Lubenham Heritage Group

Click here to go to the start of the trail.

Refreshments, including lunchtime and evening meals, are available from the Coach and Horses public house on Main Street.
We ask that you respect the privacy of village residents and ensure you do not trespass on private property.
Please observe the Countryside Code.

For further information on Lubenham and the surrounding area visit the Leicestershire Villages website, www.leicestershirevillages.com.

Built of ironstone and dating in part from the early 17th Century, it was given by the Rev Henry Bullivant as a vicarage and used as such until around 1980.
Continuing right, note the lane to the left called The Undle. Believed to be an ancient trackway, it was used by horse-drawn wagons to access the windmill situated on Mill Hill.

Immediately next to this is:

The house, originally two thatched cottages, dates from the 17th Century. The bakery itself, on the southern end of the building, can be pinpointed by the door in the end wall at first floor level, where flour was hauled up and stored. The bread oven is still in situ in the room below.

At the junction with Main Street on the left is:

Situated on the site of the former village pond, the Memorial was moved from its original position on Main Street opposite Westgate Lane in 1949.

Turn left onto Main Street towards Market Harborough. Opposite is:

Built on land donated by local butcher John Ellson for use by Independent Dissenters in the area, the original building was constructed in corrugated iron, a new material at the time, at a cost of £220.
It was opened in 1838 but demolished in 1877 when the present larger brick chapel was built.

Across the road is:

Named after a previous owner and dating from the 18th Century, it was formerly three lacemakersʼ cottages and is now a private home and business.

On the opposite side of the road is:

Originally a mediaeval timber framed building, this was the former Manor House, Baudeʼs Manor, named after Thomas Baude. It was rebuilt, possibly in the late 16th Century, as a two-storey brick building, H-shaped in plan, of which only the south wing survives. The rest was demolished in 1774 after falling into disrepair. The remaining part was extensively refurbished in the late 20th Century. The Old Hall is famous for being the place where Charles I slept before the decisive Battle of Naseby in 1645. His chair can still be found in All Saints Church.

Continue around Old Hall Lane and turn right into School Lane, formerly known as Buswell Lane and Malt Mill Lane.

Originally built in the 1730s as a farmhouse, this is a fine example of a 19th Century hunting box, redesigned by the famous architect R W Edis in the 1870s for Benedict John (Jack) Angell, owner of the Cottage Estate. (See also nos 17and 19.) Angell paid for the alterations to the house after losing a wager with the then resident, his uncle John Gore. He added the mock Tudor front, raised the roof to provide a second floor, enlarged the living accommodation and built the stables – hence the name ʻThe House that Jack Builtʼ over the porch. Note the metal sunflower decorations over the gables.

Formerly the White Swan, this was a coaching inn with stables and a smithy, on the route from Market Harborough to the West. A long ironstone fronted building, it has fine mullioned and transomed windows and is dated 1700 with the initials JSA.
A beam behind the bar reads ʻHappy the house the goods whereof excel when the owners godly and those gotton well. WS HC 1610ʼ.

Built in the 1900s, this is the site of one of the many former forges in the village, Connell Close to the rear being named after the last blacksmith.
The two modern houses, numbers 27 and 29, on the opposite side of Rushes Lane were constructed on the site of the Perkinsʼ pickle factory, later converted into a garage.

A little further along Rushes Lane, on the same side, discover:

An early 19th Century house adjoining the original Georgian cottage and dairy, it is believed to take its name from Robert Adams, a farmer and grazier. Note the stone wall partially exposed on the southern end of the white building.
The cottages and Church View Barn, at right angles to the road, were formerly outbuildings of the farm. They overlook a small paddock, previously a duck pond.

Further on the left is:

The church is first mentioned in records in 1109. The present building is a mixture of architectural styles. The chancel and nave date between 1150 and 1215 with the north aisle and chapel added circa 1220. An arch in the north chapel is in typical rounded old Romanesque style whilst the arch leading to the north aisle is pointed, indicative of the new Gothic architecture. A bell tower built in 1250 is believed to have had a spire that blew down in the Great Storm of 1703. The bell tower is tiled whilst the rest of the roof is lead covered.

A wonderful cruck-beamed A-framed house (an A frame supports the roof independently from the walls) first built circa 1580 of wattle and daub with a later extension built in 1731.

Turn right in front of the white cottages and follow the dry stone wall of the churchyard, which was recently renovated and rebuilt in three stages by village volunteers.
Note the date stones.

From the old pump, Turn left and note, on the opposite side of Westgate Lane:

Note, to shorten the route head up Westgate Lane to point 30 – WESTLAND Close.

The original wooden hall was built in 1928 on land donated by the Paget family. By 1993 it had fallen into such a dilapidated state that new kitchen and toilets were erected and in 2004 the old wooden structure was demolished completely and replaced by the present enlarged brick building. A further extension was added in 2007.

On the right is:

Built in the 18th Century it was associated with the windmill situated at the top of the hill behind.

Continue along The Green to: