Thomas Babington's Carriageway
This is a project by Marion Vincent, Natural History Heritage Warden for Rothley and Brian Verity, Archaeological Warden for Rothley. Our aim is to map the route of the carriageway constructed and used by Thomas Babington so that he could drive from his home, The Temple (now the Rothley Court Hotel), to the main road without having to drive his carriage through Rothley village.
Thomas Babington 1758-1837 retired from being a Member of Parliament in 1818 and devoted more of his energies to building up his estate. The carriageway from the Turnpike was one of his first projects, confirmed by the 1819 datestone on the Stone Bridge over Rothley Brook. He also planted many trees at this time.
Recording started in November 2005 by walking the route using old maps and the trees and tree stumps that lined it. The most challenging part was through Rothley Park where there are very many trees and the longest part of the carriageway through any one site. Starting at the Stone Bridge we used ranging poles to probe the pasture and this is how we located the gravel bed of the carriageway up to the boundary with The Temple, now the edge of the Rothley Court Hotel car park.
A photographic record has been made of the length of the carriageway but we have yet to record the trees and stumps in more detail.
Recorded in 2005
Three views taken in different seasons to show its continuation through a lovely avenue of trees in a hilly pasture called Short Browns Ward.
It then swings round to the right through the trees into Thorney Wong before meeting the Bridle Road to Thurcaston at the boundary of the Rothley Park Golf Course.
To find out more about this historic carriageway please click on the following link: