE", "LOUGHBORROWE",
LOUGHBORROW", LOUGHBURROW", "LOUGHBOROUGH" and LOUGHBUROUGH").
1601:
The Poor Law Act makes it compulsory for residents to contribute to the care
of the poor by a system of rates.
1603:
JAMES I BECOMES THE FIRST STUART KING, UNITING THE CROWNS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
The first mention of BOTTLEACRE LANE is found in the BURTON CHARITY ACCOUNTS.
Population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 1,800.
1609-10:
452 LOUGHBOROUGH people die from plague: "Loughborowe verie sore visitted
with the plague, and the whole towne much impoverished". To escape infection,
many of the inhabitants built themselves temporary huts to live in about a
mile outside the town. This area is known as CABBIN LEES until at least 1770.
(It is thought this was in what is now the Bottleacre Lane area). Every entry
in the Parish registers where the victim died of plague is prefaced by the
letter "P".
1613:
Birth of the Civil War poet JOHN CLEVELAND
1614:
The Burton Charity accounts record "eleven shillings payd to William
Hollande for helpinge people and market folke over the Bridge in the great
Flood".
1616:
KING JAMES I visits LOUGHBOROUGH on August 24th.
A sixth bell is added to the peal in the Parish Church.
1622:
There is a huge fire in the town. The Parish Registers for June record that
"the fourth day of this month there was a very grievous fire in this
town, which burnt down to the ground many houses Hugh, the son of Simon Foster;
Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Greenwood, these two children were burned
with the foresaid fire".
1625:
CHARLES I BECOMES KING
First mention of the BULL'S HEAD HOTEL, listed in the Beaumanor Roll as "the
house at which the Bailiff of the hundred is to make return". This becomes
the most important coaching inn and staging post in the area and celebrity
travellers frequently stay or change horses there. However, the WINDMILL on
SPARROW HILL gains the reputation for serving the best glass of ale in town!
1630:
JOHN HOWE is born on May 17th. He is later to become Chaplain to Oliver and
then Richard Cromwell.
1631:
Plague returns to LOUGHBOROUGH. In April, the Rector and other officials send
a letter of reassurance to the Mayor of Leicester: "The shattered towne
of Loughborough is not so dangerous as may by some be considered, inasmuch
as there are but only three houses visited by the Plague: being all of them
small tenements and being in a back lane or place far remote from our market
place or any common passage, being inhabited by poor people: all which places
and persons have been and are days and nights carefully attended upon, as
well as for relief of the visited as for prevention of danger. And there are
dead of the sickness as it is supposed only eleven persons in all, men, women,
and children in the space of sevsn weeks since first the infection began".
However, their confidence is misplaced and over 130 people die during this
outbreak.
1639:
LOUGHBOROUGH becomes the appointed rendezvous for troops raised in Leicestershire
to fight in the campaign against Scotland.
1642:
THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR BEGINS
On May 24th, KING CHARLES I passes through LOUGHBOROUGH on his way to Leicester.
Church bells are rung in his honour, for which the ringers were paid ten shillings
(50p).
In July, COLONEL HENRY HASTINGS, second son of LOUGHBOROUGH's Lord of the Manor, is appointed High Sheriff of Leicester.
CHARLES I passes through the town again on August 18th but this time he only gets 5s 2d (25p) worth of bell ringing.
In August, PRINCE RUPERT OF THE RHINE passes through LOUGHBOROUGH on his way to Coventry. He receives just one bell peal worth one shilling (5p).
1643:
According to some sources, KING CHARLES I visits the town. QUEEN HENRIETTA-MARIA
leaves York and attempts to join the King and gets as far as Newark when Cromwell
moves forces into LOUGHBOROUGH to block her escape.
In a letter to a friend, Mr S Squires, Oliver Cromwell writes "I think
I have heard you say that you had a relation in a Nunnery at LOUGHBOROUGH.
Pray, if you love her, remove her speedily... as we have orders to demolish
it and I must not dispute orders....”. On the other side of this letter,
Squire writes: "Got my Cousin Mary and Miss Andrews out, and left them
at our house at Thrapstone, with my Aunt, same night; and the Troops rode
over and wrecked the Nunnery by order of Parliament". The Nunnery in
question is almost certainly that at Gracedieu.
In October, HASTINGS is created LORD LOUGHBOROUGH by KING CHARLES I.
1644:
The BATTLE OF COTES BRIDGE takes place between Royalist and Parliamentary
forces in March. Parliamentary forces chase Royalists through the town back
to their garrison at BURLEIGH HOUSE.
A preacher escapes from Royalist cavalry who try to seize him out of the parish church pulpit. This is later reported as follows: "A party of Hastings horse, coming to LOUGHBOROUGH on the last Lord's Day, according to their accustomed profanation of that day, rode into the church in sermon time, and would have taken the preacher out of the pulpit, but the women of the town, expressing more valour than their husbands dared to do at that time, redeemed him from them and disappointed their purpose".
(The preacher has usually been thought to be NICHOLAS HALL, RECTOR OF LOUGHBOROUGH but as he was a Royalist this seems rather odd unless he had recently changed his views. It could be that the preacher was in fact OLIVER BROMSKILL, a Puritan who became Rector shortly after this).
1645:
In May, CHARLES I arrives in LOUGHBOROUGH on his way to attack Leicester.
He lodges with SIR HENRY SKIPWITH at COTES. While there, he writes a letter
to the Queen. For this, SKIPWITH is pronounced "a malignant" by
Parliament and fined £1,114. Such continued financial pressure may be
one reason why he later has to sell his estates in COTES and PRESTWOLD.
The King is also thought to have reviewed his troops in the Market Place during this visit. Many of these soldiers were housed in the church.
On June 6th "there fell a strange haile-storme in that part of Leicestershire which is in and about LOUGHBOROUGH; some of the haile-stones were as large as small hen's eggs and the least as big as musket balls; it destroyed the corne, and did much hurt".
1648:
A victorious Parliament orders LORD HASTINGS to be banished but this is later
revoked. He escapes from custody and flees to the continent anyway.
1649:
EXECUTION OF CHARLES I. THE COMMONWEALTH IS ESTABLISHED
1650:
Robert Foster is paid four shillings by the Burton charity "for washing
out the Kings Arms" in the Parish Church.
About this time, LOUGHBOROUGH becomes the chief malt producing town in the Midlands.
1653:
OLIVER CROMWELL BECOMES LORD PROTECTOR One of the town's first civil marriage
ceremonies is recorded on March 7th between William Batson and Elizabeth Wheatcrafte.
(All marriages are civil ceremonies only during the Commonwealth).
1654:
LOUGHBOROUGH MANOR HOUSE is sold by FERNANDO HASTINGS, the SIXTH EARL OF HUNTINGDON
to cover family debts. It is bought jointly by Thomas Martin, John Ireland
and the Rector of the Parish Church, OLIVER BROMSKILL for £1,390
1660:
END OF THE COMMONWEALTH. CHARLES II BECOMES KING
LORD HASTINGS returns to England after the restoration of KING CHARLES II
and is made Lord Lieutenant of the County.
1662:
OLIVER BROMSKILL is evicted from the Rectory by the Act of Uniformity. NICHOLAS
HALL is restored as Rector. As a result of meetings held in the MANOR HOUSE,
BROMSKILL went on to become an early leading light of the Non-Conformist movement
in LOUGHBOROUGH.
1666:
"On Friday 5th October, a lamentable fire happened at LOUGHBOROUGH; it
destroyed nearly 200 houses and had not the wind turned, might have destroyed
the whole town; it began in a kiln.... a flake of fire was seen to fly from
the house first on fire, 200 yards, over several thatched houses and a great
rick of barley without hurting them".
The death of LORD HASTINGS.
The RED LION INN on BIGGIN STREET is listed as the house at which the Churchwardens entertain guests.
1668:
The year of two serious fires in the town. The first - "WEBSTER'S FIRE"
on October 5th - begins in a malt-kiln in Webster's yard, off Woodgate and
destroys many houses. The event is recorded in the Parish Records as follows:
"This day ye great fire began at Thomas Webster's house and bourned to
Edward Bloures in ye Pinfould gate, sad to behold".
The second fire is just days later on October 12th. This starts at the "BEAR'S HOLE", near what is now ASHBY SQUARE and "burnt furiously and did much damage; this is called Jeffries' fire, as beginning near his dwelling house... the chasms now standing in that street are plain judications of the above mentioned calamities". (THOMAS POCHIN writing in 1770)
1669:
Reverend John Bright, later chaplain to Mary, Princess of Orange and Dean
of St Asaph, becomes Rector of LOUGHBOROUGH.
1670:
Population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 1,652
1677:
A second fair is granted to the EARL OF HUNTINGDON, Lord of the Manor of LOUGHBOROUGH.
The JOHN DAWSON CHARITY is established, distributing money to the poor and financing apprenticeships for poor boys..
1680:
The JOHN FOWLER CHARITY is established, also to finance apprenticeships for
poor boys.
1683:
The will of BARTHOLOMEW HICKLING bequeaths £10 per year "for and
towards the setting up, continuing and maintenance of a free school for twenty
poor girls of the town of Loughborough".
1684:
The GARENDON estate is bought by SIR AMBROSE PHILLIPS from the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
1685:
JAMES II BECOMES KING
1688:
WILLIAM III AND MARY II BECOME JOINT MONARCHS
The COURT LEET CHAMBER is built in the MARKET PLACE.
Princess Anne - later Queen Anne - passes through the town on her way from
London to Nottingham on the abdication of James II.
1689:
Jonathan Swift reputedly has a "dalliance" with Betty Jones of LOUGHBOROUGH,
later landlady of the town's George Inn.
1690:
Foundation of the first HICKLING SCHOOL for girls in the charge of JANE, widow
of BARTHOLOMEW HICKLING.
1692:
The first SLATE headstone is erected in the Parish Churchyard
1695:
KING WILLIAM III passes through LOUGHBOROUGH and the town bellringers are
given five shillings "to drinke when the King came by".
1697:
Farmers are finally given the right to grind their corn at whichever mill
they choose.
1700:
The TATE family take over BURLEIGH HALL.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY:
(During this century, the spelling of LOUGHBOROUGH becomes established in
the foirm we know today).
1702:
ANNE BECOMES QUEEN AND THE LAST STUART MONARCH
The coronation of QUEEN ANNE is celebrated in the Market Place, the first recorded of many coronation festivities.
1705:
Population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 2,120
1707:
THE ACT OF UNION BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
1708:
LOUGHBOROUGH MANOR HOUSE is sold to Robert Ferryman, whose family will own
in for over 100 years.
1713:
The will of JOHN STORER leaves the income from his property "in the Biggin...and...Brigg
End Street...to buy corn every fortnight and distribute to the poor and to
provide plain coats for six or eight poor children". His name is remembered
in JOHN STORER HOUSE on WARDS END. (The STORER CHARITY later joined with 20
other groups to form LOUGHBOROUGH WELFARE TRUSTS).
1714:
GEORGE I BECOMES KING. BEGINNING OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER
1718:
A gallery is build in the west end of the parish church. The four front pews
are purchased by wealthy families at £5 each as freeholds to their houses.
1721:
SIR ROBERT WALPOLE BECOMES FIRST BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
1722:
An unnamed traveller calls LOUGHBOROUGH "a town of merchants, spacious
and beautiful".
1725:
The LOUGHBOROUGH-MARKET HARBOROUGH ROAD (later the A6) is turnpiked. Birth
of ROBERT BAKEWELL of DISHLEY.
1727:
GEORGE II BECOMES KING
1734:
The town is shaken by an earthquake - "About four of the clock in the
morning on the 28th of October, 1734, at LOUGHBOROUGH and the neighbouring
villages was felt a severe shock of an earthquake, insomuch that several people
got out of their beds and ran into the fields".
1735:
The Market Place is badly flooded on the last day of July. Town Clerk Joseph
Webster describes it as "such an inundation of water in this town that
never was heard of by the ancients occasioned a very great tempest of thunder,
lightening and rain which continued half an hour after nine to half an hour
after three in the afternoon to the great astonishment of the parishioners
and country both, it being on the market day Thursday..... The brooks from
the forest came down with such violence that in the space of an hour ran through
all the houses on the left hand of the Malt Mill Lane over the door thresholds
and through the yards down to the Shambles, and the Fish Pool the breadth
of the street against the Shambles; and both streams meeting at the end of
the Shambles ran over the highest places on the Corn Wall and through all
the houses gates and low rooms on the west side of the Market Place insomuch
that the waters stood up to their bed sides in their parlours and floated
their vessels in their cellars, and would take an horse up to the belly; and
at the bottom of Swan Street up to the saddle, and ran over the walls of the
Bridge going into the Rushes, and burst down a garden wall on the right hand
of the bridge and so got more liberty and then speedily abated to the astonishment
of all the spectators..."
1742:
The new BUTTER AND HEN CROSS is built in the MARKET PLACE, replacing the old
MARKET CROSS. A description written in 1770 says: "on the summit hereof
is fixed a spindle in a ball, bearing the four cardinal points of the compass...
with a proper vane, showing the sitting of the wind, topped with an Earl's
coronet, all of wrought iron manufacture".
1745:
The attempted invasion by Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, reaches
Derby. 10,000 troops are sent to LOUGHBOROUGH to oppose his army and camp
to the north of the town for a week. Some townspeople are sympathetic to the
Stuart cause and it a messenger is sent to give him a purse full of gold.
On finding Stuart has already started his retreat, the messenger keeps the
gold for himself, threatening to expose the contributors if they demand it
back!
1747:
The seating in the parish church is renewed at a cost of £380 and a
gallery erected at the west end.
1748:
The first LOUGHBOROUGH workhouse is built on SPARROW HILL "for the better
providing for the poor of LOUGHBOROUGH". This is a three storey building
and continued to operate for almost 100 years. The cost is provided by the
Burton Charity.
The Rector of LOUGHBOROUGH, Reverend Thomas Alleyne, pays £1,000 of his own money to relay the chancel floor with gravestones and SWITHLAND SLATE.
1753:
The bells of the PARISH CHURCH are re-cast by Eayres of Kettering. The cost
of over £111 is raised by public subscription.
