LOCAL HISTORY GROUP NEWS

November 2008

Despite the inclement weather, a large audience attended the November meeting of the Local History group to hear Pam Drinkall tell us about the history of Beaumanor Hall and the Herrick family, with the use of an excellent PowerPoint Presentation. Of very local interest as Beaumanor and the Herricks once owned most of the land and properties in Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves

Beaumanor is mentioned as an estate and hall in Woodhouse when recorded in 1277, although most records concentrate on the three Halls that have existed on the site. The first being in the early 1500's, however it is not known whether this was substantially an alteration to the same building recorded in the late 13th. century. In 1524 King Henry VIII granted Beaumanor to Lord Grey, the Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, the parents of Lady Jane Grey, a story in itself.

In 1597 the Beaumanor estate was purchased by Sir William Herrick, a wealthy London Goldsmith. It is unlikely that he actually lived there, except occasionally, possibly for hunting. Pam was able to show us portraits of several of the Grey family and the Herrick family

This Hall was demolished in 1726, to be replaced by a rather plain and unpretending building. In 1847, the 3rd. and present Hall took it's place. Designed by William Railton to a very similar design as the first Tudor building.

Using a series of old maps of the field systems, Pam showed us how the actual three Halls were sited in slightly different positions.

The Herrick family owned Beaumanor Hall to the end when the estate was sold in 1946, and the Hall purchased by Leicestershire County Council, which is still in use today for many special occasions.

Our December meeting will be on Monday, December 8th. at the Methodist Church on Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves, when Jo Carter will be treating us to a "Christmas Victorian Style". Should be fun. Telephone contact is 01509-890788.

Brian Axon.
Chairman.

October 2008

The members of the Woodhouse & Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group were treated to a talk that was a little different to the usual. We heard from Sally Henshaw all about Nell Gwynn, the favourite mistress of King Charles II. There can be very few people who have not heard about Nell. The most popular story being of her selling oranges. There was a lot more to follow.

Born in 1650, Nell spent most of her childhood in the slums of London. At the age of 13 she was engaged to sell oranges at the Kings Theatre, where she soon exploited her talents as a comic actress. She was earning £20 per year. Soon known by much of London Society, it was Samuel Pepys who called her 'pretty, witty Nell'. She soon attracted the attention of King Charles II, becoming one of his 13 mistresses. Eventually his favourite and very popular with the people.

She had two children, Charles and James by the King. James died at the age of 8 'from a sore leg'! Charles, the eldest son was made the 1st. Duke of St. Albans and Grand Falconer of England. Nell was given a pension of £4,000 per year, and a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields using the name of Mrs. Eleanor Gwynn. Later moving to 79 Pall Mall.

She outlived Charles II by two years, and died on 14th. November 1687 and was buried in St. Martin-in-the-Field, London.

Our next meeting will take place on Monday, November 10th. when the subject will be "Beaumanor & the Herricks". The speaker will be Pam Drinkall.

Beaumanor Hall is our very own local 'big house', with a history going back to the 13th. century, and has been rebuilt at least 3 times, resulting in the present Hall that we now know so well. The Hall was purchased by Sir William Herrick in 1597, the family continuing to own it until 1946, and is now in the care of Leicestershire County Council. Throughout it's existence the Estate provided many jobs for local residents, both inside the Hall, and on the surrounding lands.

Residents of Woodhouse in particular will no doubt be interested in this talk, many of whom can probably give us their own insights into Beaumanor's fascinating history. So do come and join us for the evening. We meet at the Methodist Church, Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves at 7.30pm. Wherever you live, whichever village or town, you are very welcome. Telephone contact is 01509-890788.

Brian Axon -
Chairman.

September 2008

The Local History Group’s first meeting of the new season was a fascinating talk by Dr. Wendy Freer about the famous Foxton Locks and the Inclined Plane.

Dr. Wendy Freer started her talk with a series of photographs showing the layout of Foxton’s canal, bridges, locks, inclined plane and museum and then went on to describe the construction of the canal system in the early 1800s.

