INDUSTRIES at Bairowden. Flaxdressing and ropemaking were carried on by Henry Christian at Oakham in 1822.^^ The same town, in addition to its former ' considerable wool trade,' ^' has been for many years engaged in the boot and shoe manu- facture, the industry being represented at the present time by one small factory, established by a Leicester firm, and giving employment to about thirty persons.^" There is a modern milling establishment at Luffenham, and a small quantity of Stilton cheese is still made in the county.^^ QUARRYING Quarrying was carried on at an early date in the county. It is recorded on the rolls of the eyre of 1262 that in the hundred of Wrangdike, Godfrey of Wakerley was crushed (oppressus) in a certain quarry (quarera) in the same vill ; ^ while in the East Hundred Hugh le Marchaund was found slain in a certain quarry near Pickworth {versus Pickkeworth)? The most important sources of the stone supply in the county have been the quarries of the celebrated Ketton free- stone, those of Little Casterton,' and Clipsham.* In 1796 it was remarked by a traveller through the district that 'the advantage of having stone near at hand was the reason why we see so many stone spires and so much ornamental work about the buildings. Getting the material at an easy rate, they can afford to spend more in labour.' ' Parkinson, writing at the beginning of the 19th century, states that there was ' nothing worthy of remark under the head of minerals, except that at Ketton there is a kind of stone very proper and famous for building.' ° The quarry- ing of this stone has apparently been carried on for a very lengthy period, though positive records are unfortunately not forthcoming with regard to the ancient conduct of the industry. There "Pigot, Z)ir. 1846. "Ibid. 1822, p. 351. ^'Ibid. 1835, p. 337. " Communicated by Mr. G. Phillips of Oakham.
- ' Ibid.
' Assize R. 47 Hen. Ill, m. 9 d. ' Ibid. m. 10 d. ' In 1846 there were two quarries being worked at this place, one, a mile south of the village, owned by Mr. Simpson, and the other, a mile to the north, belonging to Mr. Clement Brand. White, Dir. 620. ' Stone from Clipsham has been used in Peter- borough and Ely Cathedrals, in many Lincolnshire churches, and in Woburn Church, Bedfordshire. It was also largely employed in the main building of the mansion of Burley-on-the-Hill, while Ketton stone was used in the colonnade. Some curious details as to the provision of stone for this purpose will be found in Miss Finch's valuable History of Burley-on- the-Hill, i, 28 et seq. ' Lond. Mag. 1796, p. 296. Clipsham stone is an Oolitic Limestone similar to that of Ketton, but less even in grain. Judd, Geol. Rut. 167. ^ Parkinson, Agric. Rut. 1 5 7. would appear, however, to have been an interval when the pits were altogether abandoned and their history lost. In the early part of the 1 8th century we find topographers alluding to 'some marks or pits in our maps, called the quarries, upon Witchley Heath, between Ketton and Tinwell, in the East Hundred, which we sup- pose were holes in the earth, out of which some kind of building stone hath been dug, but the vein is long since exhausted. In the opinion of the Commissioners appointed in 1839 to report on the building stones of the kingdom, ' Ketton Rag ' is greatly distinguished amongst other limestones by ' its great cohesive strength and high specific gravity.' * The stone was being worked at this date to a depth of 4 ft., the weight per cubic foot being 128 lb. 5 oz., blocks of 100 ft. being obtainable. The stone cost is. gd. per cubic foot at the quarry, the price in London being 3J. ^d.^ The Com- missioners described the beds as 'sometimes in one, sometimes in two beds, a hard bed above, called rag, 3 ft. 6 in. thick, covered by crash,^* which is 5 ft. thick, covered with clay, from 15 to 20 ft. in thickness, level and regularly bedded.' ^1 There were two places where the stone was being quarried in 1873, one being an old work- ing, known as 'The Deeps,' from which only a small quantity of stone was being obtained, owing to the depth which gave the quarry its name. The whole area of the workings at this date exhibited an immense extent of broken ground, no attempt being made to level or restore the surface, which was left after excavation in a perfectly useless condition. Several holdings were included in the workings, numbers of men being employed, and a great quantity of stone being raised. ^^ ' Laird, Rut. 1 8. ' Rep. Building Stone, 1839, p. 48. ' Ibid. 20. '° The ' crash-bed,' very soft when dug, hardens by exposure. It is only used locally for rough purposes, field walls, &c. Judd, Geol. Rut. 155. " Ref. loc. cit. " Sharp, ' Oolites of Northampton,' Proc. Geol. Soc. xxlx, 239-42. ^35
