Guide To Rural England - Nottinghamshire

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F stories and anecdotes G famous people H art and craft I entertainment and sport J walks
A historic building B museum and heritage C historic site D scenic attraction E flora and fauna
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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Nether
Broughton
Upper
Broughton
Kimberley
Arnold
Balderton
Kegworth
Shardlow
Langford
Stapleford
Colsterworth
Saxby
Widmerpool
Waltham
on the
Wolds
Great
Ponton
Sutton-
on-Trent
Langar
Rempstone
Redmile
Denton
Dinnington
Cuckney
Hayton
Tickhill
Blyton
Misterton
Sturton
by Stow
Kexby
Long
Bennington
Bleasby
East
Stoke
Kinoulton
Lea
Whitwell
Beckingham
Barnby
Moor
Eaton
Edwinstowe
Kneesall
Tuxford
Oxton
Besthorpe
Knaith
Marton
Fenton
Clipstone
Bottesford
Bawtry
Heanor
Clowne
Bolsover
Shirebrook
Market
Warsop
Maltby
Rawmarsh
Killamarsh
Aston
Southwell
Selston
Blidworth
Burton Joyce
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Haxey
Scotter Blaxton
New
Rossington
Bessacarr
Connisborough
Swinton
Mexborough
Ollerton
Stapleford
Skelligthorpe
Bingham
Ruddington
Cotgrave
Melton
Mowbray
Loughborough
Sutton in
Ashfield
Kirkby in
Ashfield Newark-on-Trent
Grantham
Long
Eaton
Beeston
Hucknall
Eastwood
Ilkeston
Retford
Gainsborough
Dronfield
Worksop
Staveley
West Bridgford
Mansfield
Rotherham
NOTTINGHAM
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Towns and Villages
Alverton pg 29
Annesley Woodhouse pg 49
Aslockton pg 34
Averham pg 27
Awsworth pg 54
Babworth pg 58
Beeston pg 11
Bestwood pg 10
Bilsthorpe pg 45
Bingham pg 29
Blyth pg 59
Bulwell pg 10
Bunny pg 14
Calverton pg 21
Car Colston pg 28
Carlton-in-Lindrick pg 59
Caunton pg 18
Clifton pg 12
Clumber Park pg 39
Colston Bassett pg 31
Cossall pg 54
Cotgrave pg 29
Creswell pg 61
Cromwell pg 25
Cropwell Bishop pg 31
Cuckney pg 37
East Bridgford pg 19
East Leake pg 14
East Stoke pg 27
Eastwood pg 52
Edwinstowe pg 35
Egmanton pg 44
Elston pg 27
Farnsfield pg 45
Gotham pg 13
Granby pg 33
Gringley on the Hill pg 57
Hickling pg 31
Holme Pierrepont pg 11
Hucknall pg 51
Kelham pg 27
Keyworth pg 14
Kimberley pg 54
Kinoulton pg 30
Kirklington pg 17
Langar pg 31
Laxton pg 41
Linby pg 50
Mansfield pg 47
Mansfield Woodhouse pg 47
Mattersey pg 57
Newark-on-Trent pg 22
Newstead pg 49
North Clifton pg 25
North Leverton pg 57
Nottingham pg 5
Old Ollerton pg 40
Oxton pg 21
Perlethorpe pg 39
Rainworth pg 46
Ratcliffe on Soar pg 14
Ravenshead pg 46
Retford pg 55
Rolleston pg 19
Ruddington pg 13
Rufford pg 44
Scarrington pg 28
Screveton pg 28
Selston pg 52
Shelford pg 21
Sherwood Forest pg 34
Sibthorpe pg 28
Skegby pg 48
Sneinton pg 10
South Clifton pg 25
Southwell pg 15
Stanton on the Wolds pg 14
Stapleford pg 12
Sutton in Ashfield pg 48
Sutton on Trent pg 25
Teversal pg 48
Thorney pg 25
Tuxford pg 26
Upton pg 18
Wellow pg 41
Whatton pg 33
Wollaton pg 9
Worksop pg 58
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The county of Nottinghamshire, in the north
Midlands, lies mainly on the low ground basin of
the River Trent between the peaks of Derbyshire
and South Yorkshire and the lowlands of
Lincolnshire. It is a county of contrasts: it has
plenty of industry, but it has also retained much
of its rural heritage as well as the remains of the
famous Forest of Sherwood.
As any local lad will be happy to tell you,
Nottingham used to be called Snotingham after
the unfortunately named Snot, chief of a 6th-
century Anglo-Saxon tribe. But there was a
settlement here long before then. In Celtic times it
was known as Tigguocobauc, the house of caves,
an appropriate name since this ancient people
lived in the caves that occur naturally in the soft
local sandstone. When the Vikings arrived in
England in AD878, they recognised Nottinghams
importance by making it one of the five boroughs
of the Danelaw - the area of Middle England they
controlled. There was more significant
development in Norman times when the famous
castle that features so prominently in the Robin
Hood legends was built.
The glory of the central part of the county is
Southwell Minster, a uniquely graceful building
that is perhaps the least well-known cathedral in
the country. Southwell itself is small, with a
population under 7,000, but it is a delightful
town with many fine buildings and a
picturesque old coaching inn where Charles I
spent his last night of freedom. Surrounding
this appealing little town is a maze of country
lanes and ancient villages.
With an historic castle, magnificent parish
church and a host of fine buildings, Newark is an
immensely likeable place. In medieval times, the
town thrived as a centre for the wool trade,
benefiting from its position on the Great North
Road and beside the River Trent. The Civil War
brought great suffering but, apart from the castle,
surprisingly little damage to the towns buildings.
South of Newark lies the Vale of Belvoir, an
unspoilt pastoral landscape dotted with the spires
Nottinghamshire
of village churches and overlooked by the mighty
towers and turrets of Belvoir Castle, just across
the border in Lincolnshire.
Sherwood Forest is known to old and young
alike, all over the world, thanks to the tales of
Robin Hood and the various stories, films and
TV series made about this legendary hero of the
people. Sherwood, the shire wood of
Nottinghamshire, was once part of a great mass
of forest land that covered much of central
England. Now officially designated as Robin
Hood Country, the tract of land running north
from Nottingham is an attractive mix of
woodland and rolling hills.
To the north of the forest is the area known as
The Dukeries, which is scenically one of the most
attractive parts of the county. Here, in the 18th
century, no fewer than four different Dukes
acquired huge estates: Rufford, Welbeck, Clumber
and Thoresby. All their great houses are now put
to different uses but the glorious parks they
created, especially at Clumber, make this a
delightful area to visit.
The area around Mansfield was once the
industrial heart of Nottinghamshire, its
landscape dominated by pit-head wheels and
chimneys, and the serried ranks of miners
terraced houses. This is Pilgrim Fathers
Country, since it was here that the unorthodox
worship of Richard Clyfton inspired such men
as William Brewster of Scrooby, and William
Bradford of Austerfield, later Governor of
New England. The best introduction to their
story is to follow the Mayflower Trail, devised
by Bassetlaw District Council, which follows a
circular route starting from Worksop. Also in
Worksop is the unusual National Trust
property, Mr Straws House, a time-capsule
from the 1920s where nothing has altered in the
subsequent 80 years. Retford and Blyth are both
attractive old market towns: the former with
some fine Georgian buildings, the latter
boasting one of the most monumental Norman
churches in the country.
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Nottingham
A Trip to Jerusalem Inn A Mortimers Hole
B Museums C Caves I Goose Fair
A Castle
A lively city of some 300,000 inhabitants,
Nottingham offers a vast choice of shops,
restaurants (more than 200 of them), cinemas,
art galleries, two theatres, a world-class concert
hall, and a host of other visitor attractions.
The city also boasts a leading university, a
major medical centre, and a legendary football
team, Nottingham Forest. The self-proclaimed
Queen of the Midlands, Nottingham is known
worldwide because of the legendary Robin
Hood and his persecutor, the villainous
Sheriff of Nottingham. Others associate the
city with Boots the Chemist, Players cigarettes
(whose packets carry a picture of Nottingham
Castle), Raleigh cycles and motor-cycles, and
with the ice skaters Torvill and Dean - their
world-beating performances led directly to the
siting in Nottingham of the National Ice
Centre. Alan Sillitoe, the author of Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning, was born in
Nottingham in 1928 and for a while worked at
the Raleigh bicycle factory. Birthday is a sequel
to Saturday Night, and in his 2004 novel, A
Man of his Time, Alan Sillitoe tells the story of
a womanising Nottinghamshire blacksmith.
The actor and comedian John Bird was born
hwere in 1936. JM Barrie and Graham Greene
both had spells working on the Nottingham
Daily Journal.
A good place to begin exploring the city is
in the Old Market Square, known to locals as
Slab Square and believed to be largest market
square in the country. Although no market
has been held here since the 1920s, the vast
expanse of the square still lies at the centre
of Nottingham life. At its eastern end stands
the dignified Council House with its
porticoed frontage and a dome that is a
replica of St Pauls in London. Part of the
stately ground floor with its lofty ceilings and
neo-classical architecture now houses some
prestigious shops.
Until the Council House was built, the
Market Square was the setting for the famous
Nottingham Goose Fair, which began in
medieval times and gained its name from the
large flocks of geese that were sold here
around Michaelmas. Mentioned
in a charter dated 1284, the
Goose Fair still takes place in
early October, but has grown so
much it is now held at Forest
Fields on the edge of the city.
Nottingham Castle
commands an imposing position
on a rocky outcrop high above
the city centre. However, those
looking for the famous castle that
features so frequently in the tales
of Robin Hood will be sorely
disappointed as the present
buildings date from after the
Nottingham Castle
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Nottingham Castle
Castle Place, Nottingham, NottinghamshireNG1 6EL
Tel: 0115 915 3700
e-mail: castle@ncmh.org.uk
website: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
In 1067 William the Conquerer built the first
Nottingham Castle, a wooden structure that
was rebuilt over 100 years later in stone by
Henry II, creating the principal royal fortress in
the Midlands. In the most famous chapter of its
history the Castle was reclaimed by returning
crusader Richard the Lionheart from his brother
Prince John in 1194 - the time of Robin Hood.
Most of the original medieval castle no
longer exists, being demolished after the Civil
War of 1651, but in its place stands a
magnicent 17th century mansion, once home to
the Dukes of Newcastle. Sited proudly above
the city, the Castle South Terrace provides
stunning views of Nottingham and beyond.
It incorporates a vibrant museum and art
gallery housing collections of silver, glass,
armour and paintings, plus fifteen centuries of
Nottingham history. The galleries also bring the
best regional, national and international artists
work to the city. Nottingham Castle is 10
minutes walk from Nottingham City centre, with
easy access from train and bus stations. Parking
is close by.
The Castle is a great place for children, with
interactive displays and an activity - led gallery
bringing paintings to life, specifically for the
under 5s plus a medieval - style playground in
the grounds with covered picnic area.
Underneath the Castle are many manmade
caves and tunnels, some of which date back to medieval times. Visitors can take a
guided tour to see Mortimers Hole, King Davids dungeon and the old wine cellar. The
tour is strenuous and includes steep steps. Many visitors choose to descend through
hundreds of years of history, learning on the way gruesome tales about Roger
Mortimer and King David of Scotland.
There is also shop and cafe serving a wide range of refreshments with a
panoramic view over the city. The castle is open every day except 24-26 December
and 1 January.
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English Civil War and precious little remains
of the original medieval fortification.
The original castle was built soon after the
Battle of Hastings by William Peveril as part
of William Is general fortification of many
strategically important sites. Its elevated
position, overlooking the city and the River
Trent, made Nottingham Castle one of the
foremost castles in Norman England and it
played host to many important visitors. Of a
typical Norman motte and bailey design, the
stone walls are thought to have been added in
the early 12th century and it was further
fortified by Henry II. Nottingham Castles
heyday came in the 14th and 15th centuries
however, when not only was King David II of
Scotland held prisoner here for a while around
1346 but, in the mid 1400s, Edward IV
proclaimed himself king from Nottingham
Castle. Later his brother, Richard III, rode out
from here to the Battle of Bosworth field and
his death.
For some reason, the Tudors shunned the
castle, which gradually fell into disrepair until
Charles I came to Nottingham in 1642 and
raised his standard, marking the beginning of
the Civil War. Unfortunately, the king found
little support for his cause in the city (only 30
citizens joined his troops) so he moved on to
Shrewsbury, leaving Nottingham and its castle
in the hands of the Parliamentarians. During
the course of the war, the Royalists made
several attempts to recapture the castle but
Cromwells supporters held out. After the
fighting was over the castle building was
rendered uninhabitable and was finally
demolished in 1674 by the Duke of Newcastle
who then built his own palace on the site.
GREENWOOD LODGE CITY GUEST HOUSE
5 Third Avenue, Sherwood Rise, Nottingham NG7 6JH
Tel: 0115 962 1206
e-mail: info@greenwoodlodgecityguesthouse.co.uk
website: www.greenwoodlodgecityguesthouse.co.uk
At Greenwood Lodge experienced hosts Sue and Doug Pearse
offer high-quality accommodation combined with the
warmest of welcomes and excellent personal service with
notable attention to detail.
In a peaceful location a mile north of the city centre, just
off the A60 Mansfield Road, the Lodge is perfectly placed as
a quiet, civilised base for business people and for the many
tourists who visit the city throughout the year.
The late Regency/early Victorian building set in a mature
courtyard garden with immaculate tress and shrubs has six
spacious, individually designed bedrooms in period style
spread over the first and second floors, with en suite
facilities, interesting pictures and antique furniture, TV, clock
radio, trouser press, hairdryer and hot drinks tray. Three of the rooms boast four-poster beds.
Guests can choose from an extensive breakfast choice served in the delightful conservatory,
watching the birds and foxes and squirrels taking their own breakfasts in the leafy garden. The
house also has a lovely drawing room where guests can relax and unwind and plan the days
activities. A frequent bus service runs from outside Greenwood Lodge into the city centre. Children
of ten years and above welcome.
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Today, that palace is home to the Castle
Museum and Art Gallery. Some remains of
the original castle still stand, most notably the
13th-century gatehouse, though much restored,
and parts of the moat and outer bailey are
visible. The museum, when it was opened by
the Prince of Wales in 1878, was the first
municipal art gallery in the country outside
London. Today, the collection is particularly
noted for its fine selection of Victorian
paintings. The museum also has an outstanding
collection of silverware and ceramics.
On the ground floor of the Castle Museum
is the Sherwood Foresters Regimental
Museum, which continues the castles
connections with the military. The regiment
was first raised in 1741 and, among the many
displays, there is an area dedicated to the
Nottingham flying ace of World War I,
Captain Albert Ball, VC. He died in 1917, at
the age of 20, having shot down 43 enemy
aircraft. A statue erected to his memory stands
in the castle grounds.
At the base of Castle Rock lies the famous
Trip to Jerusalem Inn where crusaders are
said to have stopped for a pint before setting
off on their long journey to the Holy Land.
Dating back to around 1189, it claims to be
the oldest pub in England, a claim hotly
contested by other hostelries including another
Nottingham one, Ye Olde Salutation Inn. Set
back into the sandstone rock, the building was
once the brewhouse for the castle and from
here travellers to the Holy Land bought their
ale. In the pubs cellars is Mortimers Hole, a
cave hewn out of the sandstone rock that
leads to the castle. It is through this
passageway that some two dozen conspirators
crept to capture Roger de Mortimer, the lover
of Queen Isabella. When her husband,
Edward II was murdered, Isabella had allowed
Mortimer to effectively rule in place of her 18-
year-old son, Edward III. De Mortimers
presumption was later punished by death.
Edward III was in the castle at the time of
Mortimers capture and is believed to have
known about, and encouraged, the plot.
Also at the base of Castle Rock and housed
in a terrace of four 17th-century cottages, is
the Brewhouse Yard Museum. Depicting the
life of the people of the city, the museum has
accurately furnished rooms as well as a series
of reconstructions that includes a Victorian
kitchen and shop window displays of the
1920s.
Just around the corner, the Museum of
Costume and Textiles in Castle Gate
contains a world-class collection of historical
and contemporary dress displayed in period
rooms. There are also many other exhibits on
show including tapestries; knitted, woven and
printed textiles; and fashion accessories
through the ages. The museum is housed in a
terrace of brick houses that was constructed
in 1788 by Cornelius Launder, a former High
Sheriff. Castle Gate is an interesting street in
itself and well worth a second look. The
entrance to the museum has one of the finest
examples of an 18th-century doorcase and
fanlight to be seen in the area.
Further down Castle Gate is Newdigate
House, built in a refined fashion in 1680 and
distinguished by a wrought iron screen and
gates dating from the early 1700s. The house
now forms part of the United Services Club,
but between 1705 and 1711 it was the home
of Marshal Tallard, commander of the
defeated French army at the Battle of
Blenheim in 1704.
The Lace Centre in Castle Road has now
closed, but the famous Nottingham lace can
be bought at the Tourist Information Centre.