The building of a link between the existing canals at Loughborough and Northampton was bedevilled with problems due to lack of money, unrest with the labour force and arguments about the route the canal should take. A number of companies attempted to construct the canal link but in the end the project was successfully completed by the Grand Union Canal Company in 1814. To surmount a ridge of high ground running diagonally across south Leicestershire, the company constructed the now famous Foxton locks which consist of 2 staircases of 5 locks separated by a short pound in the middle to allow boats going up and down to pass each other. A series of side pounds were built to conserve water.

In the early 1900s, the Foxton locks were bypassed by an inclined plane that allowed canal boats to pass up and down the ridge in purpose built watertight tanks. However, the volume of traffic was much less than anticipated and the system became uneconomic and closed after only 10 years. Although plans have been proposed to restore the inclined plane system, objections and lack of money have prevented any substantial progress.

Our next meeting will take place on Monday, October 13th. The speaker will be Sally Henshaw, who will talk about one of history’s most famous ladies, Nell Gwynn. Nell was born about 1650. In her early teens, she sold oranges at the Kings Theatre, London where she soon exploited her talents as a comic actress. ‘Pretty, witty, Nell’ then became perhaps the best known mistress of King Charles II. She had two children, although one died. King Charles made the surviving son the Duke of St. Albans. Nell survived Charles by only two years and was only in her thirties when she died. She became a legend, the only Royal mistress in English history to provoke popular affection.

To learn more, join us at the Methodist Church on Main Street in Woodhouse Eaves at 7.30pm on Monday, October 13th.

Brian Axon,
Chairman

LOCAL HISTORY GROUP NEWS -
November 2007 to May 2008

May 2008

May was the final meeting of our season, and our talk was given once again by Helen Kessling. This time it was about events that happened in England over 500 years ago leading up to the reign of King Richard III, a Monarch who still stirs up a conflict of opinions as to whether he was a misunderstood hero or a devious rogue. A tale that could take up many pages, but even then it is doubtful if we will ever know the answer to that.

Helen's story began with the reign of King Edward III from 1327 to 1377 showing how his descendants, including our own John of Gaunt, used and manipulated their positions to seek more power, and enlarge their own lands and fortunes. Intermarriage between important families was an obvious way, but it was not unknown for the rules to be bent quite considerably if it suited them.

It was the period in history known as 'The Wars of the Roses', between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. Richard was of the House of York, a brave and clever soldier, and a fair man. He had no ambitions to be King, but when Edward IV's children were declared to be illegitimate, he was offered the Crown, which he accepted. The most controversial event involving Richard was that of 'the Princes in the Tower', Edward's illegitimate children. Did he arrange to have them killed or not? It could have been the work of the Duke of Buckingham, or that of Henry Tudor's mother. It was even possible that they were still alive and living abroad in safety. Again, will we ever know?

He was eventually crowned King Richard III in 1483, only to be defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth by Henry Tudor two years later. Richard's body was taken to Leicester, and eventually buried by the Greyfriars Monks. However, where his body lies is still a mystery today. The Lancastrians and the Yorkists were united, and so ended the Wars of the Roses.

This meeting also included our A.G.M. in which it was reported that we had a successful year, and the finances were in a healthy state. The present Committee were re-elected for another year.

The History Group now breaks for what we hope will be a brilliant English Summer. Our 14th. year starts its 2008/2009 session on Monday 8th September at 07:30pm when we will hear a talk by Dr. Wendy Freer all about Foxton Locks. The meeting will be held as usual at the Methodist Church, Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves. All are welcome.

Brian Axon.
Chairman.

April 2008

April 23rd. is St. George's Day, England's National Day, when we should all be proud to celebrate our Country. So what better for the Local History Group's April meeting than a talk about St. George, together with his connections in the Middle East. Our speaker was David Nicolle, one of our committee members, and a prolific author, having written many books about the medieval Middle East.

George was born of Christian parents at Lydda in Palestine in the year AD 280. He became a General in the Roman army. Throughout his life he maintained his Christian beliefs, and because he refused to betray his principles, the Emperor Diocletian ordered his execution on the equivalent of 23rd. April AD 304. As with many heroes, stories developed about his heroic deeds, particularly how he slew the wicked dragon.

Not only did he become the patron saint of England, but also of many other countries. Because of the emerging influences of both Christianity and Islam, many of these were in the Middle East. One country, namely Georgia is actually named after St. George.

