A week of local history

I have been very fortunate this week to have spent my spare time engaging in history and heritage-related activities, with quite a number of like-minded people, some of whom I already knew, and some of whom were new to me.

The week started with a meeting with a large group of folk, all engaged with activities and projects related to Loughborough. There seems to be a lot of big anniversaries coming up in the next couple of years and there are some exciting plans afoot. The next upcoming event to look out for is Picnic in the Park on June 8th, arranged by the folk at Charnwood Arts. Staff from the Local and Family History Centre, aka the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers, will be hosting a stall celebrating the 200th birthday of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Victoria and Albert will be in attendance - well, actors will be portraying them!

Picnic in the Park 2018

Talking of the Local and Family History Centre, the current display is a great one - the Midland Main Line then and now - and well worth a visit if you can.

I spent an evening talking with loads of people about what about Loughborough we'd like to see in the Victoria County History volume on the town. This is a national project that's been going since 1899, with the aim of writing a history of every single parish in the country. Progress was initially quite swift, but has since slowed down, and there are still many areas of the country to be written about. We had so many ideas Loughborough's history, it just reinforced to me how fantastic our little town is, and oh so interesting! We thought there was so much to include that we could fill lots of volumes!

I missed a trip to Nottingham with a dear friend due to illness. I was so looking forward to being shown around some of the more interesting parts, especially as I rarely venture off the beaten track that is the Broadmarsh Centre route through to the Victoria Centre, although I did once have a guided tour of the areas associated with D H Lawrence, which was fascinating, I have been to Green's windmill, and I recently had a look at the Alfreton Road area.

Green's windmill

Back in Loughborough, and at the Local and Family History Centre I did a bit of research and met some very interesting people, with whom I seemed to have much in common, not least an interest in milestones!!

After many years of not being available for training, I finally made it to the Old Rectory Museum for some training to be a guide during the open season! Wow! What an exciting opportunity to be able to show people around the building and explain its history, as well as learning something about the artefacts upstairs. There were three of us being trained, which should help towards keeping the ORM open, but there's always a warm welcome for anyone else to be trained up as a guide - just get in touch with the ORM if you're interested!

At the weekend I had a front row seat at a concert in the Trinity Methodist church on Royland Road, given by the Loughborough Male Voice Choir and Hathern Band. Sadly, the youngest wasn't playing due to revision for exams, but it was a great concert, with some lovely singing and some superb playing.

Well, better go now, books don't write themselves!

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Dyer, Lynne (2019). Garendon Estate water mill. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-week-of-local-history.html [Accessed 19 May 2019]

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Cartwright and Warner

Oh dear, here I go again, promising you a further post on holiday connections, but finding myself eager to tell you about something else first!! This one's timely, as it follows immediately from my attending a book launch - a book about the Warner family, as associated with Cartwright and Warner (Hosiers), Nanpantan Hall, the churches of All Saints, Holy Trinity, St Peter's and St Mary in Charnwood at Nanpantan, and many other places!

Now, I don't want to spoil your reading of the book (by Derrick Hewitt) so what follows are a few snippets of information, not all of them gathered from the detailed talk that Derrick gave at the launch at the church of All Saints with Holy Trinity.

The Warner family is probably best known for its partnership with the Cartwrights in a hosiery business that seems to have been rather successful! There was enough money in the business for Edward Warner to buy Quorn Hall from the Farndon family, to build The Elms and Nanpantan Hall. 

According to Mr Hewitt, Aingarth (now retirement and sheltered housing) a Victorian building, was originally associated with The Elms, and the gatehouse to the Elms, now called the Lodge to Aingarth, fronts onto Leicester Road. This was recently for sale, and there are some pictures available. Both The Elms and The Lodge to Aingarth are listed buildings.

