Story of streets part 1
What follows is a very brief description of the condition of streets in the fourteenth – sixteenth century, with particular reference to Loughborough and the visit of John Leland, and the work of Goadby.
In his discussion of the life of the average man in the fourteenth century, Goadby points out how unsafe life was, and how anyone going to market to sell their goods was very likely to be robbed, and most probably killed in the process (1). Of the roads, he particularly says:
“The roads were not only dangerous by reason of robbers, but by reasons of their rugged unpaved condition. A ploughed field was comparatively smooth beside them. The roads were in ruts, widened and deepened year after year until they were like brooks in wet weather and ran mud. The old notion of road-making was that you had only to make the sides of the road higher than the middle, and the rain would keep it in repair by washing down the gravel from the sides into the centre. This was the pre-Macadamite (2), concave system, and had its enthusiastic believers for years, but unfortunately water was an element that would not disappear immediately it was done with, and so the traveller slipped about like a drowning man in a quicksand, only that he did not drown. And then huge blocks of stone lay about the road in the most ugly positions, and there were holes you went into before you knew what you were doing, that threatened to engulf man, horse, and waggon, for ever. Sir Walter Raleigh’s cloak would have been of little use even in a civilised town.”
Goadby goes on to describe Loughborough specifically:
“Loughborough was no better than its fellows. Its streets were narrow, unpaved, boggy. Yes, blocks of stone as big as wheelbarrows lay about them as late as the end of the last century (i.e. 18th). There were only two good through roads, the Leicester and Nottingham and the Leicester and Derby highway. Carriers went along these when they could collect goods enough, taking a good long day to reach any of the three places from Loughborough.”
Of course, the mail coaches didn’t come into existence until 1794, and Goadby goes on to talk about the delivery of letters:
“Letters went seldom. A man did not exactly write his letters and take them with himself, but he did very much like it. He must either send them by his own messenger, or wait for a passing pilgrim, whose rags sheltered him from assault. Pilgrims and minstrels were the only news-bringers, and what people found to talk about is one of those mysteries that lord Dundreary might appropriately consider past understanding. The Ashby turnpike only extended as far as Snell’s Nook Gate, then called Highway End, and beyond it was open waste. The Forest Lane Gate was about where the Woodbrook Bridge is now, and beyond that all was waste. The Meadow Lane was probably in existence, but would be nothing like so long as it is now, and all open to fields.”
Goadby concludes this part of his history of Loughborough with a discussion on bridges, bridgemasters, tolls and bridge repairs. It is worth quoting his comments upon the Nottingham Road:
“The road to Nottingham appears to have been most important, and the bridges between Loughborough and Cotes the wonder of travellers. They were erected in some degree of substantiality in the second half of the thirteenth century, if not before, and probably upon piles.”
In the early-mid 1500s, John Leland embarked on a series of tours of England and Wales, and after passing through Leicester, he visited Loughborough. He described Leicester and Loughborough as follows (see below for a rough 21st-century interpretation):
“The hole toune of Leircester at this tyme is buildid of tymbre: and so is Lughborow after the same rate.” Leland travelled from Leicester to Bradgate, through the Charnwood Forest, to Beaumanor, and thence to Loughborough Parks, which he says was about one mile from the town centre. Between Loughborough Parks and the town centre he: “pssid over a little brooke, the principal heddes whereof risith in Lugborow Parke …” He goes on to say “The toune of Lugborow is yn largeness and good building next to Leyrcester of al the markette tounes yn the shire, and hath in it a 4. Faire strates or mo welle pavid.” Our theme here is streets, but Leland also mentions the parish church: “The paroche chirch is faire. Chapelles or chirchis beside yn the toune be none. At the south est ende of the chirche is a faire house of tymbre, where ons King Henry the VII did lye.”
Writing in 2010, Lee (3) remarks that buildings Leland observed along his route, were important in his consideration of how prosperous a town might be. Clearly, Leland’s remarks about Loughborough in comparison to Leicester show that the town was quite successful, and that it had an infrastructure more akin to that which would be more likely to be associated with a larger urban area. Hence, Leland’s comments about the church, the timber house, and the paved streets all point to Loughborough being prosperous.
But what of these four or more straight paved streets? To find out a little more, we need to go back to the 1800s when pieces that appeared in the local newspapers delve into the history of Loughborough and some of its streets.
To be continued … Go the Story of Streets, part 2
Interpretation
of Leland’s words:
At this time,
all the buildings in Leicester were built of timber, as was the case in
Loughborough. Leland passed over a little brook [the Wood Brook] which was
surrounded by the hedges of Loughborough Parks. The size of Loughborough and
its properties makes it the largest market town in Leicestershire after Leicester
itself. Loughborough town centre has four straight (4), well-paved streets. The
parish church is beautiful (5). There are no other churches or chapels in the
town. At the southeastern end of the church is a nice timber house where King
Henry VII once stayed.
Notes
(1) ‘Loughborough
Monitor’, 13 October 1864, pg.5
(2) This
terminology is alluding to the road-building work of John Loudon McAdam
(1756-1836), who gave his roads the convex camber we know today, and whose name
was intertwined with the engineered road surface, tarmacadam, patented in 1902
and generally abbreviated to tarmac. McAdam was not the first road-builder to
propose and build convex road surfaces: ‘Blind’
Jack Metcalf (1717-1819) built many roads like this in his native Yorkshire,
and in Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Lancashire.
(3) Lee, John
S. (2010) ‘The functions and fortunes of English small towns at the close of
the middle ages: evidence from John Leland's "Itinerary"’ In:
Urban History, May 2010, Vol. 37, No. 1 (May 2010), pp. 18
(4) The
Oxford English Dictionary has many definitions for ‘faire’: the interpretation of
this one is based on ‘directly’ or ‘in a straight line’, given that the town
centre streets form a grid-like pattern
(5) Here the definition of ‘faire’ is that suggested by the OED – ‘beautiful or agreeable of attractive appearance’
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| 'Blind Jack Metcalf' in Knaresborough town centre |
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows: Dyer, Lynne (2020). Story of streets part 1. Available from: https://lynneaboutthestreetsofloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/11/story-of-streets-part-1.html [Accessed 29 November 2020]
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