Lynne About Loughborough

Friday, 3 April 2026

So Who Was Tom Anderson Collins?

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of Tom Anderson Collins

Thomas Anderson Collins was born in 1902 in Hale, Cheshire, his birth being registered in the fourth quarter of the year, in Bucklow, Cheshire. He was the only child of Thomas and Agnes, and he spent about the first twenty years of his life living with them in Hale, Cheshire. He attended what was then known as the Victoria University in Manchester, and was an architect pupil to the firm of Messrs. Brocklehurst and Hornabrook in Manchester.

Tom worked his way up the architectural career ladder, and gained an associateship of RIBA, and immediately before coming to Leicestershire, he was the deputy county architect of Cumbria, a post which he left in order to take up the position of county architect for Leicestershire, in September 1948.

Tom Anderson Collins (1902-1974)

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Collins, during his time as County Architect for Leicestershire

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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*Thorpe Acre Junior School (opened 1957)

*Brockington Building (1953)

*Martin Hall, university campus (1957)

*Garendon School (1954)

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Basic facts

Architect – Thomas Anderson Collins

Parents: Thomas Collins, a textile engineer, and Agnes

Date and place of Birth: 1873, Hale, Cheshire

Spouse: Lilly

Children: Not known

Death: 1974, Leicester

Places lived: 1902-c.1926 – Bancroft Road, Hale; c.1929 - ? Moss Lane, Timperley; ?-1948 – Scobey, Carlisle; ?-1974 – Marydene Drive, Leicester

Place of work/Offices: Not known, but assumed to be offices of Leicestershire County Council, which were at 1 Grey Friars, Leicester (very close to the burial place of King Richard III) until 1967, when the offices moved to the new County Hall at Glenfield

Education: Victoria University, Manchester

Qualifications:

? pre-1948 – Associate of RIBA

? post-1948 – Fellow of RIBA

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I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Tom Anderson Collins. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-tom-anderson-collins.html [Accessed 3 April 2026]

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Lynne

Thursday, 2 April 2026

So Who Were George Harry Barrowcliff and Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of George Harry Barrowcliff (scroll down for Arnold Montague Barrowcliff)

George Harry Barrowcliff was born on 29 May 1864, son of Marmaduke, born 1826 in Dishley, and Ann, born 1826 in Swithland. Marmaduke and Ann already had four children – Mary, Herbert, John Edward, and Frank, before George was baptised on 3 July at Emmanuel church, and Frederick was born a year later. George’s paternal grandfather, John, was a farmer of substantial acreage at Loughborough Parks, but had died in 1856.

In 1871, the family were living on Albert Street where Marmaduke had risen from being a merino hosiery warehouseman, to a manufacturer. By 1881 they had moved to a property at Hathern, known as The Elms, although at the time, George and younger brother Frederick were boarding at the Loughborough Grammar School. Studies completed, between 1881 and 1885, George was articled to George Hodson and remained with him as an assistant and resident engineer after qualifying, until August 1888, when he opened his own practice as a civil engineer, architect, and surveyor. During his time with Hodson, George became familiar, amongst other things, with the Blackbrook water scheme, and on 3 December 1889 he was admitted as a student member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, at which time he was living on Mill Street (now Market Street) Loughborough. He successfully gained Associate Membership of the Institution on 27 January 1890, having proved his capabilities by being involved with several road improvement schemes, the water supply to the Loughborough Cemetery Lodge, and the drainage, fencing, and laying out of 5.5 acres of land for the Local Burial Board. It was around this time that he joined forces with Edward Thomas Allcock, a student architect.

In the summer of 1890, George married Jessie Dexter, who had been born on 19 March 1863 at Swithland, although the marriage took place at Edmonton in Middlesex. The couple made their home at no.3 Cumberland Road Loughborough, and in 1891 George was the Honorary Secretary of the managing committee for the dinner to aged and deserving poor. Later that same year, the couple welcomed Arnold Montague to the family, and he was baptised at Emmanuel church on 14 October 1891. During the years that followed, George, had an assistant William Edwin Johnson, and an apprentice, one Thomas Henry Dobson, who stayed with him for a period of three years, before becoming assistant to Willie Thomas Hampton for a year. By 1901 George, Jessie, and Arnold had moved to a property on Ashby Road, where they had a live-in servant, Elizabeth Carter, who stayed with the family when they moved to a 10-roomed house on Burton Walks, and was joined by her younger sister.

