Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A hard life: The Grange, Rothley


Once I had photographed the Saxon cross at Rothley I found myself running out of energy. It was the precursor to a nasty bout of man flu I have been down with this week.

But I did photograph another building, It looked as though it had at one time been noble, suffered a hard life and was now preserved (with a touch of the mortician's art being used).

I was more or less right.

The Grange began life as a farmhouse in the 18th century and was enlarged to become a large country house at the end of the 19th.

In 1950 it became the headquarters of Barrow Rural District Council - as in Barrow upon Soar. The authority proceeded to surround it with "tasteless modern outbuildings".

It was in this condition that it was taken over in 1974 by Charnwood District Council, a new authority centred on Loughborough. They leased space on to other statutory bodies.

In 2008 The Grange was bought from the council by William Davis, who converted it into flats and built some more around it.

Rothley Parish Council has some pleasing photos of the buildings in a derelict condition awaiting restoration and redevelopment.


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