Rothley (A Guided Walk in Rothley)
"Rothley" is a particularly popular example of the Guided Walks run by Blue Badge Guide Colin Crosby, of Colin Crosby Heritage Tours.
These strolls are a most enjoyable way of soaking up some Local History.
This picturesque village is on the outskirts of the famous Charnwood Forest, between Leicester and Loughborough, and for its size has a great deal of history.
The walk starts at Cross Green, in the present centre of the village.
Rothley was an important centre for the Knights Templar, the religious order of knights who were founded to protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land, but who lost all their property and money when the Kings of England and France accused them of blasphemy. Their local estate included a chapel, which still stands in the grounds of the Rothley Court Hotel.
This hotel was the birthplace of the eminent Victorian writer and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, who on being ennobled took the title Baron Macaulay of Rothley. Macaulay was a descendant of the Babingtons, one of whose members was implicated in a plot ("the Babington Plot") to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
A memorial on the lawn records where the parliamentary bill to outlaw slavery in the British Empire was drafted.
The churchyard has an impressive Anglo-Saxon cross, which would have been used for open-air preaching and predates the church.
A little-known part of Rothley is Town Green, around which are several thatched and timber-framed cottages.
Rothley is served by buses from Leicester and Loughborough.
Dates, costs and where to meet
A place on 'Rothley' costs £5.00 per person, or £4.00 if paying in advance. The guided walk begins at Cross Green, and is running on:
I'm sorry, but there are no plans to run this event at present.
If you would like to book a place on one of these dates, please telephone Colin on (0116) 2611576 or email him at colin@crosbyheritage.co.uk.