Nestled
between a primary school, the former home of Loughborough’s first mayor, and
close to a university hall of residence, on what is affectionately known as the
Forest Green Belt, Glebe House will be a name well known to those who are
familiar with Loughborough. For many years the property was home to the Glebe
House project, being used by Loughborough MENCAP from about 1982 until 2010.
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Glebe House
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But what of
the building before this, and what afterwards? And what exactly does this have
to do with no.57 Forest Road - now part of a student property, but once part of
the Forest Rise Hotel - and an unassuming mid-twentieth century property, no.47
Forest Road?
Rev. William
Holme, who was Rector of Loughborough, initiated the dividing of Loughborough
from one large parish, served by the church of All Saints, into two parishes.
As a result of this, the building of Emmanuel church began in 1835, and was
completed by 1837, with the service of dedication being held on 4 September
1837. At this time (and until 1839) Loughborough was in the diocese of Lincoln.
As Rev. Holme
was the rector of the whole of Loughborough, he resided at the Rectory in
Rectory Road, practically adjacent to the church of All Saints. When the
reverend died in 1848, a new rector for Loughborough (i.e. the parish of All
Saints) was appointed, as was a rector for the relatively new parish of
Emmanuel.
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The Old Rectory on Rectory Road, home to the Rector of All Saints
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Rev. Robert James Bunch arrived in Loughborough in 1848, and in June of
that year Rev. Bunch married Mary Anne Cooper, daughter of the Rev. B. Cooper,
Rector of Lewcombe in Dorset, at Christ Church, St Pancras.
On the 1851
census, Rev. Bunch and his wife are listed at The Grove on Ashby Road, the
family home of the banking dynasty of Middleton.
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The Grove, Ashby Road
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However, also in 1851 the new
rectory for the Emmanuel church was completed at a cost of around £2,000 to
build. Apparently this new rectory was designed to be similar to the vicarage
in Yetminster, Dorset, as both Mrs Bunch’s grandfather and father had been
the vicar there. What emerged was a beautiful red-brick Victorian Gothic
rectory, which today appears on the register of Locally
Listed Buildings.
During the
time that Rev. Bunch and his family were living at the rectory, in October 1869
there were a series of about nine fires, deliberately set alight, all in a
straight line and within a quarter of a mile of each other. According to a
newspaper report, “On the right, and very near to Emmanuel Rectory, the
residence of the Rev. R.J. Bunch, a haystack, the produce of six acres,
belonging to Mr Robert Handley, was being consumed.” The perpetrator of the
crime had given himself up and confessed to the police.
On 19 June
1870, Rev. Bunch died, and in August 1870 the auction house on Baxter Gate were
auctioning valuable furniture and contents from the rectory, including 700-800
volumes of books. Bunch’s position as rector was filled by Rev. Octavius
Glover, a bachelor who lived in the rectory with his four servants. Rev. Glover
retired from his position as rector of Emmanuel in 1904, and died in Torquay
the following year. Oddly, in August of 1904 the auction house of Garton and
Amatt on Baxter Gate was again auctioning furniture etc. from the Emmanuel
Rectory.
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The former offices of auctioneers, Garton and Amatt
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It was in
September of 1904, following the retirement of Rev. Glover, that the Rev. Richard
H. Fuller first appeared to preach at Emmanuel church. He and his family lived
at the Rectory, but there were a number of things about the building which
worried him: the house wasn’t connected to the local water supply, instead
relying on water drawn from a well, and the sewerage system was not up to scratch
either, nor did Rev. Fuller appreciate the necessity for employing a large
number of servants! In March 1907, Mr Beeby, a 24-year old gardener with 2.5 years’
experience was advertising that he was looking for a position elsewhere: the
address given in the advert was the Emmanuel Rectory Loughborough, and it
appeared in the Stamford Mercury.
Rev. Fuller
continued to live at the rectory until about 1920. During the period from 1904
– 1920, there were many newsworthy things happening.
