_____________________________________________________________________
General
At Leagrave two small trickles of water emerge from concrete culverts, one under a main road, the other from beneath some high rise flats. These are the source of the river Lea (or Lee).
Originally a separate hamlet, the boundaries of Luton were extended in 1928 and 1933 so that it incorporated Leagrave. Not all of Leagrave remains in its original location. One cottage, 57 Compton Avenue, started life in the early eighteenth century as a weatherboarded thatched barn and was then converted into two labourers cottages in the late eighteenth century. Now it has moved to the Chiltern Open Air Museum at Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire.
The origin of the name is uncertain though it could be derived from the Old English words cleoht and graf meaning ‘light-coloured grove' or perhaps ‘Lihtla's grove‘.
_____________________________________________________________________
The Horse Shoe
In the seventeenth century a man named Cain was murdered in a field near the Horse Shoe public house in Leagrave Road. His corpse was carried into the pub and the suspected murderer was brought in and made to touch the body. When he did, blood poured from the wound and flooded the floor; enough evidence, so people believed, to prove that he was the murderer. For many years after the event the blood stains would reappear on the floor and then disappear once more.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
Local House
In the month of January in 1976 strange things started to happen at a terraced house in Leagrave which led to a service of exorcism being performed in the house. In the middle of January twenty-three year old Rosita McFadden, twenty-two year old Judy Thomson and Judy's three year old daughter moved into the house and at first were happy that at last they had found some proper accommodation. A few days later Rosita woke up feeling cold and shivery, this was unusual as she was usually a sound sleeper. The same thing happened three or four more times with no explanation as to why it was happening. About a week later they were all shocked to hear the sound of footsteps overhead as they sat in the living room. They checked the whole of the upstairs but there was no one there. A few days later Judy heard banging and other strange noises coming from upstairs. When Rosita, who had been out at the time, returned home she found her friend in a very distressed state.
Things now escalated with objects being moved or going missing, drawers opening and closing of their own accord (as witnessed by Rosita) and make-up being scattered over the floor. Eventually Rosita called in the help of the Rev. John Watson of St Luke's church in Leagrave who obtained permission to perform an exorcism which was done on Friday March 5th which seemed to work as calm returned to the house.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
|