EAST LEAKE LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. VCH Nottinghamshire: Texts in Progress: East Leake

Transcription

1 VCH Nottinghamshire On-line Texts in Progress This version: May 2014 Author: Sheila Leeds EAST LEAKE LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES The ancient parish of East Leake occupies 2,530 acres 1 about 10 miles south-west of Nottingham. It is bounded to the north-east by Bunny, to the east by Costock, to the south-east by Rempstone and to the south by Stanford on Soar and Normanton on Soar. It is bounded on the west by West Leake and on the north-west by Gotham. The northern part of the parish boundary is formed by field hedges and small watercourses which flow northwards to join the Fairham brook. The north-eastern boundary is formed by hedges and a stream which flows southwards to join the Kingston brook, which in turn forms part of the boundary. The Kingston brook flows through the parish and forms a small part of the western boundary. The south-eastern boundary is formed by hedges. To the south the boundary is firstly hedges, then part of Stanford Park and finally a small stream flowing from east to west. The western boundary is formed by hedges. No changes to either the civil or ecclesiastical parish boundaries are recorded before GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY Most of the bedrock in the parish is of Late Triassic age and known as the Branscombe Mudstone Formation of the Mercia Mudstone Group. This is a sequence of red mudstones that were deposited in a desert and produce the typical red clay soils seen in many areas. These red mudstones include the bed of gypsum that has been worked in the area for many years. A broad ridge runs from east to west across the area capped by younger beds. On the steep escarpment are the latest Triassic rocks that include mudstones and the top is capped by Early Jurassic age mudstones and limestones. These rocks were all deposited in a sea. Throughout the parish, but mainly concentrated in the south, are patches of sand and gravel and till deposited during the ice age about years ago. One of these areas is currently being quarried for aggregate. In the centre of East Leake 1 2 VCH Notts., ii Youngs, Admin. Units, ii

2 running east to west is an area of alluvium with sand and gravel, along the line of the Kingston brook. The sand and gravel are river terraces that represent a time when the river was higher and faster flowing. At great depth below the parish are resouces that are considered suitable for shale-gas. These same rocks have yielded the oil at Rempstone; oil may be present below East Leake but probably not in sufficient quantities to extract. There is unlikely to be any coal here. A major fault system runs across the southern borders of the parish and forms the southern limit of the shale-gas and oil resource rocks. Most of the village lies at about 160 feet above sea level. The ground rises to about 200 ft at Hotchley Hill in the north-west and to over 300 ft at Hill Top Farm in the north-east. Mill Hill just south of the village reaches nearly 200 ft and further south the land rises over 250 ft. The Kingston brook flows from east to west just north of the village. Sheepwash brook flows from south-east to north-west through the village to join the Kingston brook, which eventually flows into the river Soar near Kingston on Soar. Other small watercourses in the centre and south of the parish flow into the Kingston brook. Those in the north flow northwards to join the Fairham brook north of East Leake. In the north of the parish there is a plantation at Hotchley Wood and in the north east at Rough Hill. There is also some woodland near Sharpley Hill. In the south The Gorse and Colonel s Covert are former fox coverts. 3 POPULATION In households in East Leake were assessed to the hearth tax and a further seven discharged by reason of poverty. 4 In 1743 there were 94 families in the parish. 5 In 1801 the population was 608. It rose steadily, reaching 1,148 in and 1,059 in It fell during the later years of the 19 th century but after 1921 rose again until in 1971 the population was 4,680 in 1,475 households. By 1991 it had increased further to 5,491 in 2,066 households. In 2001 there were 6,108 people in East Leake Geol. Survey map 1:50,000 sheet 142 and information from British Geological Survey. Hearth Tax, 84. Visitation Returns, VCH Notts., ii White s Dir. Notts. (1864), 549. Census reports. 2

