South Luffenham
Encyclopedia
South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland
in the East Midlands
of England
.
The village lies largely on the north side of the A6121 road from Uppingham
to Stamford
. It is divided into two by a small stream, the Foss, which is a tributary of the River Chater
. South Luffenham Hall stands a short distance to the south-east of St Mary's church.
The village has two pubs, the Boot and Shoe and the Coach House (previously the Halfway House), as well as the church and village hall. The post office closed in April 2006, but re-opened (Monday afternoons only) in May of that year in the village hall. There is a ruined windmill near the outskirts of the village.
It once had a railway station that was located to the north of the village and also served the neighbouring village of North Luffenham
. Luffenham railway station
was opened in 1848 and closed in 1966. In fact there were two railway stations in the parish, since Morcott station
lay just within the South Luffenham parish boundary.
, the Earls of Ancaster
had owned all the farms and most of the cottages, except Church Farm, which belonged to the Conants
. The estate was then split up and sold off, all properties being individually owned today. In those early days, the village was self-sufficient, having two butchers and one baker. In addition, Bates’ carrier journeyed from Barrowden
each Friday to convey goods, but no passengers, to Stamford
; cash would also be taken to the banks. Joe Kirby came from Barrowden each Saturday afternoon in a covered wagon selling haberdashery. The post came from Stamford by horse and cart, and subsequently by rail to Luffenham station, and whoever kept the village post office was obliged to take the letters round the village.
The last blacksmith was Mr Pepper from Barrowden who visited twice weekly until 1910. To the south of the smithy, in Back Lane in a shed, was a general grocers store.
In November 1904, as Edward Berridge of Ketton
was delivering bread in South Luffenham, Charles Louth stole a loaf of bread to the value of 2½d, from the cart. He was committed at Sessions and received 14 days hard labour.
’s men set up his cannons in this spinney from which to fire on North Luffenham
.
Shocky Balke (baulk meaning a strip of grass between cultivated strips) leads southwards from the top of Pinfold Lane on to the common, where there was a pond. From this point, the track became Hangman’s Lane up to the gallows
, sited there, it is said, to discourage the poor who would collect their wood and feed their geese on the common. The point is marked today by some fir trees.
The common originally stretched from Barrowden Lane to Fosters Bridge. The Earl of Ancaster
exchanged his fields, on which the allotments and recreation field now stand, for the 400 acres (1.6 km²) of common on which he built Luffenham Heath golf course which opened in 1911. In January 1921, fire destroyed the workshop, showroom, and caddy’s hut at the Golf Cub, having been started by a spark from a stove in the workshop.
At Christmas 1793, a tribe of gypsies and their king
were camping at the ‘Follies’ near Fosters Bridge. The gypsy king, named Edward Boswell, had a beautiful daughter, Rose, the Princess. She was just 17 and dying of consumption (tuberculosis). When the time came to move on, she was too ill to travel in a jolting caravan, and so the gypsies stayed a further two months on the cold bleak heath. When she died, the churchwardens of South Luffenham would not have her buried in the parish because she was not a Christian. The curate, the Rev. Bateman, finally overruled his parishioners and she was buried in the south aisle. A few weeks later, a marble slab arrived from London, and was placed over her remains, subscribed by the many gypsies who converged from afar to express sympathy with their king. The slab is still faintly discernible in the church:
“In memory of Rose Boswell, daughter of Edward and Sarah Boswell, who died February 19th, 1794, aged 17 years. What grief can vent this loss, or praises tell, how much, how good, how beautiful she fell.”
Of other road tracks, Clay Lane leads to the fields below the cemetery, and for those following the main road to Morcott
, there used to be a footpath along the north side, but some years ago, the Council widened the road and absorbed the path. On the south side of this road stands a brick barn, this being built in Victorian times to serve as a dance hall for the two villages.
The village green was once surrounded with white posts and chains, with a seat in the middle. The fence was put up so that the children could play within without being disturbed by wandering cattle. The posts were removed in the 1930s.
In the 1920s, the Asphaltic Slag & Stone Co. Ltd set up a quarry and erected an office on the Stamford road, opposite the entrance to the recreation ground. Twenty men were employed but not from the village. The quarry business only lasted some four years as the stone was quarried out. Nothing survives as the site has been levelled.
In 1919, ironstone pits were opened on the road to Pilton
; there were extensive sidings to service the pits, which closed in 1968.
Another quarry opened up at the north east of the parish and was served by a rail line connecting with the main line near Foster’s Bridge. It is recorded that in October 1920, ‘Arthur Waterfield was killed by fall of earth, while engaged at the Luffenham Lime Stone Works’.
There are various theories regarding the mounds in Tailby’s field. Some recount that it is the site of the Old Hall and surrounding cottages, others think that the main mound covers an old icehouse. It is true that a few years ago a calf fell into a tunnel beneath the mound, and that afterward this was firmly covered over.
At the northern corner of this field is the Adam and Eve Barn, so called because of the inset stone carving. It is thought to have been an earlier tithe barn to that which now adjoins the church. Before the Great War
, the building, also known as the old Primrose Barn (after the Primrose League
used by them prior to 1900) served as the village hall, and dances were held there; here would be danced the ‘Lancers
’ and ‘down the middle’, all to the accompaniment of an accordion. Later the old school room, opposite the new school, was used for village meetings, until the new village hall was built in September 1922. There was also, at the turn of the 20th century, a reading room and men’s club in Sapcote Cottages.
The ‘Old School’, now a private cottage, was built in 1846 with pointed windows, to show its connection with the church. This first school was the National School
, and it was not until 1875 that the new school opposite was built by the Rev. Lonsdale, rector of North Luffenham, and presented to the village. He built it at his own expense and purchased the old school to house the head teacher. In 1900, there were 130 pupils; in 1969, when the school finally closed, there were 30. In 1972, the building was turned into a private house.
, or of aircraft crashes. War touched the community in the form of 28 child evacuees
, who in 1940 arrived from London at the height of the bombing of that city. Among them was young Terry Parsons, later to become a famous singer, under the name of Matt Monro
.
A pinfold
was formerly sited at the south end of Pinfold Lane. It was constructed with a six-foot high stone wall with iron gates, and was finally knocked down in 1910, although a part of the wall still survives today. One villager recollects a farmer walking his sheep from Ayston
to Stamford
Market and resting them in the pinfold overnight.
The village did not have a public pond and cattle would drink from the ford on Back Lane, crossing for villagers being by footbridge. There was a pond on private land, where the last bungalow on North Luffenham Road is now sited. A bridge replaced the Back Lane ford in the 1940s.
A lead village pump on the north side of The Square was removed in the 1950s. The well underneath was fed from another well at the corner of Cutting Lane and Gatehouse Lane, the Council paying ten shillings a year to the LNW Railway
for a pipe to run underneath the railway. The owner of the top well then demanded ten shillings a year. When the Council refused to pay, the supply was cut off. The Council then sank themselves a well in the Hempyards to supply The Square. The Hempyards, also known as the Ropewalk, survive as mounds today, but nothing is known of the actual works, and it is assumed that they closed in the mid 19th century or earlier.
The public water supply for the other half of the village came from the spring, still running today, and sited below the old grocer's shop opposite the Boot and Shoe.
Cattle were taken to be washed at the wash-dyke set in the Chater, just below the stone bridge on Moor Lane (North Luffenham Road). The wash-dyke was last used in 1925.
At the watermill, owned by Molesworths, a miller was employed, who was responsible for controlling the water level of the sluice and the working of the mill. In addition, his duties covered management of the Railway Hotel. After the closure of the adjoining mill, trade at the hotel decreased and it was forced to close in the 1930s. Prior to 1910, flour had mainly been milled, and 16-stone sacks were hoisted to the second floor for storage and lowered to carts below when required. When the steam-driven mill was installed in 1910, the mill concentrated on offals; this consisted of split beans, split maize, kibbled wheat (lightly rolled for chickens) and barley meal. Gleaners from the fields took their grist at harvest to the mill to make barley meal for their home-fed pig. Wheat was frailed (flailed) at home with two long poles with leather thongs, this having to take place when there was a high wind, in order that the chaff should blow away. Some gleaners frailed with a five-pronged fork.
The watermill was sold in 1927. Mr Asplin, the miller, closed the sluice gate one night, forgot about it, and by morning the house and the mill were flooded. He continued milling offal until 1948, when the flume broke, the river taking a different course, and the mill was forced to close.
A steam and electric mill was built by Edmund Stapleton in 1890. The mill machinery was railed direct from Thomas Robinson & Son Ltd of Rochdale via a siding from the Midland Railway
. The mill opened in 1892, Babcock & Wilcox steam boilers driving the rollers, and grinding grain at the rate of 8 sacks each of 20 stone per hour. Water for the boilers to make steam was pumped from the watermill. Production increased to 10 sacks per hour then 20. Twelve men were employed from the village, and six from other villages. Men from Molesworths quarry, when short of work, came to the mill, but spent more time in the Railway Inn. In 1914, men earned 14 shillings a week and by 1919, 27 shillings a week. The furthest delivery point by horse and cart was to Somerby
, but in the 1920s Foden steam engines took over, these being replaced by Yorkshire
cross-boiler engines with solid tyres. By 1925, a Dennis
petrol wagon was hired from Leicester. This had pneumatic tyres and speeds of 30 mi/h were reached. Flour was then delivered as far away as Coventry
and Spalding
. Four tons would be carried on the wagon, and four on a trailer.
In the depression, Cadge & Colman purchased the milling rights, but the mill became uneconomic and the business was transferred to Godmanchester
. Luffenham remained a distribution centre. In 1927, the works were closed. After remaining empty for some 13 years, Riull & Sons bought the premises and manufactured clips for rifle cartridges.
In 1942, the Ryvita
Company installed a plant for drying and washing rye for biscuit manufacture, up to 20 men being employed at the peak season. The railway siding was in use at the time, but when the station closed in 1966, this link was severed and the factory closed. Newall Engineering then took the premises mainly for reconditioning of grinding machines, some 20 men being employed. The site is now Linecross Limited.
in 1882, owners of land held their strips, called ‘known acres’, each owner or occupier using the same strips each year as his own, subject to rights of grazing. An area of 1,074 acres was divided into
1,238 pieces among twenty-two owners. When the crops had been gathered, the land became common pasture until wanted for the next cultivation. In South Luffenham, the tenants of the arable land alone had rights of common over the arable, whereas in Barrowden, owners of certain cottages had grazing rights. The ancient custom had been that a fixed or ‘stinted’ number of beasts used the fields, but of later years this was disregarded.
As the fog closed in on an elderly woman toiling up the common from Tixover, shrouded against the cold night air, the sound of the church bell tolling guided her back to South Luffenham. In gratitude, and for other who might become lost, she donated a field, whose income should pay the sexton to ring the bells at 5 am and 8 pm daily from the end of October to 25 March. This continued for many years until the outbreak of the Great War. The field was originally at Foster’s Bridge, but the endowment was transferred to the Bellringers Field, also known as the Feast Field and Bell Field, opposite The Coach House.
, compiler of one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the Table Alphabeticall
, became rector in 1571 but was deprived in 1587 for his puritan sympathies.
Owen Gwyn
, Master of St John's College, Cambridge from 1612 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1615-16, was instituted Rector 28 October 1611, remaining in office until his death in 1633.
Robert Scott
, (1811–1887) the co-editor with Henry George Liddell of a Greek-English Lexicon
, the standard dictionary of Ancient Greek
, was rector here for four years before he was elected Master of Balliol College, Oxford
in 1854. Balliol held the advowson
from 1855 and many of the priests appointed were fellows of the college and noted scholars.
In 1867 promising 17-year-old poet Digby Mackworth Dolben
drowned in the River Welland
nearby when bathing with the son of his tutor, Rev. C. E. Prichard (1818–1869), rector of South Luffenham 1854–69.
George William Hudson Shaw (1859–1944) was Rector of South Luffenham from 1898 until 1907. As well as parson he was a famous travelling lecturer in the University Extension movement, and his work in adult education
was recognised by the award of a fellowship of Balliol. Shaw also achieved success as a visiting lecturer in the United States, and during his time at South Luffenham he made three tours there. On his return from the last of these, in 1907, the boys of the village went down to the station to meet him and pulled a trap with him in it back to the rectory. The Rev. Hudson Shaw gave some of the fees he earned in America towards installing a new organ in the church; he also helped to raise funds to restore Sapcote (charity) Cottages, originally built as almshouses in 1857. He insisted that parishioners 'walked the bounds
' to keep the footpaths open on each Rogation Day.
In 1901 Shaw met a young woman called Agnes Maude Royden, who was seeking a vocation. He brought her to live at South Luffenham rectory in 1902, and she worked in the village for a time as a parish assistant. Subsequently he supported her work as a public speaker, suffrage
campaigner, and 'woman preacher'. She was an advocate of the ordination of women
, and Shaw later caused controversy by allowing her to speak from his pulpit when he was rector of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
in the City of London. In 1944 after the death of his wife, Hudson Shaw (at the age of 84) married Maude Royden; she told the story of their long and unusual relationship in a book called A Threefold Cord, published in 1947.
In 1908, The Rev. John Francis Richards succeeded the Rev. Shaw, and being a Greek scholar, pupils came from abroad to be taught at the rectory. Among these reputedly was the son of the German Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Hermann Göring
. Indeed, on one of the panes of a lower floor window Göring scratched his initials in a corner.
"Hodson of Hodson's Horse" (William Stephen Raikes Hodson
) (1821–1858), a soldier prominent in the Indian Mutiny, is commemorated here along with his father Rev. George Hodson, who was rector.
s here on Sundays, and these were cooked in the bake oven for twopence a time up until 1935. The chamber for the flour for bread-making was sited above the ovens to keep it warm and dry, and 10-stone bags of flour from Luffenham Mills were hauled up on a wooden ladder.
The Halfway House inn was so called as it was an ostler house
at the mid-point for stages
. In 1814, the ‘Lord Wellington Accommodation Coach’ ran from Birmingham
via Leicester
and through South Luffenham at 10 am daily and connected at Stamford with the ‘Lord Welling Coach’ for travellers on to Norwich
. The ‘Leicester Coach’ passed through at 3 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Stamford. The pub was extended and renamed the Coach House in the 1990s [Caution needed upon date].
The former post office was once two cottages; in the part that was later the shop lived George Hippey, a platelayer. He fell foul of the landlord and one day threw paraffin under the front door, hastily followed by a lighted match.
and said sarcastically, “What a lot of people have come to the fruit and flower show." A farmer to the vicar at Harvest Festival: “I’ve got more faith in fourteen loads of muck to the acre than all your prayers!”
First Aid classes by Mr Lake, the headmaster, were held at the turn of the 20th century. On one night, the subject of blood circulation was discussed. “The blood flows from the heart throughout the body”, said the teacher, “when it goes down this leg, where does it go?” “Aha”, said one of the audience, “down one leg and up the other one and back again."
A great fire was roaring in the grate of the Durham Ox. One well-known character, known for a certain habit, swilled back his pint, strode up to the fire, and was about to spit with relish into it. “Look up”, says a villager, “here comes the fire engine."
The custom of ‘throwing the hat in’: should a husband come home the worse for drink, he would open the door a crack, and throw his cap in. He would wait, and if the cap came flying out again, he knew he should clear off for a bit.
, which was set up in the school playground or on the Green, this celebration ceasing in 1923. The May Queen
and her attendants travelled around the village in three or four farm wagons, which were decked up with garlands, all the horses having their martingale
brasses highly polished. There was then a free tea for the children in the rectory (or occasionally the Hall) grounds, and the lawns would be lit up with large Chinese lanterns
. In the evening there would be dancing in the Adam and Eve barn.
, the second Monday in January collecting wine and cakes - and money, if possible. The blacking of faces and dressing up by the boys, traditional in other villages, is not recollected in South Luffenham. The custom died out in the 1920s.
was originally an Anglo-Saxon festival for wishing luck and health in ale).
band would arrive to start the Feast Week by marching around the village, and then playing on the Green. During the week, cricket matches against other villages were held on the recreation ground. Fenwicks from Lincolnshire arrived with their swingboats, worked by pulling ropes, and a roundabout pulled round by a piebald pony called Tommy. These, other stalls, and a rifle range shooting at clay pipes, were set up in Bellringers Field, and they stayed for the whole week. It is remembered that Vincent Second, an Italian, came from Stamford with his gaily-painted float loaded with ice cream. Great bouts of singing and dancing took place in the pubs during the week, and most men got drunk, some paralytic, on homemade wine.
on a double line, although one track was taken up in 1914. The train was affectionately known as the Wessy, the Push and the Pull, the Puff and Dart, or the Dartzi. The railway has now gone, but many remember the small engine that pushed and pulled its single carriage up and down the line.
, visited the village one Saturday, and was asked to grease the weathercock. He brought this down from the church steeple, and promptly refused to put it back unless he was paid a gold sovereign. This was eventually given, but not before a fight had broken out over a disagreement amongst the villages over the ‘levy’. Ingram later became a "milestone inspector" (a tramp).
There is a tradition in the village that sea-going boats once came up the Foss to a quay by the old village pond, and were unloaded by monks from a monastery below the church. The stream was thought to be a canal, when the sea came up to Uffington
, and was quite deep until the water was backed up and silted in the race to provide power at the watermill. The Chater was said to be six feet deep at the wash-dyke.
Although plenty of water was at hand, the fire had too strong a hold and all that could be done was to douse the buildings nearby to prevent a spread. Apart from a pig and a few fowls, there were no casualties, but damage amounted to £1,327.
Fire brigades came from Stamford, Uppingham, and Normanton
, arriving too late.
