Saturday 5th October 2024  

A brief history of Soar House, Soar Road, Quorn

Soar House is situated on Soar Road in Quorn. Many of the large houses in the village were originally built as hunting boxes for people who came to hunt with The Quorn, which was based at Quorn Hall, and it is likely that this was the case with Soar House.

The photograph below was taken in the early 1960s when Soar House was being used as halls of residence for Loughborough College.

According to the book ‘Bygone Quorn in Photographs’, the earliest residents of Soar House that could be traced were the Bostock family.

Other occupants of Soar House in Victorian times were the Sarson family, who moved into the property in 1863. They were grocers and connected with the famous wine merchants and vinegar producers. John Sarson was a director of Quorn Gas Company and Quorndon Building Society, and a much respected member of the community. However on 29th June 1873, 56 year old John was found drowned in the River Soar in tragic and strange circumstances, that caused much speculation. A newspaper account from the Loughborough Advertiser at the time can be found in Artefact 399.

Certainly in the late Victorian period and probably before that, Soar House was part of the Quorn Hall estate and was rented out to various tenants. The Warner family lived at Quorn Hall from 1855 to 1928 – it is known that they owned Soar House in 1910, and it is possible they owned it for the full 73 years, although it was advertised for sale several times during that time. Known tenants are listed below:
- The Beardsley family were well-known Quorn residents and Loughborough solicitors. ‘Bygone Quorn in Photographs’ tells us that during the great flood of 1875, whilst they were living in Soar House, they were trapped for six weeks, and Webster the baker brought them bread in his boat, throwing it up to them at the windows. We know that the Beardsleys were living there in 1874, from a report of the marriage between William Frederick Beardsley and Rosa Luis Fernandez - and they were still there in January 1881 when William and Rosa’s fifth child was born. Two months later the house was advertised to let.
- The next mentions of Soar House are in September 1889 when Dr E R Crofton is reported as living there, and in May 1890 when the house is again advertised in the newspaper as available for rent.
- Hugh Lowther, the 5th Earl of Lonsdale (known as Lord Lonsdale) used Soar House when he was Master of Quorn Hunt from 1893 to 1898.
- William Gabriel King Pierce and his wife Mary were occupying Soar house in 1910 and 1911. William was a career soldier and was later killed in WW1.

During WW2, Soar House, along with several other large houses in Quorn, was commandeered by the army for accommodating women of the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), now known as WRAC (Women's Royal Army Corps).

After the war, when Soar House was owned by Leicestershire County Council and was used by Loughborough College of Education (now part of Loughborough University) as halls of residence for its students. Andrew Corless tells us that in the mid 1970s it was a boarding school house attached to Quorn Rawlins Grammar Schoool. Boarders were transferred from Countesthorpe College and Andrew lived there from 1976 until 1979. At that time the house parents were John and Dianne Malone and their five children.

Eventually in the late 1970s it was sold and converted into a home for the elderly. By 2006 Soar House had changed use again, when it was transformed into high quality apartments, which were sold on a leasehold basis.

Missing information: Can you add any more to the history of Soar House? Please email us at: team2024@quornmuseum.com Submitted on: 2016-02-21 Submitted by: Sue Templeman Artefact ID: 1915 Artefact URL: www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=1915 Print: View artefact in printer-friendly page or just on its own (new browser tab).