The name Lowdham seems to be derived from the Old English masculine personal nickname Hluda, combined with "hām," meaning village, community, manor, estate, or homestead, resulting in "Hluda's homestead or village."[2] However, the name Lowdham also suggests a Danish origin, with earlier forms such as Ludham and Ludholme.
Relics from the Middle Ages include an alabaster slab and a figure of a knight in armor, located in the chancel of the church and inscribed in memory of Sir John de Loudham. The dog at the feet of the effigy indicates that Loudham was a warrior. According to one source, "Many of the Crusaders are represented with their feet on a dog, to show that they followed the standard of the Lord as faithfully as a dog follows the footsteps of his master."[3]
The old church and the castle mound are located to the west of the bypass. St Mary's Church dates back to before the 14th century. In 1826, a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (Top Chapel) was built on Ton Lane, and in 1844, an Independent Primitive Methodist Chapel (Bottom Chapel) was established on Main Street. The Ton Lane chapel closed in 1986, but the Bottom Chapel continues to be used as an Independent Methodist church.[4]
To the northeast of the bypass is Lowdham Mill. There is now little evidence of the frame knitting industry that was significant in this area during the 19th century. In 1844, there were 94 stocking frames operating in Lowdham.
Notable people
In birth order:
Sir John de Loudham (died 1318), landowner, is commemorated in St Mary's Church.
Cornelius Brown (1852–1907), local historian and newspaper editor, was born in Lowdham.
Harold Cottam (1891–1984), wireless operator aboard the RMS Carpathia, who received RMS Titanic's distress call and was instrumental in getting the Carpathia to come to her aid. He is honoured by a blue plaque on the wall of The Old Ship Inn.
Richard Whitehead (born 1976), Paralympic sprinter, is honoured by a gold-painted post box outside the post office.[5]
Village pubs are the Railway, the Magna Charta,[6] the World's End (formally the Plough and still located in Plough Lane), and the Old Ship. All have open lounge/bar layouts and are situated near the centre of the village.
The retail services include two general stores, a sub-post office, several take-away eating places, a filling station and a bookshop.[7]
^J. Gover, A. Mawer and F. M. Stenton (eds), Place Names of Nottinghamshire (Cambridge, 1940), p. 171; A. D. Mills, Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford, 2002), p. 227; E. Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford, 1960), p. 305.
