Monument record MDR11715 - Former horse training track, Swarkestone Lowes

Examination of the 1882 1st edition OS map reveals an odd set of field boundaries at Swarkestone Lowes, comprising a narrow strip of land around a square. This represents the remains of an exercise track for racehorses laid out by Sir Harry Harpur, 6th Baronet of Calke, in the 1770s. A letter of June 1775 records the intention to build a new stables [see SMR 27040] where there would be 'exercising Ground laid out to Answer all manner of purposes that our horses shall have no Occasion to stir from thence….'. A 'feature' of the training track, giving interest to the terrain, was one of the Bronze Age barrows that comprise the Scheduled Monument known as Swarkestone Lowes. (1) A map of the parish of Swarkestone dated 1844 shows that the north-eastern section of track had already disappeared by that time, while by 1882 the whole of the northern length had gone, leaving the shape that is still visible today. (2, 3)