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Lubenham
The village
of Lubenham is situated a mile or so to the West of Market Harborough
on the A4304. This pleasant Leicestershire village, like many up and down the country, has lost a number of it's ammenities over recent years. These include a paper shop, post
office, Petrol Filling Station (Q8), Fiat Dealership and flower shop. A
public house (Coach & Horses) and Primary School still remain though.
There are several
places of interest, some of which are detailed below. |
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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.
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very first Grand National was won by one of J. A.'s horses called 'bridegroom'.
He also had one of the doors to the stables, which are currently used by
a knitwear manufacturer,
covered in his own horseshoes, which is now housed in the museum
at Market Harborough. |
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. |
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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. |
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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.
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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. |
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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.
Special thanks to Bib Patrick for help with the research for this page. |
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