In 1905, George Harry Barrowcliff and his partner Edward Thomas Allcock won the competition to design the Carnegie public library for Loughborough, for which there had been eight entries. The judge of that competition was George Hodson, who suggested a few modifications and alterations to the winning design.

Arnold, George and Jessie’s son, followed in his father’s footsteps and in 1911 he was an architecture student, lodging in Stamford. Meanwhile, George continued to work with Edward Thomas Allcock, and in 1912 they were appointed to the Loughborough Education Committee for a period of three years. However, by 1918, George seems to have established a separate architectural practice under the name of G.H. & A.M. Barrowcliff, which was based at 18 Devonshire Square. This was the year that Arnold Montague, MC, BA (London) was elected to RIBA, and the following year the partnership between George Barrowcliff and Thomas Allcock civil engineers, architects, and surveyors at the Town Hall Chambers, was dissolved by mutual consent.

By 1921, George, Jessie, Arnold, and the faithful Elizabeth Carter were living at 69 Forest Road, a semi-detached property with 16 rooms, now one part of Kingfisher Halls. A few months after the census return, Arnold Montague married Margaret Dewar, and they moved to no.20 Burton Street, not far from Edward Thomas Allcock, who lived at no.11.

On 3 May 1924 George Harry Barrowcliff of Westbridge, Forest Road, Loughborough died at the nursing home on Leicester Road. Probate was granted from Leicester on 12 September 1924 to Jessie his widow, and Arnold Montagues Barrowcliff, his son, an architect and surveyor. Effects were £10.482 11s. 3d.. After his father’s death, Arnold Montague continued to work from Town Hall Chambers, and he and his wife were still living at no.20 Burton Street when the 1939 Register was published: they were both air raid wardens. George’s widow, Jessie, was still living at 69 Forest Road in 1939, but at the time of her death on 17 August 1940, she was now at 49 Colgrove Road. Probate was granted at Leicester on 4 December 1940 to her son Arnold Montague, and retired bank cashier John Stewart Hartley Cope. Effects were £5,295 13s. 7d..

The Barrowcliff’s faithful servant, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, died in 1964, probate being granted to Arnold Montague who was by then retired from architecture, and to solicitor William Guy Toone. Arnold Montague died in 1974, at which time he lived at 78 Forest Road, and Margaret continued to live there until her own death in 1982.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Barrowcliff, either alone or with partners.

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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Sole designs

*Memorial baths in Queen’s Park (1897)

*Rosebery Street School (1897-9)

* Charnwood Forest Convalescent Home, Woodhouse Lane (1894)

*United Reformed Church (opened as a congregational chapel) (1908)

*Part of the Grammar School (1895)

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With Edward Thomas Allcock as Barrowcliff & Allcock (partnership begun 1889, dissolved 1918)

*Bellfoundry additions & carillon 1905

*Charnwood Museum (1899)

*Public Library (1903-5)

*Additions to manor house Normanton on Soar

*Emmanuel Church chancel lengthening (by 13ft) & choir and clergy vestries re-build (1909)

*St Mary’s Catholic Church new nave

*House in Gidea Park, Romford

*Sir Gilbert Claughton Centre Dudley (1904 – Dudley Upper School)

*Newbridge High School Coalville (1909)

*Grammar School Knaresborough (1897)

*Cooper Memorial Home for Children, Brand Hill, Woodhouse Eaves (with Alfred William Newsom Burder)

*Converted Hodsons’s free library on Green Close Lane to the Technical Institute (1909)

*Belltower at the bellfoundry (following a fire in 1897)

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With W. S. Weatherley of London

*St Peter’s Church, Loughborough (1909)

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Basic facts

Architect - George Harry Barrowcliff

Parents: Marmaduke and Ann

Date and place of Birth: 1864 Loughborough

Spouse: Jessie Dexter 1890

Children: Arnold Montague (became an architect and worked in partnership with his father from 1918, and later at 18 Devonshire Square)

Death: 1924 Loughborough

Places lived: Albert Street 1871; The Elms Hathern 1881; Mill Street 1888; 1890 Cumberland Road; Ashby Road 1901; Forest Road

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall

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Short biography of Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

Arnold Montague was born in Loughborough in 1891 to George Harry and his wife, Jessie. Arnold followed in his architect father’s footsteps, and in 1911 was an architectural student living in Stamford, Lincs.. In 1912 Arnold graduated with an architecture degree from the University College London, and subsequently worked with his father. This was interrupted by a period of military service during the First World War, for which he was awarded the Military Cross.