HUGO MEYNELL founds the QUORN HUNT.
1754:
THE OLD BULL'S HEAD is largely rebuilt.
1756:
The last horse race on LOUGHBOROUGH MEADOW takes place on September 20th,
just before the area is enclosed.
1760:
GEORGE III BECOMES KING.
The start of the first stagecoach route to go from London to Nottingham, via LOUGHBOROUGH, in two days "if God permits"
1761:
At noon on March 5th, a large fire begins in the Rushes. A high wind whips
up the fire until it becomes a threat to the rest of the town. Thirteen houses
burn down in less than an hour. The population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at
1,852
1762:
The ENCLOSURE ACT for LOUGHBOROUGH is passed, ending the old open field system
of agriculture and causing severe hardship for those dependent on common land
grazing. The names of the old open fields are PARKFIELD; MIDDLEFIELD; WINDMILL
FIELD; TUTHILL FIELD; BURLEIGH FIELD; OVER MEADOW and MOOR PASTURE (also called
COW PASTURE).
1764:
Lightning strikes several houses during an exceptionally violent thunderstorm.
1770:
Woolcombing and hand frame knitting become LOUGHBOROUGH's chief industries.
JOHN WESLEY preaches in the MARKET PLACE. In his diary for July 31st, he records: "At nine I preached in the Market Place at LOUGHBOROUGH to almost as large a congregation as at Nottingham and equally attentive".
The "constables of the Parish" list 43 licensed inns and beer houses in LOUGHBOROUGH.
A BAPTIST CHAPEL is built in BAXTER GATE.
1772:
JOHN WESLEY returns to preach in the town, this time at a new chapel in Rectory
Place. His diary for March 19th records that "in the evening I preached
to a lovely congregation in the new house at LOUGHBOROUGH". He preached
in the town again in 1779, 1780 and 1783.
1776:
DR SAMUEL JOHNSON stays the night at the BULL'S HEAD INN on his journey from
Lichfield to Leicester. His conversation on the following day is recorded
in Chapter 29 of Boswell's "LIfe of Johnson".
1779:
The LOUGHBOROUGH NAVIGATION CANAL is completed in the RUSHES.
1780:
Opening of the LOUGHBOROUGH NAVIGATION canal. GEORGE DAVYS is born, later
to become tutor to the young PRINCESS VICTORIA and BISHOP OF PETERBOROUGH.
ALEXANDER WEDDERBURN (NOT Lord of the Manor) is created LORD LOUGHBOROUGH by KING GEORGE III
1781:
Population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 2,955
1783:
LOSS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES
The number of Inns and alehouses in the town rises to 50.
A severe frost begins on Christmas Day which "continued upwards of eight weeks, during which time many poor people had no work and the inhabitants subscribed the sum of £123 4s which was laid out in bread and coals and given weekly to such poor as did not receive weekly from the Overseers. 380 families partook of the above benefit".
The "Association for the Prosecution of Felons" is formed, meeting at the Anchor Inn.
1786:
"This year, Sunday Schools were first Instituted in this town".
The dedication of the Parish Church is still given as St Peter and St Paul.
1789:
The first ever County Cricket match between Leicester and Nottingham is played
in LOUGHBOROUGH.
1790:
MIDDLETON'S BANK is established on the DERBY ROAD WHARF, servicing the needs
of the new canal. The firm later transfers to the MARKET PLACE as the LOUGHBOROUGH
BANK.
A contemporary book states that LOUGHBOROUGH has "a manufactory of tobacco pipes not inferior to any that are made either in this or any adjoining county". This industry continues until the mid 19th century.
1791:
Population of LOUGHBOROUGH estimated at 4,332
1792:
WOODGATE BAPTIST CHURCH opens.
An organ is installed in the Parish Church at a cost of £450, though there are references to an organ here as far back as 1578.
1793:
The last recorded outbreak of Smallpox hits LOUGHBOROUGH, claiming several
lives.
1794:
Opening of the LEICESTER NAVIGATION CANAL, including the FOREST LINE, the
RIVER LINE and the tramway from NANPANTAN to LOUGHBOROUGH WHARF.
CARTWRIGHT AND WARNER's Hosiery Mill opens on NOTTINGHAM ROAD.
1795:
Another earthquake, this time on November 25th - "At about half an hour
after eleven o'clock at night here the earth quaked so as to awake several
people and caused some house bells to ring".
Death of ROBERT BAKEWELL of DISHLEY after "a tedious illness".
1797:
COTES BRIDGE is rebuilt, reducing the original thirteen arches to eight.
1799:
BLACKBROOK RESERVOIR burst it's dam, flooding miles of land and signalling
the death of the FOREST LINE CANAL.
Extensive renovations begin at the Rectory, supervised by local architect
CHRISTOPHER STAVELEY and costing £1,350.