Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Laughton Conservation Area

Laughton, lying in open countryside on the top of a slight ridge, is approached by very narrow roads only. The Conservation Area incorporates the whole village settlement including its two working farms, but excludes a few later buildings on the outside of the roads enclosing the village. The village consists of a sinuous principal street, Gumley Road, which loops by a back lane on to itself, and Main Street which leads from the open area where the Gumley Road and Back Lane meet the road to Mowsley to stop abruptly alongside the church.

 A characteristic of Laughton is its openness and rural aspect. This is because many houses, especially on the Gumley Road have large gardens or plots; many of the boundaries are hedges, this is particularly noticeable on the Gumley Road/Back Lane loop; and there are many small areas of open space or wide verges particularly at road junctions, bends and corners. Many large gardens extend from Gumley Road to Back Lane; the two gardens of the Laurels and the Old House form a large open space between Main Street and the Gumley Road. Hedges predominate in the village and include much holly both to front garden boundaries and within mixed hedgerows and garden hedges, though there are old red brick walls in Main Street.

The wide verges and triangle of green at road junctions and bends are another significant feature. There has been much recent tree planting in these corners, notably of a horse chestnut in the road triangle where the track to Saddington meets the Gumley Road. There is a mature oak tree in the large triangle of green in front of The White House where the three village roads and the road from Mowsley meet. Opposite on a wide verge backed by a hedgerow is a K6 telephone kiosk and seat. Another significant open space is the churchyard and pasture land which lies between it and Pit Farm to the east. A footpath here through the churchyard links the church street to one of the bends with wide verges of Main Street. A lone cedar tree is prominent at the eastern edge of the churchyard and well viewed from the Main Street junction with the track to Saddington.

The buildings of Laughton fall into two groups; the low density larger houses set in substantial grounds along Gumley Road and the closer development along Main Street. The larger houses in gardens include the rendered regency Old House and the substantial red brick Killock House and Laughton House - the latter with fine cast iron railings to its front boundary. A third large red brick house, Pit Farm House, is opposite standing back behind part of the pasture open space. The Croft, further along Main Street, is a former farm where the walls of some of the red brick farmyard buildings front the road, and where the principal facade of the farmhouse faces the back lane. Swithland slates occur (as on Killock House and Laughton House) as well as pantiles on outbuildings of the larger houses.

In contrast to the rest of the village, Main Street which terminates at the end of the churchyard, presents a denser street type development, mainly of red brick buildings from the 17th century to late 20th century. These buildings are of varied heights and rooflines. They include roofs of thatch and of Swithland slates to some outbuildings. Part of the street has granite kerbs. The churchyard wall at the end has a thatched mud wall around three sides, and a mud hovel, once a slaughterhouse, attached on the outside facing the street. Mud is also found in the garden wall of The Old House and in some yard buildings of Pit Farm. The little 13th century church itself is diminished being now aisleless and without tower or spire, but with its churchyard it makes a significant impact at the edge of the Conservation Area.

Laughton Conservation Area map