In 1908 there was an extensive report in the newspaper about one of the many fetes and sales of work that were held in the rectory grounds. Apart from giving everyone the chance to have fun, the aim of the fete was to raise funds to improve and extend the church. Although the rain fell, and people got bogged down in the garden, the event went well, and funds were, indeed, raised.
In 1911 Mr Amatt was
auctioning, amongst other things, a plot of freehold building land on Forest
Road, previously belonging to Mrs S.J. Crosher. The plot was currently occupied
by Mr Scott, and was subject to Land Tax and a Tithe Rent of 14s. 6d. payable
to the Rector of Emmanuel. The plot had a frontage of 90 feet onto Forest Road,
and was of 1,036 square feet.
In March 1914
the ‘Loughborough Echo’ reported that a nest of thrushes were hatched in
the Emmanuel Rectory garden. And in September that same year an appeal was put
out by H. Sabina Fuller [sic] of Emmanuel Rectory for people to knit socks for
soldiers, as the War Office allowance was only three pairs.
A couple of
years later, in March 1916 a young person was charged with stealing a cycle
lamp used by Miss Fuller, and belonging to Rev R.H. Fuller of Emmanuel Rectory and worth 6s. 6d.. This was taken in October 1915 from outside Rosebery School, while
Miss Fuller was attending a nursing class.
In August 1917 ‘The Tatler’
carried the announcement of the marriage between Miss Cecil Sabrina Fuller, the
only daughter of Rev R.H. Fuller and his wife, with Mr Maurice Woolley.
In 1920,
Emmanuel Church bought a smaller property, on Forest Road, as a home for the
rector. This house, at no.57, was a semi-detached Victorian red-brick villa,
which has more recently been the left-hand half of the Forest Rise Hotel, now
student accommodation. At the time of purchase, the house was just over £4,500,
and despite being smaller than the original rectory, still had six bedrooms!
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These two semi-detached properties, nos.55 (right) & 57 (left), have been merged
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Perhaps it
was at this time that the 1851 rectory became known as Glebe House, to make it more easily differentiated from the new rectory?
Let’s very
quickly look at successive rectors and their homes …
Rev. Fuller
moved on in 1923 to become rector of North Luffenham in Rutland, and Rev.
Douglas A. Robson took over from him. Rev. Robson came from Par in Cornwall,
and when he moved on in 1939, it was to South Kilworth in Leicestershire. Rev.
Harold Marley took over in 1939, coming from Sedgley, and moving to be rector of
Thorpe Morieux in Suffolk.
Rev. Lancelot
Edgell Dashwood became Rector of Emmanuel in 1951, following on from Rev.
Marley. His immediately previous position was as vicar of Hugglescote and he
retired in 1961 to Hothfield in Kent. It was during Rev. Dashwood’s incumbency,
in 1953-54, that the current rectory, no.47 Forest Road was built and became home to future rectors.
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| No.47 Forest Road |
The rector
from 1961-1969 was Rev. Alfred Reginald Meakin, who came to Loughborough from
the position of Rector of Appleby Magna. ‘Rex’ as he was known, retired to
Dorset in 1969, and his shoes were filled in 1970 by Rev. Ian D. Campbell, who,
in 1980 moved on to become vicar of All Saints in Leamington Spa. Coming from
Thorpe Arnold, near Melton Mowbray, Michael T.H. Banks became Rector of
Emmanuel in 1980. Rev. Banks was followed by Rev. David Newman, who left Emmanuel in 2009 to become Warden at Launde Abbey, and he was followed in the role at Emmanuel by Rev. Michael Broadley, who remains as rector today, and resides at no.47.
So, now we’ve
seen where the rector resides after 1920, wouldn’t it be interesting to know what
happens to ‘Glebe House’ once the rector moves out?
Find out in
the next post!!!
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Lynne