David showed us slides of his many travels in the Middle East, with
photographs of many ancient churches and buildings, some still in use, but many now just ruins. Most of these had ancient wall paintings depicting St. George, usually slaying a dragon, but in several cases, the victim was a snake or a serpent. There were also several stone carvings or monuments. All showed just how far the influence and fame of St. George had spread throughout the area. A point worth mentioning is how David managed to pronounce the very tongue-twisting names in that area. A fascinating talk.

Our final meeting of the season will take place as usual in the Methodist Church, Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves, on Monday, May 12th. at 7.30pm. We start with our A.G.M. summing up our 2007/8 accounts etc. This will be followed by a talk about King Richard III given by Helen Kessling. Members will no doubt remember that Helen gave us a first class talk last May about Lady Jane Grey. She also has some very positive views about Richard III, so the evening promises to be fascinating. Why not join us, everyone is welcome.

Brian Axon
Chairman

March 2008

The March meeting of the Local History Group started with an apology from Brian Axon, the chairman. The talk should have been about Nell Gwynn. Unfortunately, the speaker's husband had to be taken to hospital and she had to cancel her talk at the last minute. For those who were disappointed, all was not lost, as Sally Henshaw has agreed to transfer her talk to our meeting on October 13th.

Originally on that date we were to have a talk by Martin Turner, one of our own committee members. Martin saved the day by offering to transfer to the present meeting, so we were treated to something completely different:- a slide show entitled "A Walk Through Edwardian Rugby". Different it certainly was.

Martin was born in Rugby, and spent most of his life there before moving to Woodhouse Eaves to take over our village pharmacy. Whilst in Rugby, he and some friends had a large collection of postcards of the town and nearby villages, all from the Edwardian era, roughly between 1900 and 1910. As with many other enthusiasts, they decided to make these into a slide show, but not any old slide show, this was to be fully automated, with a musical background, and a commentary to describe the various scenes. There is a saying; 'it's not what you know, it's who you know'. Who did they know? Norman Painting, who plays the part of Philip Archer in Radio's long running 'The Archers'. He was approached and readily agreed to take part in their production. All was set and ready to go.

The show was ready, with what appeared to be a very complicated set of equipment, including two projectors. Martin had only to press a button, sit back, and we were treated to the opening music by Stephane Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin.

The 'walk' began in some of the local villages surrounding Rugby. Dunchurch, Churchover, Barby with some views of the local hunt meeting.
Bilton, with many lovely old cottages, Long Lawford, Brownsover, Pailton, and Newbold-on-Avon to name a few. There were also several large, grand houses in the area, Newbold Revel, Bourton Hall, Newnham Paddox, Bilton Grange designed by Pugin in 1846, and Coton House, one that was occasionally visited by King Edward VII. The River Avon and the Oxford Canal also flowed through the area.

The 'walk' then took us into Rugby itself, a town made famous for ever by it 's School, and 'Tom Brown's Schooldays'. Rugby was regarded as being divided into three parts: the lower end, being the area by the railway station, run in those days by the London and North Western Railway, and the huge works of British Thompson Houston (B.T.H. as it was known) with homes for the workers. The middle of the town, with homes and businesses for the middle classes, and the upper end surrounding the school.

Many views were shown, the railway station, B.T.H., the various streets and particularly the main shopping centre with it's many individual shops.
People quite happily wandering in the roads, as the only traffic was the occasional horse and cart or carriages. The dress styles worn in that era were fascinating, all the men wore hats.

A splendid church was that of Holy Trinity, originally designed by Sir Gilbert Scott who also designed St. Pancras Railway Station in London.

Rugby was honoured on two occasions with a Royal visit by King Edward VII,when the views showed that it seemed the whole town turned out to greet him. Looking at the various views, and particularly the lack of traffic made one think 'it must have been very pleasant living in those days' - but was it?

The 'walk' had to end, and on behalf of everyone, Mike Jenkins gave a special thank you to Martin for giving us such a fascinating glimpse of Edwardian life.

Next month's meeting, on April 14th. will be about 'St. George and the Middle East' by David Nicolle, also one of our committee members, and a prolific writer about the medieval Middle East. St. George of course is England's Patron Saint, as he is to several other countries. So whether you are an avid patriot or not, why not join us at 7.30 in the Methodist Church in Woodhouse Eaves. Everyone is welcome.

