Beehive Lane

Layout of the streets

There is a very short street called New Street, which is just off Ward’s End, and which forms a fitting entrance to Loughborough’s Queen’s Park, with a marvellous view towards the Carillon Tower, which is a war memorial. New Street has been in existence since pre-1809, while many of the surrounding streets have been re-named – for example, Warwick Row (now Ward’s End), Welsh Hill (now Bedford Square), and Fishpool Head (now Cattle Market).

In 1837, other streets close to New Street, in addition to those mentioned above, included Dye House Lane (now Devonshire Lane), Devonshire Square, South Street, Wood Gate, Southfield Lane, and a short road whose name is unclear – it could be Pulton, or Palton, or Pation, or Palion Lane – none of which ring true.

In his book of 1934, [1] Percy Russell notes that the main road from Market Harborough, through Leicester and on to Loughborough changed its route around 1802-1809. The proposal was reported in the 1802 minutes of the Turnpike Trustees, and was in response to the Earl of Moira, who later sold his holdings in Loughborough to fund his coal-mining activities in what we today call North West Leicestershire. The original route of the turnpike road appears to have been (viewing southwards) a right turn off High Street into Wood Gate, and then in about thirty yards, a sharp left into Pack Horse Lane, which led across the grounds of Southfield and Fairfield (the latter owned by the White family, hosiers in the town), which then came out at the northern boundary of the Loughborough Grammar School. The Packhorse Lane mentioned runs parallel to the short street now known as Beehive Lane, whose name in 1837 is unclear.

A map of 1881 shows that this little lane, which is the subject of this article, had become known as Beehive Lane. This is also substantiated by entries in trade directories, and by following certain families through the census returns. 

Trade Directory entries

In his work on the place names of Loughborough (2016), Cox [2] includes Beehive Lane in a list of “names [that] have not survived or have not been related with certainty to modern urban locations.” and identified that the street name appeared in White’s trade directories of 1863 and 1877, and in Kellys trade directory of 1925 [3].

The entry in White’s directory of 1863 is thus:

"The CALVINISTIC CHAPEL, in Beehive Lane, is a small building without any regular minister.” [4]

A Calvinistic chapel is mentioned in Pigot’s 1822 directory [5] “In this town [Loughborough] are six dissenting meeting-houses, viz. General or Armenian Baptists, Calvinist Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quakers.” But no addresses are given for any of these places. Similarly in 1828, Pigots directory simply says that the Calvinists have a place of worship, but do not state where this is.

In White’s 1863 directory there is also a list of streets and lanes in Loughborough: there is an entry for Beehive Square, and in the alphabetical section listing the inhabitants, there is an entry for one Robert Carter, a framework knitter on Beehive Lane. The explanation of who appears in the directory explains:

“… contains all the inhabitants, except journeymen, and labourers… and is followed by another arrangement under the heads of trades and professions…”

Robert Carter appears only once in this directory, as does Beehive Lane, and Beehive Square.  

White’s 1877 [6] directory has only one entry for Beehive Lane, which now appears in conjunction with the entry for the Calvinistic Chapel:

“THE CALVINISTIC CHAPEL in Beehive Lane is a small building without a minister.”

However, there is an earlier mention of Beehive Lane, again in association with the Calvinists in Drake’s directory of 1861 [7]:

“There are also in the town, chapels belonging to the Unitarians…Wesleyans…Independents…General Baptists…Particular Baptists…Primitive Methodists… and Calvinists (Beehive Lane).”

Is there anything from earlier?

An even earlier mention occurs of Beehive Lane when in 1829, local auctioneer, John Toone, auctioned the estate of the late Mr Bass. The auction took place on Tuesday 29 September 1829, in the Pack Horse Inn, which was on the corner of Wood Gate and Packhorse Lane, and indeed, still is. There were a number of lots, the ones of interest being Lots 2 and 3 described in the newspaper advert, which was clearly directed at bakers, maltsters, & others, and ran as follows: [8]

“Lots 2 and 3 – A Quantity of BUILDING LAND, a Corner Situation, with a Frontage of Eighty Feet to the Wood-gate, and Forty-six Feet to a Street called the Beehive-street, at Loughborough aforesaid, on which is a newly-erected Two-story [sic] Building, now occupied as a Warehouse, capable of being converted into Two Tenements, at a small Expense; also a small Tenement, Three Piggeries, and a Barn. This is an admirable and commanding Situation for erecting a Shop for various Businesses, being a populous and respectable Neighbourhood.”

Clearly, Beehive Lane was in existence in some form by 1829, and may have been so-named even earlier than this. Following the life journey of Robert Carter, a framework knitter, who, according to White’s 1863 directory was neither a journeyman, nor a labourer, nor a head of his trade, so perhaps working from his home, might further illuminate the history of Beehive Lane?

Brief outline of the life of Robert Carter

Robert Carter was born in Swithland, a village approximately 6 miles from Loughborough, around 1791.

We know from his army service records, that in 1809, at the age of 15 (or possibly 16) Robert served with the Coldstream Guards, serving as a serjeant, and leaving in 1815. He was “slightly wounded in the left hand, and in the abdomen at the Battle of Talavera”, which took place 27-28 July 1809. He also sustained other injuries, including “deep wounds in the right thigh attending upwards towards the hip joint”. His records tell us that Robert was five foot ten inches tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and a fresh complexion, and at the time of enlisting he was a stockinger. In October 1816, Robert married Sarah Smith at Loughborough’s parish church, at which time his religion was stated as Anglican.  

At the time of the 1841 census return, Robert Carter, a framework knitter, aged approximately 50, was living with his family on New Street, which was listed after Ward’s End (which itself was listed after one property on Forest Lane). There were numerous dwellings on New Street, which is followed on the census return by Murfin’s Yard (probably belonging to 70-year-old famer, John Murfin, whose census entry appears on Ward’s End directly before that of Robert Carter), which in turn is followed by West Hill (which was perhaps better known as Welsh Hill?), then Devonshire Square.

In 1851 Robert Carter, a 59-year-old FWK [9] in worsted, is listed on the census return as living on Wood Gate, with his family. Wood Gate appears to comprise many dwellings. The household record for Robert continues on the next census page, and the entry in the census return after Robert’s is for Beehive Lane. Here there are 4 households listed: that of Ann Bailey, a 69-year-old cotton hose seamstress; Edward Cumberland aged 61, possibly a piercer; a family of 3 whose name is indecipherable, and finally, John Taylor aged 55, a FWK in merino, with his wife Hannah aged 57, his daughter Hannah a cotton hose seamer aged 20 (?), his son Robert 17 a FWK in merino, daughter Jane 14 (?) FWK in cotton, and daughter Eliza 7, a scholar. The entries following this are for Wood Gate, which perhaps places Beehive Lane as being a street off Wood Gate.

On the 1861 census return, Robert Carter, now a 70-year-old framework knitter in cotton and worsted, is living on Beehive Lane. Indeed, this was the only dwelling listed in the census return on that street. The entry for Beehive Lane appears after Southfield Road (which also lists only one dwelling, and is itself preceded by entries for Bedford Street), and before Bedford Street (the latter being a continuation of that street, which listing started before Southfield Road).

Although we have seen Robert Carter listed in the 1863 trade directory, the directories would have been researched well-before publication, so although he was listed, Robert, framework knitter of Loughborough in the county of Leicester, had actually died on 28 November 1862, before the publication of the directory. Robert had made a will, and had left all his belongings to his wife, Sarah. The will was witnessed by Edward Stevenson, a dissenting minister, and William Carter, who in a trade directory of 1863 is listed as a china dealer on Swan Street. Robert’s death was also noted in the regional newspapers. It is clear from this account of Robert’s life, that Beehive Lane was in existence in 1851, when Robert lived on the street.

But what of the origin of the street name?     

There are several possibilities around the origin of the name Beehive Lane. One is that in 1837, the extensive gardens on Southfield Lane in the possession of William Paget Esq., might perhaps have had beehives? Or perhaps the corner nearest to what is now Leicester Road, which in 1837 was used by Robinsons Nurseries, had beehives? Maybe the people who lived on this short street were busy bees working for the local hosiery industry, and being productive, were a hive of success? As the Loughborough Co-operative store opened on Wood Gate in 1866, and whose logo of a arms involved in a handshake, and a beehive, which appear on that building, this is probably not the origin of the street name. Although Beehive Lane was almost on the turnpike road from Market Harborough to Loughborough, it is also unlikely that Beehive Lane is named after the famous stagecoach named Beehive, which served Wolverhampton, and one of the same name, which travelled between Leeds and Thorparch, near Wetherby (possibly now Boston Spa).

Whatever the origin, the name Beehive still stands as a street name in Loughborough, and also gives its name to the adjacent car park.      

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Notes

1 Russell, Percy (1934). A Leicestershire Road: being the history of the main road through the county of Leicester from Market Harborough to Loughborough. Leicester: Edgar Backus, pg. 20-21

2 Cox, Barrie (2016). Place-names of Leicestershire. Vol. XCI, part 7 West Goscote. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2016 pg. 130

3 Kelly, A. Lindsay (ed.) (19285). Kelly's directory of the counties of Derby, Nottingham, Leicester & Rutland. London: Kelly's

4 White, William (1863) History, gazetteer, and directory of the counties of Leicester and Rutland. Sheffield: William White.

5 Pigot’s directory of Leicestershire, 1822, 1828, 1835 (bound as one).

6 White, William (1877) History, gazetteer, and directory of the counties of Leicester and Rutland. Sheffield: William White.

7 Drake, E. S. (1861). Commercial directory of Leicestershire; containing an alphabetical list of the gentry, merchants, manufacturer, professions, trades, etc.. Leeds: John Kershaw and Son (printers).

8 Nottingham Review, 18 September 1929, pg. 2

9 FWK is an abbreviation for framework knitter

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Streets: Bedford Square, Bedford Street, Beehive Lane, Cattle Market, Devonshire Lane, Devonshire Square, Dye House Lane, Fishpool Head, Forest Lane, New Street, Pack Horse Lane, South Street, Southfield Lane, Ward’s End, Warwick Row, Welsh Hill, Wood Gate

Category: I am unable to classify this street. Please visit the blog’s introductory page https://lynneaboutthestreetsofloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/11/first-post.html for a list of the possible categories

Map co-ordinates: G6

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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