THE OLD QUEEN’S HEAD

This is one of the oldest buildings in Shepshed. According to parish registers, the Old Queen’s Head was once owned by William Lacey. In 1723, he married Alice Palmer.

Later evidence in the register shows that by 1790, the building was owned by the Toon family.

There is also an affidavit ( a statement sworn before a solicitor) of 1825 in which Thomas Berrington, who had known William and Alice Lacey, stated that William Lacey owned a property which was afterwards used as a public house, known as ‘The Queen’s Head’.

The roof is made of Swithland slate, which can be recognized because the tiles are of different sizes. Up until the 1940s, this would have been used on a lot of buildings. Then cheap, Welsh slate was used because of the regular size; these were carried around Britain by rail. The windows and the line of the roof are irregular. This is because of the wooden frames buckling and warping, causing the overall slanted image of the building. Wooden frame buildings were often given stone bases to slow up the rotting process of the timber.