Brian Axon
Chairman.

February 2008

The February meeting of the Woodhouse & Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group took place on Monday, 11th February, when an audience of about 50 listened to Jane Berry telling us, with the help of many slides, about the history of Grace Dieu Priory, together with several ghostly sightings that have been reported.

Grace Dieu Priory
The Priory was originally founded around 1235-1241 as a house for Augustinian canonesses by Rohese (Rose) de Verdon, the daughter of Nicholas de Verdon, a wealthy landowner with large estates around the Belton area. The first prioress was Agnes de Gresley. By 1377 there were 13 nuns, with a hospital for 12 poor people attached.

Like most English nunneries, Grace Dieu was by no means wealthy. In 1535 its net income was valued at £92 per annum. As with many others, the Priory was dissolved by the Reformation in 1538.

Again, like so many others, it then fell into ruins over the next 400 years. Fortunately it has now been recognised as an important part of Leicestershire's history and, although still a ruin, has recently been made safe for visitors who can now access the site by way of the Bull's Head at Thringstone on the A512. A short, pleasant walk through the countryside brings one to the priory. Will you see any ghosts? Perhaps. Then there is always the Bull's Head just in case!

Woodhouse Eaves, then and now
At the December meeting of the Group, Brian Axon gave a talk on "Woodhouse Eaves, then and now". The talk was illustrated by a slide show which compared photographs of the village taken in days long gone bye to those taken more recently to show how the village has changed over the years.

Next Meeting
At our next meeting on 10th March 2008, Martin Turner, will give a talk on "Edwardian Rugby".

The original programme had included a talk by Sally Henshaw on “Nell Gwynn” for the March meeting but this has had to be postponed until October. We are very grateful to Martin Turner for offering to stand-in as replacement speaker at such extremely short notice.

No doubt there is a lot more about Edwardian Rugby that you can learn, so why not join us on Monday, 10th March at the Methodist Church on Main Street in Woodhouse Eaves at 7.30pm.

Brian Axon,
Chairman

November 2007

The Local History Group has started the new season in style. Despite the sad, untimely death of our Chairman, Jill Honisett, the Committee were able to organise speakers for our 2007/2008 season, all of which take place at the Methodist Church on Main Street at 7.30pm on the second Monday of each month.

Our first talk was in September, when we had Mr. Robert Gregory telling us about 'The History of Bradgate Park'. A good start as the last talk for the previous season was about 'Lady Jane Grey' who of course lived at Bradgate Park.

In October we were visited by Diana Courteney who spoke to us and showed us slides of 'Curiosities of Leicestershire and Rutland' of which there seemed to be many. One only has to look around.

Our latest on November 12th. was the history of 'Leicester's First Railway'. The Leicester and Swannington opened in 1832. Built initially for the conveyance of cheap coal, under the supervision of George Stephenson himself, the line started at West Bridge, Leicester, through the mile long Glenfield Tunnel ending at the coal fields at Swannington.

The official opening day was celebrated in style, with invitations to important people, the men in their top hats and frock coats, the ladies in their very best dresses and hats. Together with a band playing they set off seated in open coal trucks and hauled by the latest locomotive 'Comet', driven by George Stephenson, headed for the Glenfield Tunnel. Unfortunately - the diameter of the tunnel was rather tight, and half way through Comet's tall chimney hit the roof, with smoke and soot flying every where. On emerging at the end the ladies' and gentlemen’s' finery was rather different to when they entered. The train was stopped by the Rothley Brook so that they could all try and clean themselves up for the rest of the journey.

As with many railways, the line did not survive the 'Beeching Cuts' and no longer exists. The tunnel is still there although closed at both ends. It was offered to Leicester City Council several years ago for £5. The offer was declined.

Our next meeting is on December 10th. when Brian Axon will be giving a slide show of 'Woodhouse Eaves, then and now'. On January 14th. we have Mike Coleman giving a talk on 'Beaumanor Park and the 'Y' Services' with reference to the part played at Woodhouse in understanding the 'Enigma Code'

Everyone is welcome at our meetings. Telephone contact number is
01509-890788.

Brian Axon -
Chairman.