Local History

Would you like to get involved in your village history by providing some content for the website? If you have any information or old photographs about the history of the village that you would like to add to these pages then please contact us on admin@leicestershirevillages.com and we’ll help you get started.

Early History of Rotherby

Settlement in the area of east Leicestershire was mostly kept to the high ground, evidenced by the Iron Age fort at Burrough Hill and the flint implements found at Tilton-on-the Hill. Both of these places are on particularly high ground which was easily defended and farmed. One can almost certainly say that Rotherby is not pre-Roman, although the Fosse Road is only about four miles to the west of the village.
The nearby village of Thrussington is probably the earliest in the area. As the ending ‘ton’ suggests the village is of Anglo-Saxon origin, so possibly the Saxons may have used the land around Rotherby for farming and hunting.
The River Wreake, which runs through the valley, gets its name from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Wrecan’ which means ‘revenge’. It is thought by historians that the valley was probably the site of at least one, if not more, Saxon/Viking confrontations. The Vikings would have over-run any Saxon settlement and they would then have erected a fortified village. The area around Rotherby was heavily settled by the Vikings. The place name ending ‘by’ is Danish for town and in the local area the villages of Hoby, Brooksby, Rearsby, Frisby and Gaddesby all have this Viking derivation.
The name Rotherby has over the years had many different variations of spelling and meaning. The first mention of Rotherby is found in the Domesday Book in 1086 and appeared as ‘Redebi’. Later variations included ‘Rederbia’ and ‘Reytherby’. Some historians believe the origin of the name is Old Norman, from a personal name Rethaer – meaning ‘of the read hair’. The neighbouring village of Rearsby came from the same derivation. In a history of Rotherby Church, written in 1882 by the Reverend J. A. Donovan, the author stated that the name came from ‘Riderbye’ meaning ‘town of the Rider’, the old name for the Wreake. The most common derivation of Rotherby is from the Danish word ‘rude’ or ‘rede’ meaning Cross. The village was probably known as ‘the town of the Cross’. The word cross suggests an early village church. This church was either replaced or rebuilt by Roger de Brett at around 1200 A.D. If there was an earlier church it would almost certainly have been a timber building so no remains would be left.
The entry for ‘Redebi’ in the Domesday Book stated that the village contained three plough lands, three ox gangs, and quite a few carucates. The carucate being a measurement of land which a team of oxen can plough in a season. In fact the Earl of Chester was said to have held six carucates, and Earl Hugh Lupus was said to have held a number of carucates and two acres of meadow. The village at this time might even have been fortified in order to keep out invaders. This though, is only speculation, and it seems more probable that only the manor house was fortified. The peasants’ houses would have been scattered around the manor and village life would have revolved around the manor house.
During the period between 1300 and 1600 there is still very little factual evidence of Rotherby. This is mainly because the majority of people could not read or write and very few, if any, records were kept. In fact, the first actual census of Rotherby was not until 1801. The population in the 14th and 15th centuries would probably have been around the same as that of today. The houses would probably have been made of wood. There would have been no shortage of food in the village with the fertile soil round about. During this period the village peasants would farm for the Lord of the Manor. As well as produce of the land, fish from the nearby river would have been a very important supplement to the diet. On all sides of the village, there were many fresh water streams so drinking water would have been no problem. During this time the Church would have played a great part in the villagers’ life, and would have been the social centre of the village.
After the Norman Conquest the land was taken over by Lords who were granted areas of ground to look after and farm. In Rotherby it is believed that the land was originally granted to the de Brett family by William the Conqueror. This family would have built a Manor House and kept the land for their own living, renting the arable land to peasants in the village who farmed their portions. These peasants worked on their own land and spent the remainder of their time working on the Manor for the Lord. The land which the peasants farmed was usually divided into three large fields. In Rotherby these open fields were known as High Field, Middle Field and Nether Field. Two of the fields would probably have grown Barley, Wheat or Oats. The third field would have been left fallow. The fields would be divided into strips which would be shared between the peasants.
The drainage method of Ridge and Furrow was popular at this time and in Rotherby there is still one field in particular, a large field between Rotherby and Brooksby known as the Park Close, where signs of ridge and furrow are still visible. The peasants grazed their animals in the woods or on common land, where the soil was too poor to farm.
When the Black Death came in 1348 many peasants died and their villages became deserted. The neighbouring village of Brooksby suffered this fate. The peasants that survived the plague were subject to ‘enclosure’ by the lord of the manor, who fenced off the large fields into smaller units which the peasant freemen could not afford to farm. Many had to sell their land to the Lord of the Manor. Later, in the eighteenth century, peasants who lost their livelihood moved into the towns where industry was growing. Farmers turned away from arable farming, especially in times when the textile industry was growing and there was a keen demand for wool. Fewer workers were needed and this caused more rural depopulation, which led to even more villages becoming deserted.