In 1921, Arnold married Margaret Grace Dewar, the only daughter of the Rev. Dewar of Holy Trinity church, although he died only two weeks before the marriage took place. When Arnold’s own father died in 1924, the architectural practice passed to him. Arnold and Margaret lived at 20 Burton Street, and were still there when Arnold’s mother, Jessie died in 1941. When Arnold himself died, in 1974 he was living at 78 Forest Road. His wife Margaret Grace died in 1982.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Barrowcliff

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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Sole designs

*Work on St Mary’s Catholic church (1925) including alterations to the nave and the aisle.

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Basic facts

Name: Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

Parents: George Harry and Jessie (nee Dexter)

Date and place of Birth: 1891 Loughborough

Spouse: Margaret Grace Dewar 1921

Children: The couple appear not to have had any children

Death: 1974 Loughborough

Places lived: Albert Street 1871; The Elms Hathern 1881; Mill Street 1888; Cumberland Road 1890; Ashby Road 1901; 20 Burton Street 1924; 78 Forest Road

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall

____________________________________

I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). George Harry and Arnold Montague Barrowcliff. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/02/so-who-were-george-harry-barrowcliff.html [Accessed 2 April 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Wednesday, 1 April 2026

So Who Was Edward Thomas Allcock

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of Edward Thomas Allcock

Edward Thomas Allcock was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, on 1 July 1871, to parents Thomas, a joiner, and his wife Martha (Nee Reeve). The couple were married in 1868, and Edward Thomas was their second child, and first son. Sometime between 1871 and 1881, Thomas changed occupation and moved house, so in 1881 he was a coal merchant employing four men and two boys, and was now living at 1-2 Green Close Lane in Loughborough.

Between 1885 and 1888, Edward Thomas attended the Loughborough Grammar School. Also during this time the family moved to No.1 Broad Street, another child was born, but Thomas was still a coal merchant at Regent Wharf. In 1889, Edward Thomas went into partnership with George Henry Barrowcliff, although was listed on the 1891 census as Barrowcliff’s assistant, along with Charles Frederick Grundy. Edward Thomas was also registered as an architecture student with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), at the time the family were living at the Elms in Hathern. By 1896, Edward Thomas was elected an associate of RIBA, and the following year, Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the Rosebery Board School, now the Rosebery Medical Centre.

Together, in 1898, Barrowcliff and Allcock won the competition to design the King James Grammar School in Knaresborough, and installed a heating system by the Loughborough firm, Messengers. Also in this year, they designed a belltower for the bellfoundry, to replace a clock tower that had been damaged in a fire in 1892. They were also responsible for the design of the town swimming baths in Queen’s Park, Loughborough, now the Charnwood Museum.

Also in 1898, Edward Thomas married Mary Sampson Handley, the daughter of Thomas Handley, in Loughborough, and their first child, Annie, was born in 1899, the same year that Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the manse for the recently constructed Wesleyan Schoolroom on the corner of Ashby and Radmoor roads.

On the 1901 census return, Edward Thomas, wife Mary, and children Annie, and baby Gerard Thomas aged month one, along with one servant, were living at 11 Burton Street, while Edward Thomas’s father, Thomas, and his family were still at the Elms in Hathern. Also in 1901, Barrowcliff and Allcock worked with architect Alfred William Newson Burder, on the design for the children’s convalescent home in Woodhouse Eaves for Rev. Cooper of Burleigh Hall. Also this year, the foundation stone for the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Girls’ Grammar School was laid in June. The architects were Barrowcliff and Allcock, and the Loughborough construction firm of Moss were the builders.

In between design work, Edward Thomas and Mary welcomed another son in 1903 – Richard Percival. This event was followed in 1904 by Barrowcliff and Allcock winning the competition to design the Carnegie Public Library for the town of Loughborough, which would be built in 1905. One of the advisers on the committee was Mr George Hodson M.I.C.E., F.G.S. Later that same year, the Cobden Street Board School was damaged by fire, and Barrowcliff and Allcock were the architects behind the new school building, and Loughborough’s Corah and Son were the builders. Also in 1904 Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the Dudley Upper Standards School, a building of red brick, with buff terracotta detailing, in a Jacobean style, and in 1905 designed the open carillon tower at the Taylor Bellfoundry, which was the first carillon to be built by an English bellfounder.

