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An Old Quorn Ticket House - Footpath toll for pedestrians
Loughborough Echo - 21st June 1935
At the north-western entrance to the churchyard in Quorn stands an old cottage enclosed in iron railings; its thick walls of mud and oak beams resting on heavy stone work bespeak its great age. Indeed, Mr William James, the owner, believes it to date from the 13th century, which certainly make it one of the oldest buildings in the village.
The red tiles with which it is roofed are believed to have been made in the brickyard which once stood on the site of the present L.N.E.R station, and Mr James has evidence that the fireplace, which was cast in one piece, was made in Duns Lane, Leicester, in 1623.
Another interest, however, hangs round this old building, for Mr James is of opinion that it was a ticket house at which pedestrians paid toll for passing along the footpath from Barrow to Woodhouse. Evidence in favour of this theory is found in the existence of a small arch, similar to that in which one takes one's railway ticket, in the wall of the front room. Also, from an old diary which Mr James found in a boarded up cupboard on acquiring the property. This book, which is dated 1830, bears the name of its owner, Daniel Bodger "of the Ticket House". This little book has an interest of its own, for it gives, amongst other information of the day, the number of slaves in the English colonies.
A Loughborough historian once said that without documentary evidence, history is likely to become a matter of conjectural probability. This obviously old cottage affords plenty of scope for interesting conjecture.
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Submitted on: |
2010-01-19 |
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Submitted by: |
Kathryn Paterson |
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Artefact ID: |
724 |
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Artefact URL: |
www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=724 |
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Print: |
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