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Across the road from the Museum, in the
impressive Shire Hall, the Galleries of Justice
provides an unusual and interesting insight
into justice 19th century style. Condemned, a
major crime and punishment experience,
allows visitors to put themselves in the place
of an accused in the harsh days around 1833.
Real trials are re-enacted in the imposing
Courtroom where the hapless criminal faced
the possibility of capital punishment or
transportation to the New World. Their
discomfort is made very real by the restored
period settings.
Also in High Pavement is Nottinghams
largest parish church, St Marys, which is also
probably the citys oldest as it appears to have
been founded in Saxon times. However,
todays church dates from the 15th century,
though there are some 19th and early 20th
century additions, which include windows by a
series of renowned stained-glass makers. Also
inside is a Bishops Throne carved in 1890
when it was thought that the
church would become the
cathedral for the diocese of
Southwell.
Another short walk brings
visitors to the Caves of
Nottingham, a popular attraction
that lies beneath the Broadmarsh
Centre, one of the citys major
shopping precincts. The city is
built on sandstone and throughout
Nottinghams history the rock has
been tunnelled to provide first
shelter and then hiding places.
More than 400 man-made caves
run beneath the city streets. Now,
thanks to local voluntary groups,
these caves have been saved for
future generations. The most
spectacular cave in the system, the Pillar Cave,
was carved out back in 1250 and contains
remnants of the countrys only underground
tannery. The caves were commonly used as
pub cellars: the constant temperature being
ideal for the storage of beer and wine. More
recently, they served as air raid shelters during
the blitz of World War II, and one of the
caves has been left as a memorial to those
desperate times.
Around Nottingham
WOLLATON
2 miles W of Nottingham on the A609
A Wollaton Hall B Museum
Built in creamy white Ancaster stone,
Wollaton Hall is one of the most attractive
and elaborate Elizabethan mansions in the
Midlands. Set in a spacious park, the house
was built in the 1580s to the designs of Robert
Wollaton Hall
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Smythson, who also designed Hardwick Hall in
Derbyshire. His client was Francis Willoughby
whose family had made a fortune from the local
coal mines. The Elizabethan passion for
symmetry is extravagantly displayed on the
magnificent front faade with its matching
classical columns, busts of philosophers and
mythological characters, and flamboyant gables.
The building is also home to the Natural
History Museum based on the collection of
Francis Willoughby, a noted naturalist of the
mid 1600s, while some of the Halls
outbuildings have been transformed into the
Nottingham Industrial Museum where the
citys major industries are all represented. The
park surrounding the Hall is one of the citys
great amenities. The 525 acres are contained
within a seven-mile long wall, providing
security for the herds of deer that roam here
as they have for more than 400 years. The
Museum and Park are open all year.
BULWELL
3 miles N of Nottingham on the B682
Originally the whole area surrounding the
village was covered by forest and it is probable
that the settlement took its name from a
spring in the old woodland. However, a local
legend tells the story of the naming of the
village rather differently. Apparently, an
enraged bull gored a rock here and released a
stream of sparkling spring water.
BESTWOOD
6 miles N of Nottingham off the A60
J Country Park
Bestwood was a favourite hunting ground of
Charles II who often stayed here with Nell
Gwynne. One local story tells of a wager the
king struck with Nell, saying she could have
all the land she could ride around before
breakfast. Nell, not known for being an early
riser, made an exception on this occasion.
The next morning, she rose at dawn and rode
around the countryside dropping
handkerchiefs along the way. Arriving back
before breakfast, Nell claimed her winnings
and Charles kept his side of the bargain.
Whether or not the story is true, the king
certainly gave Nell substantial landholdings in
the area.
Part of the old royal hunting park is now
Bestwood Country Park, whose 450 acres
offer many differing landscapes. Here youll
also find the Bestwood Pumping Station,
erected in the early 1870s. The Duke only gave
his permission for it to be built after the
architect solemnly promised that it would
look nothing like a pumping station. With its
150ft tower, cooling pond disguised as an
ornamental lake, and surrounded by
beautifully maintained gardens, the station
certainly lives up to the architects promise.
SNEINTON
1 mile E of Nottingham on the A612
A Windmill G William Booth Birthplace Museum
Sneintons main claim to fame is as the
birthplace, in 1829, of William Booth, the
founder of the Salvation Army. The small
terraced house where he and his family lived
until 1831 is still standing in Notintone Place,
fronted now by a statue of the great man. The
family home has become the William Booth
Birthplace Museum: entry to the house is by
appointment only (0115 950 3927).
After his fathers early death, Booths
mother was forced to move to Goosegate,
Nottingham, where she ran a shop selling toys
and sewing materials, and it was while growing
up in this deprived area that Booth first
became aware of the appalling conditions in
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which the urban working classes lived.
He was only 16 when he gave his first
sermon in a house in Kid.
In 1849, Booth left Nottingham for
London where he became a Methodist
minister. But, finding the church
structures too constraining, he
established, in 1865, the Christian
Missions, which, in 1878, was renamed
the Salvation Army. During the next
10 years, the movement spread to all
corners of the world, including
America, Australia and South Africa.
The Army is still mobilised, with more than
1,000 local corps in the UK involved in both
social and evangelistic work. Its missing
persons bureau traces anything up to 5,000
people each year.
In Windmill Lane, Steinton, Greens
Windmill is a Grade II listed working
windmill that produces its own organic flour.
It is the only inner city windmill in the UK
and was once the home of the 19th-century
mathematician George Green.
HOLME PIERREPONT
3 miles E of Nottingham off the A52
A Holme Pierrepont Hall
I National Water Sports Centre
Although Holme has been in the hands of the
Pierrepont family since 1284, the present
Holme Pierrepont Hall dates from the early
1500s and is regarded as one of the best
examples of a brick-built house in the county.
Opening times are restricted but the hall is
well worth a visit. Some of the ground floor
rooms have been restored to their original
state and furnished in the style of the early
17th century, and the Upper Lodging still has
superb ceiling timbers dating from the 1400s.
There are two Victorian bedrooms with
four-poster beds, one with its original William
Morris fabrics. Refreshments are available in
the Long Gallery with its walnut furniture and
family portraits gazing down from the walls.
Outside, the Charles II Grand Staircase leads
down to a formal Courtyard Garden with an
elaborate parterre, created around 1875, and,
in the park, Jacob sheep graze peacefully.
These days, Holme Pierrepont is more
widely known as the home of the National
Water Sports Centre. Built to Olympic
standards, the Centre boasts a full-size rowing
course, a boating lake, a waterski cableway and
a wild water slalom course, all man-made from
the pasture and quarries that once dominated
the area.
BEESTON
3 miles SW of Nottingham off the A52
G Boots the Chemist
Lying on the southwest outskirts of
Nottingham, Beeston is famous as the home
of Boots the Chemist. Jesse Boot was born
in 1850 and left school at the age of 13 to
work in his mothers herbalist shop in the
centre of Nottingham. She had started the
business to supplement her husbands meagre
income as a farm labourer. Following his
Greens Windmill, Sneinton
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death, when Jesse was only 10 years old, the
shop became the mainstay of the family. Jesse
quickly learnt the trade and in 1888 he set up
the Boots Pure Drug Company.
In a business where quacks and charlatans
abounded, Boots emphasis on the purity of his
drugs and medicines (and his competitive
prices) attracted many customers, and by 1896
the company had a chain of over 60 shops. It
was at his wifes suggestion that Jesse expanded
the lines in the shops to include jewellery,
stationery, books and art. In 1920 the business
was sold to an American company, only to be
bought back by Jesses son during the
depression in 1933. A great benefactor to the
city and surrounding area, Jesse was knighted in
1903, created a baronet in 1917, and finally
raised to the peerage as Lord Trent in 1929, two
years before his death.
STAPLEFORD
4 miles SW of Nottingham off the A52
C Hemlockstone
In Stapleford churchyard can be found the
best preserved Saxon carving in the county in
the form of a 10ft cross shaft. Dating from
the late 11th century, the intricate carving
depicts an eagle standing on a serpent - said to
be the symbol of St Luke, the physician. The
church, which dates mainly from the 13th and
14th centuries, has many war memorials to lost
heroes. The village was once a thriving centre
for framework knitting and terraced cottages
built specifically for the workers can still be
seen in Nottingham Road.
One other feature of Stapleford worthy of
a look is the Hemlockstone, a massive
redstone boulder standing 30 feet high and
weighing around 200 tons, situated opposite
Bramcote Park. Geologists believe the rock
was probably deposited here by glacial action,
while wind erosion has contributed to its
brooding appearance. Its geological make-up
consists of sandstone cemented by the mineral
barite, which is found in large quantities
throughout the Stapleford and Bramcote Hills.