The Brett Family

The ancient Anglo-Norman de Brett family flourished in Rotherby and in 1394 Roger de Brett granted a considerable part of Rotherby to the Priors of Chaucombe in Northamptonshire. In these times, Rotherby, thanks to the Bretts, must have been quite a religious community. The Church, for a couple of hundred years, was linked with the Priory and Convent at Launde in the east of the County. In fact, in 1535 a pension of 6s 8d was paid to Launde Abbey. The Bretts had a long ownership of the estate but they tenanted the Manor House to Sir Alexander Cave in the early 17th century. Finally the Bretts sold the Manor to Sir Thomas Hartopp in 1654 and they then disappear from the village records.

George Villiers

Parish Registers date back from 1561 and an entry for a Baptism in the following year is probably the most famous entry of all time – that of George Villiers, later the father of the Duke of Buckingham and favourite of James I and Charles I. The Villiers family lived in Brooksby Hall for many centuries.

The Rawsthorne Family

During the Cromwellian period the whole country was faced with Civil War and Rotherby was no exception. In 1642 Thomas Rawson, a royalist, was granted the rectorship of Hoby. In the following year the living was sequestrated by Parliament, he was forced to leave and a parliamentarian named Smith was appointed. Mrs. Rawson and her family showed a spirit of independence by refusing Smith’s possession of the parsonage so Mr. Smith, aided by a ‘Party of Horse’ from Leicester, proceeded to turn the Rawson family out of their house and into the churchyard. It is presumed that the ‘party of Horse’ were Roundheads as they apparently used very forceful methods. Mrs. Rawson escaped with her children to Hoby church and they lived in the porch. Mr. Needham the curate of Rotherby then gave the family the shelter of his parsonage until Mrs. Rawson and her family were turned out a second time. They camped out in Rotherby churchyard until they were admitted within the doors and lived in the belfry where blankets were used to separate them from the congregation. It is thought that they existed for a considerable time like this until the family were then apprenticed to lace makers. Mrs. Rawson later died but, after the troubles, her husband returned to Hoby in 1860.

The Seaman Family

The Reverend Lawrence Seaman, founder of the family and a native of Leicester, owned a considerable amount of land in Rotherby in the early 18th century. By his eloquence he attracted the notice of Archbishop Laude, who appointed him to the living of All Hallowes in London in 1642. He took the side of Parliament in the Civil War and lost his living but the family became considerably powerful and wealthy and continued to be involved with Rotherby for about two hundred years and the family probably owned the majority of the acreage in Rotherby. The building of the village school was financed by Mr. W. C. P. Seaman in 1848. The Seamans still owned the Manor in 1800, but they spent much of their time in London. A collection was raised in 1882 for the restoration of the village church and Mrs. Pierce Seaman generously gave £100, though it was unlikely that she was resident in the village at the time. In the church there are several tablets which testify to the virtues of this once great family.

Rotherby Manor House

The Manor House stood on the same site as that built by the de Bretts in the 12th century and was by far the oldest building in the village apart from the church. The Bretts had a long ownership of the estate but they tenanted the Manor House to Sir Alexander Cave in the early 17th century. Finally the Bretts sold the Manor to Sir Thomas Hartopp in 1654.
By 1870 the Manor House was in rather a dilapidated state and it was at this time that the Johnson family rebuilt the house in brick and stone with a slate roof. The estate was of considerable extent, and included a large house, stables, garages, lawns, large gardens and a tennis court. The building, entered through a glazed porch, consisted of a drawing room, dining room, domestics’ rooms, morning room, kitchen, scullery and a number of bedrooms. The grounds consisted of nicely shaded and well matured trees and included tennis courts and other lawns. A section of the garden was segregated for fruit trees. The stabling was situated in front of the house, near the village street and consisted of twelve loose boxes, three stalls and a large garage. Also in the grounds were a cowshed, two pigsties, store shed, fodder lofts and groom’s quarters.
The Manor house, like many large old residences throughout the country, became too expensive to maintain and was demolished in the 1920s. Recent building works taking place on the site unearthed ancient cellars but unfortunately they had to be filled in.

Rotherby Hall

The eighteenth century brick house was built by the Seaman family, probably in the 1720s, on the north eastern side of the village. The estate was purchased from the Hartopp family who owned a great percentage of Rotherby around 1700. The Seaman family still owned the Hall in 1870s though for many years the building had been tenanted to Mr. Joseph Hames, whose family lived here until the turn of the nineteen hundreds. A large ball-room was a prominent feature in which many cheerful dances were held. The Hall had grounds consisting of about four acres. The house had a driveway and a large rose bed in front of it. Still standing to this day are the stables and a couple of houses, which are now empty, but were formerly used for workers at the Hall. A fish pond stood in front of the hall but this has now become rather overgrown. Across the road in the opposite field was the village cricket ground, which dated back to the mid eighteenth century. The whole area in front of the Hall was beautifully Iandscaped. The Hall entertained many distinguished guests and even after 1908 under the ownership of Captain St Clair Allfrey, many parties were still held, either inside or in the grounds in the form of garden parties or band concerts. From the beginning of World War 1 the Hall stood empty and in 1922 the estate was purchased by the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The Hall was later demolished in 1928, and the Leicester Corporation took over the property and turned the site into a garden nursery. Over the years these nurseries have provided employment for the villagers and were open to the general public at certain times of the year. The nursery was demolished in the late 20th century to be replaced by a small estate of expensive houses.