We found this this clipping in a 1956 issue of the Melton Times. It explains the formation of the Agricultural Hall, which once stood just outside the village, past the Methodist Chapel. The drawing above is the only record we have of the impressive building, but we hope to find a better one soon.
The Hall only had a brief life – from 1838 to 1862. Stone from the Hall was used in the construction of two of the Duke of Rutland’s farms in Waltham.
County Agricultural Shows Had Their Origin At Waltham
IT was at a meeting at Waltham House in the Iate seventeen hundreds that the Waltham Agricultural Association was formed, under the patronage of the then Duke of Rutland.
This was the first agricultural society in Leicestershire to promote an annual show, and even in those days it was a two-day affair. This great annual exhibition was held an the 18th and 19th September each year, and horses and cattle from over a wide area turned up in great numbers.
Among the noted people who exhibited there were the celebrated Robert Bakewell, of Dishley, and Thomas Paget, of Ibstock, two famous livestock improvers of bygone days.
In 1837 a special meeting of the association at Waltham House decided to build an Agricultural Hall, and this was duly completed the following year.
Throughout the mid-eighteen hundreds the association prospered, and at its height gave away £450 each year in premiums to encourage good farming in the district. But with the coming of the agricultural depression, membership and interest dwindled, and shortly before the turn of the century the association was wound up.
In the 1840′s the land attached to Waltham House was let to a singular spinster, Mary Raines. Of her it was recorded that while she was a lady of good property. she never associated with anyone, never washed her face, and never slept on a bed. Her house was without a fireplace, and she considered fires an unnecessary luxury.
Another great day in Waltham’s history was December 7, 1843. On that day Queen Victoria and Prince Albert changed horses at the Royal Horse Shoes Inn, where they were attended by the Rev. Gabriel Gillett, rector of the parish, and Joseph Jarvisa of Waltham House.
Mary Raines, the ‘singular spinster’ sounds a wonderful character. I’d love to find out a bit more about her. And where is Waltham House? Is it the nursing home? Or the large house behind Pedigree Petfoods?
Waltham House is the home of the Hon. Mrs. M. Greenall, the first house on the south side of the village…the history of which is detailed elsewhere on this website.
Incidentally, demolition materials from the Agricultural Hall were used in the building of ‘The Mount’ at the top of High Street – and one of the ornate windows from the hall is currently in-situ in the cellar there.