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Elms

The Elms

The Elms

Aingarth

Nanpantan Hall, was sold by the Warners to the Pagets (William Byerley Paget to be precise), and has latterly been part of the School of Economic Science. Not sure if this is still the case, as the Echo reported in July 2016 that Nanpantan Hall has recently become a wedding venue, ironic, since W B Paget's former house, Southfields House, is now the Loughborough Register Office!

The Warner family had connections with the Church of All Saints (now the Church of All Saints with Holy Trinity), and were instrumental in the building of Holy Trinity Church and St Peters Church, as well as a memorial to Archdeacon Fearon, in the form of Fearon Hall. 

Church of All Saints (today with Holy Trinity)

Fearon Hall

The company had various factories around Loughborough, including the one on Clarence Street (now a locally listed building) and those taken over by Towles.   

The Warner family were also benefactors of the Grammar School. 

In 1851 at the Great Exhibition, Cartwright and Warner* won a medal for their women's "union dresses" - a Victorian euphemism for women's combinations  

Apparently, one member of the Cartwright family, James, lived at 151 Ashby Road, in 1911.

There were a couple of Cartwright and Warner employees, Ernest Grimbley and Charles J Hunt, who died during the first world war and are listed on the Roll of Honour website.

In 1900 a row of almshouses were created on Mill Lane, as part of the Warner legacy. Sadly, the cartouche on the side of the building is beginning to wear away, but the properties are still, I believe, inhabited by former hosiery workers. These are administered by the Warner's Almshouse Charity in Melbourne, South Derbyshire. 

Mill Lane

One wonders if George Warner of Quorn, who went off to the United States, was part of the Warner hosiery family: Derrick may have said this, but I am a little hard of hearing and missed some of the talk.

An extract from White's Gazeteer of 1877 appears on the Genuki website, giving a brief description of Loughborough and naming various people associated with the hosiery trade. The complete White's Gazeteer is also available on the internet.

The Victoria County History of Leicestershire also includes some information on Cartwright and Warner, and is complemented by information on the British History Online website.

The Barrow Upon Soar Heritage Group include a report of evidence given by inhabitants of the village in regard to increasing mechanisation of framework knitting, some of whom worked for Cartwright and Warner in Loughborough.

If you're a member of the FaceBook Group Remember Loughborough, you've probably already seen this video of Cartwright and Warner employees leaving the factory in 1900 but here it is again!

Here are two of my favourite things - coincidences: whilst looking for mention of Cartwright and Warner on Grace's Guide, I happened upon a bell foundry called called J Warner who made the initial Big Ben, which was later recast by the Whitechapel foundry! And, would you believe it, John Henry Boyer Warner, one of Edward Warner's sons, moved to Kepwick Hall in Yorkshire, and on the top of one of the hills he built - you guessed it - an obelisk (see my previous post about obelisks)! The description I've found of this on various listed building websites seems to be incorrect, listing him as a Weaver not a Warner, but interestingly, the obelisk is constructed of Portland stone - just like the ground floor of our Carillon!

Portland stone bridge and Carillon base

We were lucky enough also to see some examples of original catalogues of products from Cartwright and Warner:

Finally, that institution, beloved of many Loughborough inhabitants, the Warner School, on what was the corner of Pinfold Gate and School Street, was funded by Edward Warner in 1870, as he provided both the land and the money for it. At the time it was most unusual as it had teacher's accommodation attached: ironically, today the teacher's accommodation is all that remains of the school which was demolished in 2015 to make way for the inner relief road. It is the only remaining stone building in Loughborough apart from the Old Rectory, and the former school on Nanpantan Road (which is classed as being in Nanpantan).

Warner School prior to partial demolition

The Warner School teacher's accommodation

The Warner School teacher's accommodation with a former framework knitters building adjacent

*Stanley, Chapman and Middleton-Smith, Jane (2015) John Smedley: the establishment of a tradition in fine knitwear, c. 1750-1874 In: Textile History, Vol. 46, No.1, pp.70-98 

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2017). Cartwright and Warner. [Online] Available from: http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2017/02/cartwright-and-warner.html [Accessed 26 February 2017]