With the birth of Margaret Mary in 1905, the family was growing, so by 1908 they had moved to 55 Park Road, a larger house with 10 rooms. Also that year, Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the United Reformed Church on Frederick Street, which originally opened as a Congregational Chapel, to replace the one on Orchard Street. This was followed in 1909 by an extension to Emmanuel Church.

In 1911, Edward Thomas’s father, Thomas had moved to 145 London Road, Coalville with his wife and two daughters, while Edward Thomas, Mary, and their four children continued to live at 55 Park Road. On the night of the 1911 census, Mary’s father, Thomas Handley aged 69 and widowed, a retired chemist, and her sister Edith Handley, single and aged 36, were also listed at the property, along with servant, Hannah Mary Abell.

Barrowcliff and Allcock were appointed to be architects to the Loughborough Education Committee for a period of 3 years from 1 January 1912, terms being a fixed payment of £7 7s. per annum, with a commission of 5% on all works of repairs amounting to £20 and upwards, although the erections of new schools, or structural alterations to existing ones would not be included in the arrangement. On completion of his studies at Loughborough Grammar School, in 1914 Willliam Frederick Cartwright, who would later go on to design the War Memorial for the Grammar School, was articled to their practice. A couple of years later, on 25 March 1919, the Partnership of Barrowcliff and Allcock, civil engineers, architects, and surveyors at the Town Hall Chambers, was dissolved by mutual consent, and they went their separate ways. Barrowcliff would practice on his own account from Town Hall Chambers, and Allcock will work on his account from 12 Baxter Gate.

1925 must have been a difficult year for Edward Thomas, as on 7 November Mary, his wife died, and on 21 November his father died. This was followed by the death of his mother on 14 September 1927, although sandwiched between these sad occasions, Edward Thomas was elected as a Fellow of RIBA, in 1926. A happy celebration in 1929 when son, Richard Percival was married to Sophie Richardson, some beautiful designs for the new Loughborough Echo Press offices on Swan Street in 1931, and the dedication of the Burton Chapel in November that year. In February 1934, Edward Thomas designed an oak chair which was dedicated to the memory of John Brise Colgrove, headmaster of the Loughborough Grammar School (1875-1893).

It was around this time that Edward Thomas went into partnership with Robert Malcolm Hayes Grieves, who had been elected a licentiate of RIBA in 1931, and they were members of the Leicester and Leicestershire Society of Architects. Their offices were at 11 Leicester Road, and are still there today, the practice now called A + G Architects.

It is unclear when Edward Thomas moved to 12 Burton Street, but he was certainly there in 1939. It is also unclear when he retired from the architectural practice. At the time of his death, on 6 February 1958, he was living at 13 Park Road, Beckenham, Kent.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Allcock, either alone or with partners.

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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Sole designs

*Pooh Bah Lodge (campus) (1936)

*Echo Offices (1930s)

*Shelthorpe School (1931, opened 1933)

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With Grieves

(partnered with Robert Malcolm Hayes Grieves from 1935, now A+G Architectural Practice)

*Trinity Methodist church 1968

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With George Harry Barrowcliff as Barrowcliff & Allcock

(partnership begun 1889, dissolved 1918)

*Bellfoundry additions & carillon 1905

*Charnwood Museum (1899)

*Public Library (1903-5)

*Additions to manor house Normanton on Soar

*Emmanuel Church chancel lengthening (by 13ft) & choir and clergy vestries re-build (1909)

*St Mary’s Catholic Church new nave

*House in Gidea Park, Romford

*Sir Gilbert Claughton Centre Dudley (1904 – Dudley Upper School)

*Newbridge High School Coalville (1909)

*Grammar School Knaresborough (1897)

*Cooper Memorial Home for Children, Brand Hill, Woodhouse Eaves (with Alfred William Newsom Burder)

*Converted Hodsons’s free library on Green Close Lane to the Technical Institute (1909)

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Basic Facts

Architect - Edward Thomas Allcock

Parents: Thomas Allcock, a joiner, and Martha Reeve

Date and place of Birth: 1871, Eastwood, Notts.

