Pictures of Laughton en le Morthen

About Laughton en le Morthen

Once a mining hamlet, Laughton-en-le-Morthen is now thriving village with stylish housing expanding out from its medieval centre. It is in an old village, it was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086, at this time it had a church, castle and hall, together with small holdings.

The church mentioned in Doomsday has long gone, with only traces of it incorporated in the church we look at today which dates from 1377. All Saints church is very beautiful, it has a soaring 185 ft spire, a noted landmark from all parts of the village, and among the graves and tombstones in the surrounding churchyard visitors can see a War memorial of 1920.

Amongst the buildings in the village there is timber-framing and old stone walls, and in Laughton Common, the older part of the village there still exists miners cottages from the turn of the 20th century. The pub in this area of Laughton is called "The Gallows" and is sited on Hangman's Lane, close to the crossroads. A few hundred years ago, murderers and other felons, were often hung at gallows erected either in the village square or at its crossroads, quite possibly the name of the pub commemorates this period in Laughton's history.

The villages other two pubs are the pretty whitewashed red tiled buildings of the St. Leger Arms and the Hatfield Arms, both named for the family that gave their name to the historic horserace the St. Leger.

A stroll around the village often reveals much of its former history, Castle Hill is where a 5th century motte and bailey castle once stood, and Old Hall Road with its sedate bungalow's quite possibly occupies what was once the landscape of a grand hall. The village Main Street or High Street usually has the oldest concentration of housing, and sometimes the church.

Visitors will find plenty of interest in Laughton, it is surrounded by rolling countryside with the splendid 12th century remains of Roche Abbey lying just a couple of miles away and is close to the beautiful Rother Valley, one of the most highly scenic regions of the south Yorkshire landscape.