Post-Medieval

(1485-c.1800)

Many country houses, farmhouses and cottages still exist from this period. Society remained rural but with a development in some villages away from the old open arable fields towards enclosed livestock grazing. The outputs of which led to early cottage industries, most notably framework knitting. Religion was of central importance, from the Reformation to the Civil War.

Sunday 22 September 2024

Loughborough’s First Workhouse

LAHS Member Dr Pam Fisher explores the founding of an early mid-18th century workhouse.

Sunday 9 June 2024

‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ Witchcraft in Leicestershire

LAHS Member Steve Marquis takes a look at the history of witchcraft prosecutions in 17th and 18th Century Leicestershire.

Sunday 26 May 2024

The ‘Forgotten’ Alabaster of Burton on the Wolds

Joan Shaw and Bob Trubshaw examine the little known history of alabaster quarrying in Leicestershire.

Sunday 17 March 2024

A house at 93 Main Street, Lyddington, Rutland - A history of ownership and occupation over 400 years

LAHS Member Trevor Harrington shares a portion of his house history, exploring how even in the 18th Century, life could still be shaped by the manorial system, discussing in particular the "Borough English" custom of land inheritance and the stark consequences it could and did have for women.

Sunday 10 March 2024

The Bean-Bellies of Leicestershire – an Eco-History of a Name

LAHS Trustee and Committee Member, Elizabeth Tingle explores the now forgotten importance of the humble bean as a widespread staple food crop in Leicestershire across the centuries.

Sunday 3 March 2024

Why do three adjacent villages have rare C17th fonts?

LAHS Member Bob Trubshaw examines three local examples of rare baptismal fonts found in the villages of Bottesford, Orston and Muston, exploring their links to Archbishop Laud's counter-reformation of the mid 17th Century.

Thursday 18 January 2024

The 1645 Siege of Leicester

LAHS member Steve Marquis, recounts the infamous siege of Leicester in 1645 during the height of the English Civil War