Spouse: 1898 Mary Sampson Handley

Children: Annie, Gerard Thomas, Richard Percival, Margaret Mary,

Death: 1958, Beckenham, Kent

Places lived: 1881 – Greenclose Lane, Loughborough; 1885 – Broad Street; 1891 - The Elms, Hathern; 1901 – Burton Street, Loughborough; 1908 – Park Road, Loughborough; Beckenham, Kent

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall (with Barrowcliff); Baxter Gate; 11 Leicester Road (the former manse to the Wesleyan Chapel (which used to be the Army & Navy supply store, and Fern Carpets)

Qualifications:

1896 – Associate of RIBA

1926 – Fellow of RIBA

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I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge 2026!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Edward Thomas Allcock. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-edward-thomas-allcock.html [Accessed 1 April 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday, 15 March 2026

Goadby’s History of Loughborough, Chapter 8, Part 3

We pick up the story of Loughborough as presented by journalist Edwin Goady, in his serialization in the ‘Loughborough Monitor’ of which he was editor, which ran from 1864 to 1966.

As I mentioned last time, Goadby’s Chapter 8, although only listed as Chapter 8, and without any part numbers, actually appears in three issues of the ‘Loughborough Monitor’, so I shall follow suit, and split it over three blog posts, but will also give each post a Part number. This is Part 3, and the final part.

As usual, some of Goadby’s paragraphs are rather long, so in order to make reading the chapter a little easier, I have added a few spaces and created new paragraphs. This particular chapter seems fairly straightforward, so I’ve not added any notes this time. Other than that, I’ve changed nothing, so do bear in mind that this text is now about 160 years old, and may no longer be accurate, as there are many more discoveries that have been made that illuminate the history of Loughborough, and some terminology will have changed, so some of the information in this article will be wrong. I have not tried to amend these in any way, so reader, beware!

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THE HISTORY OF LOUGHBOROUGH FROM THE TIME OF THE BRITONS TO THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

In: ‘Loughborough Monitor’ 11 May 1865, pg.5, continued from 13 April 1865, pg.5

CHAPTER VIII. [Part 3]

A Tradition, and its Final Settlement—Henry VII.’s Progress through the Town—Its Curious Accessories—Thomas Burton, and the Wool Staple—Scarcity of Facts concerning him—His Will—His Deed of Enfeoffment, and Death.

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If some of the sums of money bequeathed, as seen in our last [part], seem small in these days, it should be remembered that money was then many times more valuable than it is now, and a man or a woman might be more than “passing rich” upon considerably less than “forty pounds a year.” The latter clause in the will [of Thomas Burton] is seen to refer to the Chantry, the history of which is so intimately connected with the fortunes of the town. The terms of the bequest are somewhat vague, but very likely there was a purpose in so putting them. What the security there spoken of may mean is hardly clear, but in the following year (1495) Burton executed a deed of Enfeoffment whereby he granted all his lands and possessions in Loughborough and neighbouring villages to eight persons, and by a Letter of Attorney to Thomas Barker, of Loughborough, empowered him to enter upon them and deliver them over into the full and peaceable possession of the same.

The deed, which contains no declaration of trust, but is sufficiently intelligible when viewed in the light thrown upon it by the clause of the will especially referring to the property therein named, is as follows

“Know ye all men present, and to come, that, I, Thomas Burton, of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, Senior, a Merchant of the Staple of Calais, have given, granted, and by this my present deed confirmed to Ralph Lemyngdon, of Loughborough aforesaid, merchant, Edward Canell, Thomas Mason, John Crosby, Thomas Colcrofte, John Podyam, James Redman, and Ralph Smythe, of the same place, all my tenements in Loughborough aforesaid, Willoobe upon the Wold, Eastleyke, Hardby, Statherne, and Thrussington, with all lands and tenements, meadows, feedings, and pastures (pratis, pascuis, et pasturis) to the same belonging. To have and to hold the aforesaid lands and tenements, with all their appurtenances, meadows, feedings, and pastures to the same adjoining, to the aforesaid Ralph, Edward, Thomas, John, Thomas, John, James, and Ralph, their heirs and assigns for ever, of the Chief Lord of that Fee by the services therefore due and of right accustomed.

