| Quorn | |
Quorn High Street |
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Quorn
Quorn shown within Leicestershire |
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| Population | 4,961 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | SK561164 |
| District | Charnwood |
| Shire county | Leicestershire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Loughborough |
| Postcode district | LE12 |
| Dialling code | 01509 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Loughborough |
| List of places: UK • England • Leicestershire | |
Quorn is a village in Leicestershire, England, situated next to the university town of Loughborough. Quorn's name was shortened from Quorndon in 1889, to avoid postal difficulties owing to its similarity to the name of another village, Quarndon, a few miles away. Its original name is said to derive from the Old English cweordun. Dun, Old English for Hill, where cweorn, Old English for millstones, are quarried.
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The first known evidence of the village is in the Lincoln Episcopal Registers for 1209–1235, as Quernendon. Other variations of the village name over the centuries include Querne, Quendon, Querendon, Quarendon, Qaryndon, Querinden, Querondon, and Quernedon.[1]
The quarrying of stone in Quorn began at a very early age at Buddon Wood, on the edge of the parish. Granite millstones were quarried in the early Iron Age, and under the Romans stone was quarried for building in Leicester. Some of the larger millstones can still be seen in the area, however these days they are either used as garden ornaments, or worked into seats or slabs.
Quorndon Hall, off Meynell Road on the edge of the village, became the home of renowned fox hunter Hugo Meynell in 1753. He established his pack of hounds there, where it continued under later masters until 1905, thus giving a name to the famous Quorn Hunt.[2] A Royal Navy ship, HMS Quorn, is named in honour of the hunt.[3]
96 men from Quorn lost their lives in the two World Wars (77 in World War I and 19 in World War II).[4] A cenotaph in Quorn's Memorial Gardens honours these men.
"Quorn Camp" was established on the grounds of Quorn House during World War II. It was used as a PoW camp[5][6] and was also host to a number of the United States Army 82nd Division's 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.[7] These paratroopers were involved in liberating the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, in Normandy, France, on the morning of D-Day and included Pvt. John Marvin Steele who famously became caught on the town's church spire.[8] This incident is today commemorated with a dummy paratrooper and parachute attached to the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
A number of American veterans come back to Quorn, particularly every tenth anniversary of the D-Day landings, to remember their time in Quorn and their comrades who did not return.[9]
There is a plaque commemorating these US servicemen in Quorn's Memorial Gardens, upon which a poppy wreath is placed each year on Remembrance Sunday. There is also an avenue of lime trees in Stafford Orchard (the village park) in remembrance of those American soldiers that died, together with a plaque.[10]
The village has a train station called "Quorn and Woodhouse", shared with the neighbouring hamlet of Woodhouse, which was on the national Great Central Railway network. The station is now on the preserved Great Central Steam Railway. Not only is the site of historical and cultural interest throughout the year, the station hosts a spectacular fireworks display on the Bonfire weekend.
In the centre of the village is Rawlins Community College, a 14-19 Comprehensive school.[11] This is on the site of the Thomas Rawlins grammar school for Girls.
The dual-carriageway A6 Quorn-Mountsorrel bypass opened on 28 October 1991.[12]
"The Banks" area of the village is an ornate paved area with seating, designed to resemble the letter 'Q' when seen from the air.
Sarson Street, running adjacent to Rawlins Community College, features many 19th Century terraced cottages, formerly those of framework knitters. Framework knitting was a major local industry until the onset of major mechanisation, and the cottages along this road display certain features typical of such an activity. Large windows for example were intended to allow in the necessary amount of light by which to work.
In the past few years, efforts have been made to cater for the local young people. These have resulted in a half pipe being built next to the basketball court on the park, and a green shelter erected on the same site. The large park, with its shaded area by the stream, large football pitch and half pipe now appeals to people of all ages. Examples of how the park contributes to the village can be seen at the large and successful Mayday fete, as well as the local pub football matches occasionally held there.
The village prides itself on its green spaces, and more evidence of this can be seen with the opposition to proposed development at Caves field. This is a large cricket pitch with a pavilion near the centre of Quorn, which was the focus of interest from a housing development company. Objection was widespread, not only at the prospect of losing the cricket field but also due to the threat to a neighbouring wetland ecosystem, considered valuable by environmentalists and the village population.
The Church of St Bartholomew and Farnham Chapel is a Grade I listed building.[13]
Quorn House, off Meeting Street, is currently home to the offices of fitness guru Rosemary Conley.[14]
The 2001 census showed Quorn's population to be 4,961 (2,412 males and 2,549 females) living in 2,083 households with an average age of 41.[15]
Quorn Parish Council is the village administration with ten elected councillors.[16] The village is represented at district level by two Charnwood Borough Council councillors for the Quorn & Mountsorrel Castle ward, Richard Shepherd (Con) and David Slater (Con).[17] At county level, Quorn, along with the neighbouring village of Barrow upon Soar, is represented by a single Leicestershire County Council councillor, Tony Kershaw (Con).[18] Quorn is represented in the UK Parliament by Nicky Morgan (Con), MP for the Loughborough constituency.[19] At European level, Quorn is in the East Midlands constituency, which has five MEPs in the European Parliament; Derek Clark (UKIP/EFD), Roger Helmer (Con/ECR), Emma McClarkin (Con/ECR), Bill Newton-Dunn (LD/ALDE) and Glenis Willmott (Lab/S&D).[20]
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