Loughborough

Loughborough (/ˈlʌfbərə/ ^ⓘ LUF-bər-ə) is a market town in the Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England. The area has been represented since 2024, by Labour Party MP, Jeevun Sandher. Loughborough is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council and according to the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a population of 64,884.

It is the second largest settlement in the county after Leicester. Loughborough is close to the Nottinghamshire border and is located near Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. It is notable for its university, marketplace, and fair. Loughborough is home to the world's largest, and the UK’s only, bell foundry, John Taylor Bellfounders, which has produced bells such as, Great Paul, the largest bell in the country, at St Paul's Cathedral, Big Peter, the third largest bell in the country, at York Minster bells for New York’s Saint Thomas Church, Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral, Cape Town’s City Hall and Ann Arbor’s Burton Memorial Tower. The foundry became internationally recognised in 1980 after Australian hard rock band AC/DC had 2,000-lb bell specially cast for the song Hells Bells, one of only 4 contemporary songs to feature a genuine cast bell, and on the subsequent tours Back In Black, For Those About To Rock, Flick Of The Switch, Fly On The Wall and Blow Up Your Video.

The earliest reference to Loughborough occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086, which calls it Lucteburne. It appears as Lucteburga in a charter from the reign of Henry II, and as Luchteburc in the Pipe Rolls of 1186. The name is of Old English origin and means "Luhhede's burh or fortified place".

Loughborough Grammar School was established in 1495, by money left in the will of Thomas Burton, a wealthy local wool merchant.

The first sign of industrialisation in the district came in the early 19th century, when John Heathcoat, an inventor from Derbyshire, patented in 1809 an improvement to the warp loom, known as the twisted lace machine, which allowed mitts with a lace-like appearance to be made.

Heathcoat, in partnership with the Nottingham manufacturer Charles Lacy, moved his business from there to the village of Hathern, outside Loughborough. The product of this "Loughborough machine" came to be known as English net or bobbinet. However, the factory was attacked in 1816 by Luddites thought to be in the pay of Nottingham competitors and 55 frames were destroyed. This prompted Heathcoat to move his business to a disused wool mill in Tiverton, Devon.

In 1888 a charter of incorporation was obtained, allowing a mayor and corporation to be elected. The population increased from 11,000 to 25,000 in the following ten years.

Among the factories established were Robert Taylor's bell foundry John Taylor & Co and the Falcon works, which produced steam locomotives, then motor cars, before it was taken over by Brush Electrical Machines. In 1897, Herbert Morris set up a factory in the Empress Works in Moor Lane which become one of the foremost crane manufacturers by the mid-20th century.