Goadby Estate Map of 1715

The image above is from a map drawn by Thomas Crane who, in 1715, conducted a survey of lands and tenants on behalf of Samuel Lowe, Lord of the Manor of Goadby Marwood at the time. The map is held in the collection of the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, and reproduced with his kind permission.

In 1714, Samuel inherited Goadby Hall and estate from his father, Henry, together with several large sugar plantations in Jamaica. Samuel had an extravagant nature; Nichols in The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire quotes an account by the Reverend Francis Peck, Rector of Goadby, that describes how, in 1727, Samuel ordered fish to be brought in from Derbyshire to stock his ponds. Trout were apparently ‘brought in buckets on men’s heads who walked night and day with them, and were delivered alive, at 12d a piece, …’ Samuel died in August 1731 at Goadby, he was just 37 years old. He had never married and had no legitimate children, so as stipulated in his father’s last will and testament, the estate was passed to his sisters. It was later sold to wealthy merchant, Peter Wyche, and the proceeds were used pay Samuel’s many creditors.

We can see from the map that a number of village properties that we recognise today may date back to at least 1715. Goadby Hall, located at the centre of the estate, would have looked somewhat different to the building we see today, the imposing south façade not being added until around the mid-1750s. There is no entrance or driveway at the rear of the hall, the only entrance being via the driveway located on Main Street next to the church. The imposing Red Barn on the east side of the hall grounds marks the position where a series of three large barns once stood.

The map shows two properties in the small paddock to the front of the hall of which no trace remains today. These fronted onto Main Street, so it seems likely that the high wall surrounding the hall was not constructed until sometime after 1715, possibly at the time that the new south façade was added.

The Historic England listing for The Old Rectory states that the current façade dates from around 1750, but the map shows us that there was a substantial building on the site before this date. Interestingly, the road to Wycomb, which today passes in front of the Rectory, is shown winding around the back of the building. An area of stone walling may indicate where this right of way was blocked up.

Other houses that appear on the map and that still exist in the village today, although some may have been partially rebuilt, are Sundial House, Paddock House, Manor Cottages, The Brooms, Inglebrook, The Old Post Office, First Farm and Ivy House.

There is what appears to be a fairly small house on the site of The Manor which likely corresponds to the west wing of the current building, with the more imposing east wing having been added sometime after 1715. At the time of the survey the house had no tenant. There is also a cottage in the paddock to the rear of which no trace is visible today.

There is a single house on the site of Norman Cottages which was demolished around the mid-1800s to be replaced with the cottages we see today. The map also shows buildings on the sites of The Laurels and Beech House.

There is a house on the site of Manor Farm, and another on the opposite side of the road in the area that is today occupied by The Hollies and Stone Cottage.

There is a farmhouse to the north of the estate, labelled as White Lodge, which corresponds to the position of the property we know today as Green Lodge. The farmhouse at the T junction on Eastwell Road that we know today as White Lodge is not marked. This is most likely because the farm at that time was not part of the Goadby estate.

A street is shown running in front of Manor Cottages, across the Manor paddock where it joins the end of Towns Lane. There is still a public footpath that follows this route although it is little used today. There is no street visible in the location of Kemps Lane.

Many of the field names on the map were still in use at the time of the tithe survey in 1839, and some are still in use today albeit slightly corrupted, for example, Dove Hill (Dover Hill), Upper Park (Great Park) and Auby (Orbis). The only area still being cultivated in strips in 1715 was Auby on the far west of the estate, the other areas having been enclosed in the previous century.