Friday 13th February 2026  

Royal Oak, corner of Meeting Street and High Street – then and now

The older photograph is one of the oldest on the museum site, having been taken in 1896 when the landlord of the Royal Oak was John Johnson. The 1891 census shows him living there, aged 59, with his wife Mary and 8 year old granddaughter Ethel. John was born in Quorn and prior to running the pub, had been a framework knitter and run a small grocery shop.

The two photographs reflect many changes:
• The door to the Royal Oak is in a different place and its address was then Meeting Street, and not High Street as it is today.
• Every cottage had a shoe scraper by the door as the roads were dirty and not made up. They also had shutters on the windows, which were for both warmth and security.
• Perhaps the most noticeable change is in the roof line. At some point in the early 1900s, the roofs of the properties on the right were raised and an additional storey added. This may have been when they were converted from cottages into shops.
• All the buildings today have had the brickwork either painted or rendered, a practice which seems to have happened a lot all around Quorn.

Submitted on: 2011-05-11 Submitted by: Sue Templeman Artefact ID: 1266 Artefact URL: www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=1266 Print: View artefact in printer-friendly page or just on its own (new browser tab).