And I truly, the aforesaid Thomas Burton, Senior, and my heirs, will warrant against all persons the aforesaid lands and tenements, with all lands and tenements, meadows, feedings, and pastures, with all their appurtenances, to the aforesaid Ralph, Edward, Thomas, John, Thomas, John, James, and Ralph, their heirs and assigns. These being witness, Richard Cannell, Public Notary, Thomas Spicer, and Robert Barker.

Dated the 29th day of April, in the Tenth year of the reign of King Henry the Seventh, and in the Year of our Lord, 1495.”

This deed was not signed by Burton himself, it being sufficiently valid in point of law without it. It may also be reasonably believed that this enfeoffment evaded the law relative to the alienation of lands for religious purposes which had been in force ever since the feudal system had rooted itself in England.

The will declared that the lands in question should be applied for a special purpose, but did not take them out of the family. This enfeoffment, however, by its very nature took effect at once, and so the Chantry was established without any one but the parties immediately concerned being cognizant of the nature of what high legal authorities state was then a very common proceeding.

Burton appears to have died either late in the same or early in the following year, his will being proved by his Executors on the 19th of January, 1496. He was buried just within the threshold of the old vestry, and the attendant ceremonies are already described by anticipation in his will.

If a monumental inscription were placed over his remains, as would be pretty sure to be the case, it must have either become entirely obliterated in the course of a century, or the historian William Burton could not have been shown it when he visited the church early in the seventeenth century, since he gives not the slightest hint as to its existence (in fact, never mentions Burton’s name at all in his account of the place), although he refers to two monuments of an earlier date, one 1415, and the other 1481, and expressly notices the monument to Robert Lemington, a merchant of the Staple, who in all probability was nearly related to, if not the very Ralph Lemington so prominently mentioned in Burton’s Deed of Enfeoffment, and who died in 1512.

Very likely the position of the monument would prevent it attracting his notice, but the entire omission of any reference to his illustrious namesake can only be explained by conceiving an amount of apathy on the part of the historian’s attendants and informants which it would be well if we could congratulate our townsmen had since been entirely dissipated.

A monument, however, was unquestionably in existence in the eighteenth century, but was rapidly becoming defaced. It was a massive marble block, worn away by the tread of many generations of rectors and parish clerks, and only a few words could be read at the top of the stone. It became, therefore, a question with the Feoffees of the Charity in 1793 - we quote the precise words of the minute - “wether (sic) the stone should be taken up and the letters fresh cut,” but wisely considering that the situation of the stone would always “subject ye inscription to be soon effaced,” they agreed to let the original stone, if such it were, remain in its place, and that the memory of so great a benefactor might not be “obliterated,” they ordered that the inscription should be “cut in a handsome manner on Swithland slate,” and placed on the wall of the vestry, as near as could be to the original stone.

If the original inscription were copied, which is stated to be the case, the memorial could not have been a very old one, for it refers to the uses of his charity which did not begin until nearly the close of the sixteenth century. The inscription, now removed to the northern wall of the tower, is as follows

Hic prope jacet Thomas Burton,

Maecenas nostrum primus et summus,

publicae scholae fundator,

cujus et pontium solus conservator,

pauperum dulce praesidium et nostrarum

aeternum decus, columenque rerum.

Obiit Anno xti., 1496.

Hoc monumentum posuit

et antiquam inscriptionem instauravit

Curator Pontium, Anno Salutis 1793.

For the benefit of English readers the above may be rendered as follows:

“Near here lies Thomas Burton, our first and greatest Maecenas, the founder of the Public School of which and the bridges he was the sole sustainer; the kindly guardian of the Poor, and our eternal ornament and head of all things. He died, the Year of Christ, 1496. This monument was erected and the old inscription restored by the Bridgemaster, the Year of our Salvation, 1793.”

The Bridgemaster for that year was Mr. J. Fry, and as no other entry can be found in the Bridgemaster’s accounts for the expenses connected with this monument, it is but fair and reasonable to suppose that they were defrayed by the voluntary subscriptions of the Feoffees themselves, assisted by the townspeople.

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It is remarkable to see how the town took steps in 1793 to preserve the memory of their "greatest Maecenas" by commissioning the Swithland slate memorial when the original marble was worn away. This highlights the lasting impact of his 1495 Deed of Enfeoffment, which legally established his charitable legacy while navigating the complex laws of the time.

End of Chapter 8.

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Links to older chapters

So Who Was Edwin Goadby?