Broom Leys House
Welcome to Broom Leys Primary School. While this is now a place of education, this site has a varied past, including as a home for Victorian industrialists, accommodation for refugees from the First World War, and a hospital for injured soldiers.
Broom Leys House is the home of Broom Leys Primary School and is therefore not open to the public. The Geopark Information Hub and interpretation panel are mounted on the external fence of the school in a publicly accessible area.
Visit the on site interpretation at What3Words: ///FORMED.SALON.FORGOT
Brickmakers and Belgians
Having been originally built for William Whestone, Broom Leys House was subsequently owned by Horace Rendall Mansfield. He owned the Hermitage Brickworks on Hermitage Road, producing terra cotta bricks and mouldings. From 1900-1910 he served as Member of Parliament for Spalding, Lincolnshire. In 1911 the house was bought by the Whitwick Colliery Company. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Colliery offered the building free of charge as accommodation for
Belgian refugees. The Coalville Times records that many in the local community collected funds and supplies to support the more than 70 Belgians who were temporarily housed here.