Lubenham
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The village
of Lubenham is situated a mile or so to the West of Market Harborough
on the A4304. This pleasant Leicestershire village has more amenities
than most villages of its size. These include a paper shop, post
office, Petrol Filling Station (Q8), Fiat Dealership, Flower shop,
public house (Coach & Horses) and a Primary School. Several
small businesses include; Shoe Emporium, MassMitec
and G J Waller & Co. |
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Tower House Tower
House stands next to All Saints Church in Rushes Lane Lubenham.
Originally an old farmhouse, it has formerly been known as The Cottage,
The Vicarage and Cherry Angel's House. The house has a history of
horse loving residents including the rev. Graham Dilley and the
famous Jack (Cherry) Angel, who played a large part in the addition
of several sections to the house each time one of his horses had
a major win. This must surely account for it's somewhat 'higgledy
piggledy' appearance, with the tower on the Northwest face being
it's most prominent feature. This tower
was built so that J. A. could watch his racehorses exercise in the
paddock opposite the house, in the days before the railway was built
on some of the land around 1850. |
The House that Jack Built
The House that Jack Built stands on the corner of School Lane and Main Street, and has a suite of stables at the rear. Extensive alterations were financed by Jack (Cherry) Angel during his time in the village, which probably gave rise to the name of the building. Former owners include Major Massey and Victor Colin - famous for having a weekly column in the Harborough Mail on antiques.
The Coach & Horses
The Coach & Horses pub stands on Main Street. Dick Coleman (1907-1978) was the landlord, before taking over the Talbot in Market Harborough (now called the Tavern). His parents (Alfred Coleman 1858-1932 & his sister Elizabeth Coleman 1867-1956) kept the former Paget Arms pub at Lubenham, and then the Bell Inn at Gumley, in whose parish they are now buried at the Church of St. Helen.
Thorpe Lubenham Hall
Thorpe Lubenham Hall, was once owned by Viscount Kemsley, who's wife still lives in the old laundry there, which has been converted into a house. The daughter of the former owners, Sir Harrold and Lady Zia Wernher, became Geogina Phillips, who used to invite the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh & children to the Hall. This created much media attention and large crowds in the village during the 1960's.The Paget Arms
The Paget Arms pub
closed on the 31/09/1961. Miss Tarry stayed on at the house, where she
farmed. One of her employees, John Green, who was deaf & dumb, was a very
well known character of the village.
The front of the house still bears the stone crest of the Pagets, and
a very special table still exists locally, which was carved with names
of US personnel who served over here in WW2.
This picture shows (Alfred Coleman 1858-1932) & family at the Paget Arms.
The
last Pagets of note to live in the local area, occupied Lubenham Lodge
after Mr. Farquer, from
1964 to around the 1990's. They were Lord Reginald Paget, once MP for
Northampton, and his wife Lady Cybil Helen (Nancy) Paget who were married
in 1932.
Inset:
Paget Arms Crest on the front of the house above.
These
two pictures by kind permision of Charles Allen.
The Patricks
The longest surviving
family in Lubenham are the Patrick's. There have been Patricks in Lubenham
since the 17th century. Bib Patrick is the 9th generation.
This page updated 29/06/2001. Many thanks to Bib Patrick and Charles Allen for help with research