3 COMMUNICATIONS The buildings of East Leake lie along several roads through the village. From the north is the old main road from Nottingham to Loughborough (Leics.) which was used before the Trent Bridge, Nottingham, to Cotes Bridge (Leics.) turnpike road was established by an Act of It comes from Gotham and continues southwards through Stanford on Soar towards Loughborough, crossing the Coleorton (Leics.) to Rempstone section of the Ashby de la Zouch (Leics.) to Loughborough turnpike road which was established by an Act of As this road enters the parish Moore Lane leads off in a north-easterly direction towards Bunny. An old lane from Moore Lane south to Lantern Lane is now only a farm track. Running from east to west through the village is the road from Costock to West Leake. South of the village, Woodgate Road runs south-west to join the turnpike road. Castle Hill runs southwards and Rempstone Road and Gypsy Lane, running south-east from Woodgate Road, also join the turnpike road. Since the beginning of the 20 th century East Leake has seen considerable growth as land has been sold for building. This has led to the building of many roads to give access to the houses. 11 The Great Central Railway from Nottingham to London, built in , passes from north to south through the western side of the parish. It runs on an embankment as far as Hotchley Farm and then in a cutting to Rushcliffe Halt, a station built to serve the gypsum works, which was in use from 1911 to The line continues through a cutting before reaching the site of East Leake station on the West Leake road, opened in Further south of this it passes through a tunnel, crossed by the turnpike road, towards Loughborough. 13 The line closed as part of the national network in 1969, although a section has since become a heritage line running from Ruddington to Rushcliffe Halt. LANDSCAPE AND SETTLEMENT Evidence of early settlement in East Leake has been recorded, particularly in the south of the parish, just north of the turnpike road, on the site of a quarry. Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age finds include worked flints, burnt mounds and cremation cemeteries. 14 Iron Age ditches and a possible field system, together with pits, postholes and pottery Cossons, Turnpike Roads, 35 Cossons, Turnpike Roads, 37. Below, Landscape and settlement. Butt, Railway Stations, 201. D. A. Rogers (Ed.). Great Central the remains of a railway (1880), 10; Butt, Railway Stations, SMR, M18332, M , M11664, M11926, M11933, M

4 indicate a former domestic settlement. 15 A quartzite pebble macehead was found on the west side of the village. 16 A hoard of Roman coins in a pot was discovered in 1895 when the GC railway cutting was dug at Rushcliffe Halt. The coins ranged from Commodus to Terticus (AD ). 17 Roman pottery was also found during the quarry excavations. 18 In the village was established there was a homestead moat on a site north of the parish church 19 and the Borough Pool is the reputed site of a Saxon burgh. 20 Other medieval features recorded include an inhumation cemetery, banks, building plots, hollow ways and lynchets. 21 During work on pedestrian bridges across Kingston brook a millstone, probably from a corn mill, was discovered, although there is no record of a mill in the immediate vicinity. 22 The name Leake is the Old Norse, meaning brook. In 1086 it was Lecche or Leche. By the 13 th century east had been added to distinguish it from West Leake. It was also known as Great Leake in the 16 th century. 23 During the 12 th century the church and two manor houses were built. The capital messuage belonging to Shirley s manor appears to have been on the site of Old Hall farm, on the west side of the Sheepwash brook; there was a water mill was nearby. The capital messuage of the other manor, held by Roger de Busli in 1086 and later called Joyce s manor, stood on the site of Brookside farm. 24 On high ground south of the main street was the site of a castle or stockaded enclosure. Repairs to this were recorded as late as the 19 th century but the building no longer exists and is only remembered by the road name Castle Hill. 25 In 1318 King Edward II and Thomas, earl of Lancaster were in conflict. The two met at Leake and a settlement was reached which became known as the Treaty of Leake. 26 In the 16 th century the Town Lands Trust was set up to provide an income for the village to use to provide poor relief. At enclosure in 1799 about 21 acres between Stocking Archaeology in Nottinghamshire , TTS, cix (2005), 154. SMR, L29. SMR, L25; Pastscape SMR, L Pastscape ; SMR, M5197. Pastscape ; SMR, M5198. SMR, M18373, L274,L Archaeology in Nottinghamshire 2000, TTS, cv (2001), PN Notts., O. Wood, Two Millennia of Village Life (1999), 6. Wood, Two Millennia, 6. C. Burgess, The Treaty of Leake, Leake Historian No. 1(1993), 12. 4