In April 1913, after the passing of the LNWR football special carrying excursionists to Market Harborough
to cheer on Stamford (who lost), fire was noticed in Pridmore's farmyard. There was a high wind and it was assumed that a spark had come from the engine. Properties destroyed included Mr Greenfield’s butcher shop, five cottages, two farms and three straw stacks; a quantity of livestock, mainly chickens, was also lost.
The Stamford engine pumped water from the brook, and the manuals from Uppingham and Normanton gave assistance. Every thatched building was burnt out, although those with slates were saved from serious damage; the Durham Ox sign was burnt down.
Later the Parish Council considered subscribing for the Stamford Fire Brigade, for they had turned out with their steamer although not obliged to. This was in the days before the local authorities took over the fire service.
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....
in the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The village lies largely on the north side of the A6121 road from Uppingham
Uppingham
Disambiguation: "Uppingham" is the colloquial name for Uppingham SchoolUppingham is a market town in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, located on the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, about 6 miles south of the county town, Oakham.- History :A little over a mile to the...
to Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
. It is divided into two by a small stream, the Foss, which is a tributary of the River Chater
River Chater
The River Chater is a river in the East Midlands of England. It is a tributary of the River Welland, and is about long.It rises near Whatborough Hill in Leicestershire, and then flows east, past the sites of Sauvey Castle, and Launde Abbey, before crossing the county boundary with Rutland...
. South Luffenham Hall stands a short distance to the south-east of St Mary's church.
The village has two pubs, the Boot and Shoe and the Coach House (previously the Halfway House), as well as the church and village hall. The post office closed in April 2006, but re-opened (Monday afternoons only) in May of that year in the village hall. There is a ruined windmill near the outskirts of the village.
It once had a railway station that was located to the north of the village and also served the neighbouring village of North Luffenham
North Luffenham
North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west of Stamford.Located to the north of the village is St George's Barracks, formerly RAF North Luffenham....
. Luffenham railway station
Luffenham railway station
Luffenham railway station is a former station of the Syston and Peterborough Railway serving the villages of North and South Luffenham, Rutland. The station was situated adjacent to a level crossing on the North Luffenham to Duddington road...
was opened in 1848 and closed in 1966. In fact there were two railway stations in the parish, since Morcott station
Morcott railway station
Morcott railway station is a former station in Rutland, near the village of Morcott.Parliamentary approval was gained in 1846 by the directors of the London and Birmingham Railway for a branch from Rugby to the Syston and Peterborough Railway near Stamford...
lay just within the South Luffenham parish boundary.
History
Until the period between the warsWorld war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
, the Earls of Ancaster
Heathcote Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for people with the surname Heathcote, both in the Baronetage of Great Britain and both created in 1733. The holders of the first creation were later elevated to the peerage as Baron Aveland and Earl of Ancaster, which titles are now extinct...
had owned all the farms and most of the cottages, except Church Farm, which belonged to the Conants
Conant Baronets
The Conant Baronetcy, of Lyndon in the County of Leicester, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 30 June 1954 for the Conservative Party politician Roger Conant...
. The estate was then split up and sold off, all properties being individually owned today. In those early days, the village was self-sufficient, having two butchers and one baker. In addition, Bates’ carrier journeyed from Barrowden
Barrowden
Barrowden is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is often considered to be one of the more picturesque villages in Rutland due to its beautiful setting amongst hills and rivers, and also because of the open village greens and the village...
each Friday to convey goods, but no passengers, to Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
; cash would also be taken to the banks. Joe Kirby came from Barrowden each Saturday afternoon in a covered wagon selling haberdashery. The post came from Stamford by horse and cart, and subsequently by rail to Luffenham station, and whoever kept the village post office was obliged to take the letters round the village.
The last blacksmith was Mr Pepper from Barrowden who visited twice weekly until 1910. To the south of the smithy, in Back Lane in a shed, was a general grocers store.
In November 1904, as Edward Berridge of Ketton
Ketton
Ketton is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is located about eight miles east of Oakham and three miles west of Stamford in Lincolnshire...
was delivering bread in South Luffenham, Charles Louth stole a loaf of bread to the value of 2½d, from the cart. He was committed at Sessions and received 14 days hard labour.
Out and about
Around the village are a number of old lanes little used now as they were of old. Cannonball Lane leads up to Morcott Spinney, so called because it is handed down that CromwellOliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
’s men set up his cannons in this spinney from which to fire on North Luffenham
North Luffenham
North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west of Stamford.Located to the north of the village is St George's Barracks, formerly RAF North Luffenham....
.
Shocky Balke (baulk meaning a strip of grass between cultivated strips) leads southwards from the top of Pinfold Lane on to the common, where there was a pond. From this point, the track became Hangman’s Lane up to the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
, sited there, it is said, to discourage the poor who would collect their wood and feed their geese on the common. The point is marked today by some fir trees.
The common originally stretched from Barrowden Lane to Fosters Bridge. The Earl of Ancaster
Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster
Sir Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 7th Baronet, 2nd Earl of Ancaster, 3rd Baron Aveland, 26th Baron Willoughby de Eresby , known as Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1892 to 1910, was a British Conservative politician....
exchanged his fields, on which the allotments and recreation field now stand, for the 400 acres (1.6 km²) of common on which he built Luffenham Heath golf course which opened in 1911. In January 1921, fire destroyed the workshop, showroom, and caddy’s hut at the Golf Cub, having been started by a spark from a stove in the workshop.
At Christmas 1793, a tribe of gypsies and their king
King of the Gypsies
The title King of the Gypsies has been claimed or given over the centuries to many different people. It is both culturally and geographically specific. It may be inherited, acquired by acclamation or action, or simply claimed. The extent of the power associated with the title varied; it might be...
were camping at the ‘Follies’ near Fosters Bridge. The gypsy king, named Edward Boswell, had a beautiful daughter, Rose, the Princess. She was just 17 and dying of consumption (tuberculosis). When the time came to move on, she was too ill to travel in a jolting caravan, and so the gypsies stayed a further two months on the cold bleak heath. When she died, the churchwardens of South Luffenham would not have her buried in the parish because she was not a Christian. The curate, the Rev. Bateman, finally overruled his parishioners and she was buried in the south aisle. A few weeks later, a marble slab arrived from London, and was placed over her remains, subscribed by the many gypsies who converged from afar to express sympathy with their king. The slab is still faintly discernible in the church:
“In memory of Rose Boswell, daughter of Edward and Sarah Boswell, who died February 19th, 1794, aged 17 years. What grief can vent this loss, or praises tell, how much, how good, how beautiful she fell.”
Of other road tracks, Clay Lane leads to the fields below the cemetery, and for those following the main road to Morcott
Morcott
Morcott is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is located about seven miles south-east of Oakham on the A47 and A6121 roads.The village railway station on the branch line between Seaton and Luffenham closed in 1966...
, there used to be a footpath along the north side, but some years ago, the Council widened the road and absorbed the path. On the south side of this road stands a brick barn, this being built in Victorian times to serve as a dance hall for the two villages.
The village green was once surrounded with white posts and chains, with a seat in the middle. The fence was put up so that the children could play within without being disturbed by wandering cattle. The posts were removed in the 1930s.
In the 1920s, the Asphaltic Slag & Stone Co. Ltd set up a quarry and erected an office on the Stamford road, opposite the entrance to the recreation ground. Twenty men were employed but not from the village. The quarry business only lasted some four years as the stone was quarried out. Nothing survives as the site has been levelled.
In 1919, ironstone pits were opened on the road to Pilton
Pilton, Rutland
Pilton is a small village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.It is a mile or two south of Rutland Water, and near North Luffenham, Wing and Lyndon...
; there were extensive sidings to service the pits, which closed in 1968.
Another quarry opened up at the north east of the parish and was served by a rail line connecting with the main line near Foster’s Bridge. It is recorded that in October 1920, ‘Arthur Waterfield was killed by fall of earth, while engaged at the Luffenham Lime Stone Works’.
The Tunnels
Tunnels are said to run from the church to the Foss (the stream), and from the Old Hall site in Tailby's (now Bellamy's) field to the church. One villager recollects in 1912 going down the latter tunnel to rescue a terrier dog. The tunnel was some five feet high, ten feet down and built of rough stone. Having travelled five yards (5 m) in the direction of the Hall he gave up and returned because of the crumbling condition of the tunnel walls.There are various theories regarding the mounds in Tailby’s field. Some recount that it is the site of the Old Hall and surrounding cottages, others think that the main mound covers an old icehouse. It is true that a few years ago a calf fell into a tunnel beneath the mound, and that afterward this was firmly covered over.
At the northern corner of this field is the Adam and Eve Barn, so called because of the inset stone carving. It is thought to have been an earlier tithe barn to that which now adjoins the church. Before the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the building, also known as the old Primrose Barn (after the Primrose League
Primrose League
The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883 and active until the mid 1990s...
used by them prior to 1900) served as the village hall, and dances were held there; here would be danced the ‘Lancers
Les Lanciers
Les Lanciers is a Square, or a Quadrille, which is the pan-European term for a set dance performed by four couples. It is a composite dance made up of five figures or tours, each performed four times so that all couples will dance the lead part. We find Les Lanciers or The Lancers in many variants...
’ and ‘down the middle’, all to the accompaniment of an accordion. Later the old school room, opposite the new school, was used for village meetings, until the new village hall was built in September 1922. There was also, at the turn of the 20th century, a reading room and men’s club in Sapcote Cottages.
The ‘Old School’, now a private cottage, was built in 1846 with pointed windows, to show its connection with the church. This first school was the National School
National Society for Promoting Religious Education
The National Society for Promoting Religious Education, often just referred to as the National Society, is a Church of England body in England and Wales for the promotion of church schools and Christian education....
, and it was not until 1875 that the new school opposite was built by the Rev. Lonsdale, rector of North Luffenham, and presented to the village. He built it at his own expense and purchased the old school to house the head teacher. In 1900, there were 130 pupils; in 1969, when the school finally closed, there were 30. In 1972, the building was turned into a private house.
The War
There is no recollection of any bombs falling in the parish during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, or of aircraft crashes. War touched the community in the form of 28 child evacuees
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
, who in 1940 arrived from London at the height of the bombing of that city. Among them was young Terry Parsons, later to become a famous singer, under the name of Matt Monro
Matt Monro
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
.
A pinfold
Pinfold
Pinfold, in Medieval Britain, is an area where stray animals were rounded up if their owners failed to properly supervise their use of common grazing land...
was formerly sited at the south end of Pinfold Lane. It was constructed with a six-foot high stone wall with iron gates, and was finally knocked down in 1910, although a part of the wall still survives today. One villager recollects a farmer walking his sheep from Ayston
Ayston
Ayston is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is located about one mile north-west of Uppingham close to the junction of the A47 and A6003....
to Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
Market and resting them in the pinfold overnight.
The village did not have a public pond and cattle would drink from the ford on Back Lane, crossing for villagers being by footbridge. There was a pond on private land, where the last bungalow on North Luffenham Road is now sited. A bridge replaced the Back Lane ford in the 1940s.
A lead village pump on the north side of The Square was removed in the 1950s. The well underneath was fed from another well at the corner of Cutting Lane and Gatehouse Lane, the Council paying ten shillings a year to the LNW Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
for a pipe to run underneath the railway. The owner of the top well then demanded ten shillings a year. When the Council refused to pay, the supply was cut off. The Council then sank themselves a well in the Hempyards to supply The Square. The Hempyards, also known as the Ropewalk, survive as mounds today, but nothing is known of the actual works, and it is assumed that they closed in the mid 19th century or earlier.
The public water supply for the other half of the village came from the spring, still running today, and sited below the old grocer's shop opposite the Boot and Shoe.
Cattle were taken to be washed at the wash-dyke set in the Chater, just below the stone bridge on Moor Lane (North Luffenham Road). The wash-dyke was last used in 1925.
The Mills
The windmill was built in 1832: in 1895, a great storm blew the top off, but the building continued to be used until 1908.At the watermill, owned by Molesworths, a miller was employed, who was responsible for controlling the water level of the sluice and the working of the mill. In addition, his duties covered management of the Railway Hotel. After the closure of the adjoining mill, trade at the hotel decreased and it was forced to close in the 1930s. Prior to 1910, flour had mainly been milled, and 16-stone sacks were hoisted to the second floor for storage and lowered to carts below when required. When the steam-driven mill was installed in 1910, the mill concentrated on offals; this consisted of split beans, split maize, kibbled wheat (lightly rolled for chickens) and barley meal. Gleaners from the fields took their grist at harvest to the mill to make barley meal for their home-fed pig. Wheat was frailed (flailed) at home with two long poles with leather thongs, this having to take place when there was a high wind, in order that the chaff should blow away. Some gleaners frailed with a five-pronged fork.
The watermill was sold in 1927. Mr Asplin, the miller, closed the sluice gate one night, forgot about it, and by morning the house and the mill were flooded. He continued milling offal until 1948, when the flume broke, the river taking a different course, and the mill was forced to close.
A steam and electric mill was built by Edmund Stapleton in 1890. The mill machinery was railed direct from Thomas Robinson & Son Ltd of Rochdale via a siding from the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
. The mill opened in 1892, Babcock & Wilcox steam boilers driving the rollers, and grinding grain at the rate of 8 sacks each of 20 stone per hour. Water for the boilers to make steam was pumped from the watermill. Production increased to 10 sacks per hour then 20. Twelve men were employed from the village, and six from other villages. Men from Molesworths quarry, when short of work, came to the mill, but spent more time in the Railway Inn. In 1914, men earned 14 shillings a week and by 1919, 27 shillings a week. The furthest delivery point by horse and cart was to Somerby
Somerby
Somerby could be:* Somerby, Leicestershire, a village near Melton Mowbray* Somerby , Lincolnshire, a hamlet near Brigg* Somerby, West Lindsey, a hamlet near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire* Somerby Golf Club and Community in Byron, Minnesota...
, but in the 1920s Foden steam engines took over, these being replaced by Yorkshire
Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co.
The Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co. was a steam wagon manufacturer in Leeds, England. They produced their first wagon in 1901. Their designs had a novel double-ended transverse boiler. In 1911 the company's name was changed to Yorkshire Commercial Motor Co., but reverted to Yorkshire Patent Steam...
cross-boiler engines with solid tyres. By 1925, a Dennis
Dennis Specialist Vehicles
Dennis Specialist Vehicles is a major British coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England...
petrol wagon was hired from Leicester. This had pneumatic tyres and speeds of 30 mi/h were reached. Flour was then delivered as far away as Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
and Spalding
Spalding, Lincolnshire
Spalding is a market town with a population of 30,000 on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. Little London is a hamlet directly south of Spalding on the B1172 road....
. Four tons would be carried on the wagon, and four on a trailer.
In the depression, Cadge & Colman purchased the milling rights, but the mill became uneconomic and the business was transferred to Godmanchester
Godmanchester
Godmanchester is a small town and civil parish within the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, in England. It lies on the south bank of the River Great Ouse, south of the larger town of Huntingdon, and on the A14 road....
. Luffenham remained a distribution centre. In 1927, the works were closed. After remaining empty for some 13 years, Riull & Sons bought the premises and manufactured clips for rifle cartridges.
In 1942, the Ryvita
Ryvita
Ryvita is a rye-based crispbread which up until 2009 was manufactured by The Ryvita Company. The company was founded in Birmingham, England, in 1930 and is today a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. Ryvita crackers are popular with dieters...
Company installed a plant for drying and washing rye for biscuit manufacture, up to 20 men being employed at the peak season. The railway siding was in use at the time, but when the station closed in 1966, this link was severed and the factory closed. Newall Engineering then took the premises mainly for reconditioning of grinding machines, some 20 men being employed. The site is now Linecross Limited.
The Common
From the 14th century until EnclosureEnclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
in 1882, owners of land held their strips, called ‘known acres’, each owner or occupier using the same strips each year as his own, subject to rights of grazing. An area of 1,074 acres was divided into
1,238 pieces among twenty-two owners. When the crops had been gathered, the land became common pasture until wanted for the next cultivation. In South Luffenham, the tenants of the arable land alone had rights of common over the arable, whereas in Barrowden, owners of certain cottages had grazing rights. The ancient custom had been that a fixed or ‘stinted’ number of beasts used the fields, but of later years this was disregarded.
As the fog closed in on an elderly woman toiling up the common from Tixover, shrouded against the cold night air, the sound of the church bell tolling guided her back to South Luffenham. In gratitude, and for other who might become lost, she donated a field, whose income should pay the sexton to ring the bells at 5 am and 8 pm daily from the end of October to 25 March. This continued for many years until the outbreak of the Great War. The field was originally at Foster’s Bridge, but the endowment was transferred to the Bellringers Field, also known as the Feast Field and Bell Field, opposite The Coach House.
The Rectors and other notable residents
Robert CawdreyRobert Cawdrey
Robert Cawdrey produced one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the Table Alphabeticall, in 1604.-Career:...
, compiler of one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the Table Alphabeticall
Table Alphabeticall
A Table Alphabeticall is the abbreviated title of the first monolingual dictionary in the English language, created by Robert Cawdrey and first published in London in 1604....
, became rector in 1571 but was deprived in 1587 for his puritan sympathies.
Owen Gwyn
Owen Gwyn
Owen Gwyn was a Welsh churchman and academic, Master of St John's College, Cambridge from 1612 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1615-16.-Life:He was from Denbighshire, the third son of Griffith Wynn, of the Wynn family of Gwydir...
, Master of St John's College, Cambridge from 1612 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1615-16, was instituted Rector 28 October 1611, remaining in office until his death in 1633.
Robert Scott
Robert Scott (philologist)
Robert Scott was an English academic philologist, clergyman, and a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford...
, (1811–1887) the co-editor with Henry George Liddell of a Greek-English Lexicon
Greek-English Lexicon
A Greek–English Lexicon is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language.-Liddell and Scott's lexicon:The lexicon was begun in the nineteenth century and is now in its ninth edition...
, the standard dictionary of Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, was rector here for four years before he was elected Master of Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
in 1854. Balliol held the advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
from 1855 and many of the priests appointed were fellows of the college and noted scholars.
In 1867 promising 17-year-old poet Digby Mackworth Dolben
Digby Mackworth Dolben
Digby Augustus Stewart Mackworth Dolben was an English poet who died young from drowning. He owes his poetic reputation to his cousin, Robert Bridges, poet laureate from 1913 to 1930, who edited a partial edition of his verse, Poems, in 1911.He was born in Guernsey, and brought up at Finedon Hall...
drowned in the River Welland
River Welland
The River Welland is a river in the east of England, some long. It rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough, Stamford and Spalding, to reach The Wash near Fosdyke. For much of its length it forms the county boundary between...
nearby when bathing with the son of his tutor, Rev. C. E. Prichard (1818–1869), rector of South Luffenham 1854–69.
George William Hudson Shaw (1859–1944) was Rector of South Luffenham from 1898 until 1907. As well as parson he was a famous travelling lecturer in the University Extension movement, and his work in adult education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
was recognised by the award of a fellowship of Balliol. Shaw also achieved success as a visiting lecturer in the United States, and during his time at South Luffenham he made three tours there. On his return from the last of these, in 1907, the boys of the village went down to the station to meet him and pulled a trap with him in it back to the rectory. The Rev. Hudson Shaw gave some of the fees he earned in America towards installing a new organ in the church; he also helped to raise funds to restore Sapcote (charity) Cottages, originally built as almshouses in 1857. He insisted that parishioners 'walked the bounds
Beating the bounds
Beating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in some English and Welsh parishes. A group of old and young members of the community would walk the boundaries of the parish, usually led by the parish priest and church officials, to share the knowledge of where they lay, and to pray for...
' to keep the footpaths open on each Rogation Day.
In 1901 Shaw met a young woman called Agnes Maude Royden, who was seeking a vocation. He brought her to live at South Luffenham rectory in 1902, and she worked in the village for a time as a parish assistant. Subsequently he supported her work as a public speaker, suffrage
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom as a national movement began in 1872. Women were not prohibited from voting in the United Kingdom until the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act...
campaigner, and 'woman preacher'. She was an advocate of the ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
, and Shaw later caused controversy by allowing her to speak from his pulpit when he was rector of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the City of London, first mentioned in 1212 and dedicated to St Botolph.The nearest London Underground station is Liverpool Street.-History:...
in the City of London. In 1944 after the death of his wife, Hudson Shaw (at the age of 84) married Maude Royden; she told the story of their long and unusual relationship in a book called A Threefold Cord, published in 1947.
In 1908, The Rev. John Francis Richards succeeded the Rev. Shaw, and being a Greek scholar, pupils came from abroad to be taught at the rectory. Among these reputedly was the son of the German Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
. Indeed, on one of the panes of a lower floor window Göring scratched his initials in a corner.
"Hodson of Hodson's Horse" (William Stephen Raikes Hodson
William Stephen Raikes Hodson
Brevet Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . He was known as "Hodson of Hodson's Horse."His most notable action was to apprehend the Emperor of India...
) (1821–1858), a soldier prominent in the Indian Mutiny, is commemorated here along with his father Rev. George Hodson, who was rector.
The Inns
Various businesses have been conducted at the Boot and Shoe Inn, a shoemakers business in the mid 19th century, which ceased around 1900, giving the inn its name. A coal business was also carried on from the inn, and the village bakehouse was on the west corner of the building, Mr Chard being the last baker until the 1950s. Villagers brought joints of meat and batter for Yorkshire puddingYorkshire pudding
Yorkshire Pudding is a dish that originated in Yorkshire, England. It is made from batter and usually served with roast meat and gravy.-History:...
s here on Sundays, and these were cooked in the bake oven for twopence a time up until 1935. The chamber for the flour for bread-making was sited above the ovens to keep it warm and dry, and 10-stone bags of flour from Luffenham Mills were hauled up on a wooden ladder.
The Halfway House inn was so called as it was an ostler house
Hostler
An hostler or ostler in the horse industry is a groom or stableman, who is employed in a stable to take care of horses...
at the mid-point for stages
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
. In 1814, the ‘Lord Wellington Accommodation Coach’ ran from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
via Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
and through South Luffenham at 10 am daily and connected at Stamford with the ‘Lord Welling Coach’ for travellers on to Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. The ‘Leicester Coach’ passed through at 3 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Stamford. The pub was extended and renamed the Coach House in the 1990s [Caution needed upon date].
The former post office was once two cottages; in the part that was later the shop lived George Hippey, a platelayer. He fell foul of the landlord and one day threw paraffin under the front door, hastily followed by a lighted match.
Village Stories
In the 1950s the parson stood up in the pulpit at Harvest FestivalHarvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
and said sarcastically, “What a lot of people have come to the fruit and flower show." A farmer to the vicar at Harvest Festival: “I’ve got more faith in fourteen loads of muck to the acre than all your prayers!”
First Aid classes by Mr Lake, the headmaster, were held at the turn of the 20th century. On one night, the subject of blood circulation was discussed. “The blood flows from the heart throughout the body”, said the teacher, “when it goes down this leg, where does it go?” “Aha”, said one of the audience, “down one leg and up the other one and back again."
A great fire was roaring in the grate of the Durham Ox. One well-known character, known for a certain habit, swilled back his pint, strode up to the fire, and was about to spit with relish into it. “Look up”, says a villager, “here comes the fire engine."
The custom of ‘throwing the hat in’: should a husband come home the worse for drink, he would open the door a crack, and throw his cap in. He would wait, and if the cap came flying out again, he knew he should clear off for a bit.
May Day
Children were trained to dance round the maypoleMaypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
, which was set up in the school playground or on the Green, this celebration ceasing in 1923. The May Queen
May Queen
The May Queen or Queen of May is a term which has two distinct but related meanings, as a mythical figure and as a holiday personification.-Festivals:...
and her attendants travelled around the village in three or four farm wagons, which were decked up with garlands, all the horses having their martingale
Martingale (tack)
A martingale is any of several designs of tack that are used on horses to control head carriage. Martingales may be seen in a wide variety of equestrian disciplines, both riding and driving...
brasses highly polished. There was then a free tea for the children in the rectory (or occasionally the Hall) grounds, and the lawns would be lit up with large Chinese lanterns
Paper lantern
Paper lanterns come in various shapes and sizes, as well as various methods of construction. In their simplest form, they are simply a paper bag with a candle placed inside, although more complicated lanterns consist of a collapsible bamboo or metal frame of hoops covered with tough paper.-In Asian...
. In the evening there would be dancing in the Adam and Eve barn.
Ploughboy Monday
The ploughboys would go round from door to door on Plough MondayPlough Monday
Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Twelfth Day , 6 January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century...
, the second Monday in January collecting wine and cakes - and money, if possible. The blacking of faces and dressing up by the boys, traditional in other villages, is not recollected in South Luffenham. The custom died out in the 1920s.
Wassailing Day
This was held each 21 December until 1939. At this, the old ladies of the parish would visit the farmers and gentry to collect a shilling or a quart of tea. (WassailingWassailing
The tradition of Wassailing falls into two distinct categories: The House-Visiting wassail and the Orchard-Visiting wassail. House-Visiting wassail, very much similar to caroling, is the practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols...
was originally an Anglo-Saxon festival for wishing luck and health in ale).
South Luffenham Feast
(1st Sunday after 15 August). The Nassington or CollywestonCollyweston
Collyweston is a village and civil parish about three miles south-west of Stamford on the road to Kettering.-Geography:The village is on the southern side of the Welland valley of Tixover. The River Welland, at the point nearby to the north-west, is the boundary between Rutland and...
band would arrive to start the Feast Week by marching around the village, and then playing on the Green. During the week, cricket matches against other villages were held on the recreation ground. Fenwicks from Lincolnshire arrived with their swingboats, worked by pulling ropes, and a roundabout pulled round by a piebald pony called Tommy. These, other stalls, and a rifle range shooting at clay pipes, were set up in Bellringers Field, and they stayed for the whole week. It is remembered that Vincent Second, an Italian, came from Stamford with his gaily-painted float loaded with ice cream. Great bouts of singing and dancing took place in the pubs during the week, and most men got drunk, some paralytic, on homemade wine.
The Railway
At one time, thirteen trains a day plied between Stamford through South Luffenham and on to SeatonSeaton railway station
Other stations with this name have included Seaton in Cumbria , Seaton in Durham , Seaton Delaval in Northumberland , in Devon and Seaton Park in Adelaide, Australia....
on a double line, although one track was taken up in 1914. The train was affectionately known as the Wessy, the Push and the Pull, the Puff and Dart, or the Dartzi. The railway has now gone, but many remember the small engine that pushed and pulled its single carriage up and down the line.
Inspired
At the turn of the 20th century Jack Ingram, a well-known steeplejackSteeplejack
A steeplejack is a craftsman who scales buildings, chimneys and church steeples to carry out repairs or maintenance.Britain's most famous steeplejack was Fred Dibnah, who became a television presenter and minor celebrity as a result of his craft....
, visited the village one Saturday, and was asked to grease the weathercock. He brought this down from the church steeple, and promptly refused to put it back unless he was paid a gold sovereign. This was eventually given, but not before a fight had broken out over a disagreement amongst the villages over the ‘levy’. Ingram later became a "milestone inspector" (a tramp).
There is a tradition in the village that sea-going boats once came up the Foss to a quay by the old village pond, and were unloaded by monks from a monastery below the church. The stream was thought to be a canal, when the sea came up to Uffington
Uffington, Lincolnshire
Uffington is a village in the valley of the River Welland, between Stamford and The Deepings, in the South Kesteven district of the English county of Lincolnshire.-Geography:...
, and was quite deep until the water was backed up and silted in the race to provide power at the watermill. The Chater was said to be six feet deep at the wash-dyke.
The Great Fires
In July 1874, Samuel Hippey, a six-year-old child, playing with lucifer matches beneath a straw stack of Mr Ball, the baker, started a conflagration that spread to two cowsheds. The high wind at the time scattered burning thatch and straw in all directions and in 20 minutes George Tailby and George Pretty’s farms were ablaze, as were four cottages, two occupied by William Faulks and Thomas Skillett, and a pub tenanted by George Watson. These were in Pinfold Lane; the position of the inn is unrecorded, although it is known from the 1846 Directory that the pub was the Axe and Saw with Mr Pridmore the licensee. The fire covered some 3 acres (12,140.6 m²), and eleven straw stacks caught fire as well.Although plenty of water was at hand, the fire had too strong a hold and all that could be done was to douse the buildings nearby to prevent a spread. Apart from a pig and a few fowls, there were no casualties, but damage amounted to £1,327.
Fire brigades came from Stamford, Uppingham, and Normanton
Normanton, Rutland
Normanton is a village and civil parish on the eastern shore of Rutland Water in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.Normanton Park was a seat of the Earls of Ancaster and an important centre of their estates. The stable block of their hall is now Normanton Park hotel...
, arriving too late.
In April 1913, after the passing of the LNWR football special carrying excursionists to Market Harborough
Market Harborough
Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.It has a population of 20,785 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border...
to cheer on Stamford (who lost), fire was noticed in Pridmore's farmyard. There was a high wind and it was assumed that a spark had come from the engine. Properties destroyed included Mr Greenfield’s butcher shop, five cottages, two farms and three straw stacks; a quantity of livestock, mainly chickens, was also lost.
The Stamford engine pumped water from the brook, and the manuals from Uppingham and Normanton gave assistance. Every thatched building was burnt out, although those with slates were saved from serious damage; the Durham Ox sign was burnt down.
Later the Parish Council considered subscribing for the Stamford Fire Brigade, for they had turned out with their steamer although not obliged to. This was in the days before the local authorities took over the fire service.