5 Lane and Gotham Road were allotted to the Town Lands Trust. The land was let to local farmers and the rents used for charity. 27 In the centre of the village cottages were built around The Green, originally common land. After enclosure Glebe farm was built on the site and leased to tenants. 28 The village pinfold stands on the Green. Built of dressed coursed rubble with some ashlar and red brick, it was restored in 1980 with a new opening and access to seats. It no longer has a gate. 29 In 1951 the area was redeveloped and trees planted to provide a grassed open space for the village. Before the enclosure of there were three open fields, Hall field to the north, Brickcliffe field to the east and Woodgate field to the south-west. There were also several areas of common land and a small area of common arable to the north, Moor field. After the land was redistributed the rector and Sir Thomas Parkyns each had over 400 acres. Four farmers each had between 100 and 200 acres and a further 46 owners each had between 1 and 100 acres. Three people were awarded under an acre each. New farmhouses were built away from the village centre: in the south at The Lings and Gould s Barn, to the south-west at Woodgate, to the north at Hotchley and Welldale and to the east at Hill Top and Brookfurlong. Hall farm on the road to West Leake was built in 1877 and in 1892 Home farm was established in the south of the parish. 31 There are still some buildings in the village centre dating from the 17 th and 18 th centuries. On Brookside a group of three cottages, now reduced to two, have timber frames with red brick nogging with some render, rubble and blue brick and a pantile roof. They were restored c Old Hall farmhouse, now a house and squash club, was originally a red brick house with a pantile roof. It was altered in the 20 th century. 32 On Main Street is John Bley s house, built of red brick stretchers and blue brick headers and some 20 th century rubble stone, with a plain tile roof. On the right gable wall is I B 1715 in blue brick and on the rear range I B In the 19 th century it became the M. Jacques, The History of the Town Lands Trust (2009), 2-4. H. Meadowcroft & T. Grundy, Whatever happened to our Green?, Leake Historian No. 8 (2004), P. Lyth, The Pinfolds of Nottinghamshire (1992), 9; EH List. 30 Tate, Enclosures, J. Johnstone, Great Changes Enclosure of East Leake, Leake Historian No. 6 (2002), 6-13; Wood, Two Millennia, EH List. 5

6 post office and the two right bays were converted to form the shop windows. Many of the original features, particularly on the upper floor and attics, are still present. 33 In the 20 th century it was decided to expand East Leake as a centre for public services in the south of the county. This led to the building of a series of housing estates which continues at the time of writing. After the First World War wooden ex-army huts were converted to 14 bungalows to house workers at the Marblaegis plaster works. 34 In the 1930s council houses were built in an area bordered by Kirk Ley, Rempstone and Woodgate roads. A few years later a small council development was built on Bley Avenue. 35 In 1946 a council estate was erected mainly for the families of men working at the greatly enlarged plaster works as well as families which had lost their homes through war-time bombing. They were prefabricated houses using some aluminum and became known locally as Tin Town. Although only expected to last for ten years they were still occupied at the time of writing, having been improved at various times. In 1961 nearby Angrave Road was developed for housing. 36 The Twentylands estate was built in between West Leake Road and Woodgate Road, containing a mixture of houses and bungalows. At the same time the Stonebridge estate was built off the Gotham Road, south of Tin Town. A primary school was built there in 1952 and a secondary school in In the 1970s land to the north of Woodgate Road was laid out with roads named after trees. Also in the 1970s the Foxhill estate was developed on land behind St Mary s church, with suitable ecclesiastical names for the roads. 38 The following decade saw building at Meeting House Close, on the Costock Road and The Rope Walk on Station Road, 39 and in the 1990s building started on the west side of Gotham Road, which has continued northwards and was still in progress at the time of writing. At the start of the 21 st century Lantern Lane primary school was rebuilt to the east of the older site and was completed in The Harry Carlton comprehensive school was moved to the old primary school site and its former site was sold for housing. Both schools ; B. & G. van Laun & K. Hodgkinson, John Bley s House, Leake Historian No. 12 (2010), EH List. E. Hayes, Rushcliffe Bungalows, Leake Historian No. 6 (2002), R. O. Wood, The Roads, Trackways and Footpaths of East Leake (1999), 18. Wood, Roads, Trackways and Footpaths, 11. Wood, Roads, Trackways and Footpaths, 11, 12, Wood, Roads, Trackways and Footpaths, 18, 10. 6

7 were built under the government s Private Finance Initiative scheme, which also included a replacement leisure centre with both indoor and outdoor facilities. To the west of Gotham Road is Meadow Park, built on the site of a farm once owned by the Kirk family. When the farmland was sold for development the family gave the land for Meadow Park to the village. During the 19 th century farming was the major employment in the village together with some framework knitting and basket making. In 1914 the Marblaegis company was formed to mine gypsum. As the former occupations fell into decline the gypsum plaster works increased and a large factory was built on the north side of the village, west of the railway, in the 1950s. This has since grown rapidly and now covers a very large area. The village now contains a wide range of services and businesses. There are several shops including a post office and a supermarket. There is a police station, a fire station, library, health centre, a village hall and parish council office. There are five churches and a church hall. In addition there are two residential care homes. There are various sports clubs with their own facilities and the Rushcliffe Golf Club uses land opposite the gypsum works on the Gotham Road. 39 Wood, Roads, Trackways and Footpaths, 15, 11. 7