The village school was renamed the Arthur
Mee Centre in memory of the writer who
grew up in the town and was educated at the
school. Born in 1875, Mee left school at 14 to
work for the Nottingham Evening Post before
moving to London and finding his niche
writing for children. His works include the
Childrens Bible, the Childrens Encyclopaedia, and
the Childrens Shakespeare but it is probably for
The Kings England, a series of guide books
that ran to some 80 volumes, that Mee is best
remembered.
CLIFTON
4 miles S of Nottingham on the A453
J Clifton Grove
At first sight this village near the River Trent
seems swamped by modern development, but
the character of the old village can be found
in and around the green. The manor of
Clifton was held by the family of that name
from the 13th century up until 1953 when
they gave up the hall to what is now
Nottingham Trent University.
Along the banks of the River Trent is
Clifton Grove, a wooded cliff above the
riverbank, where visitors can stroll in the
footsteps of Paul Morel and Clare Dawes,
characters in DH Lawrences Sons and Lovers.
This stretch of the River Trent was also the
setting for a tragic love story. In 1471, a young
squire called Henry Bateman went to the
Crusades with his master. When he returned,
he discovered that his sweetheart Margaret
had fallen for another man and married him.
The heartbroken lover threw himself into the
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Trent from Clifton Grove. Some time later,
Margaret herself took the same way out,
presumably in remorse.
Ruddington
B Museums
This historic village, whose name is derived
from the Saxon word Rudda - meaning
headman - was once the home of many
hosiery workers and several of their cottages
still remain. In 1829, a factory and
frameworkers cottages were built around a
courtyard in Chapel Street. Later, a school was
built and this is now occupied by the
Ruddington Framework Knitters
Museum, which depicts community life
through several reconstructed shops and an
Edwardian schoolroom. Of the 25 hand
frames seen here today, most are fully
operational and there is an opportunity to buy
samples made at the museum. This wonderful
Victorian time capsule is open Easter to
December from 11am to 4.30pm Wednesday
to Saturday and Bank Holiday Mondays, also
Sunday afternoons Easter to September.
The industry reached its height in 1880,
with the staggering number of 20,000 frames
operating in Nottingham, Derbyshire and
Lincolnshire. As well as the knitting frames
on show, the museum also has other
machinery of specific importance to the
village and to the hosiery industry. Regular
demonstrations are given using the working
exhibits. Visitors can try out their own
weaving skills on one of the collection of
circular sock machines.
Not far away is the Ruddington Village
Museum, housed in the old village school
building of 1852. Concentrating on the
everyday life of the villagers, the museum has
reconstructions of a cobblers, a chemists, an
Edwardian fish and chip shop, craftsmens
workshops and a telephone exchange. As well
as having one of the school rooms restored to
look as it once did, this volunteer-run museum
also has a room devoted to a collection of
farming implements.
Around Ruddington
GOTHAM
3 miles SW of Ruddington off the A453
The name is actually pronounced Goatm and
the village should not be confused with the
home of the caped crusader, Batman.
However, the village is remembered as the
home of the Wise Men. King John had
decreed that he wished to build a hunting
lodge here in the village. Naturally displeased
at having to give up their land to the kings
whims, the villagers devised a plan. They
decided that the best way to dissuade the royal
presence was to feign madness. When the
kings messengers entered the village, the
inhabitants reacted in such a peculiar way that
the men returned to His Majesty with the
suggestion that the mad men of Gotham
should be left well alone. Such were the odd
tales of their bizarre acts that Dr Andrew
Borde published the Merrie Tales of the Mad
Men of Gotham in the 16th century. There are
many bizarre stories, but one of the finest is
kept alive in the name of the village pub - The
Cuckoo Bush. A group of villagers, captivated
by the song of a cuckoo, decided to capture
the bird by encircling the bush in which it was
sitting by a fence. Unfortunately, the men did
not think to build a roof, so the cuckoo
simply flew away.
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RATCLIFFE ON SOAR
6 miles SW of Ruddington off the A453
The tiny village of Ratcliffe on Soar has a
pretty little church with an eye-catching
blackened spire, and a handsome manor
farmhouse set picturesquely on the meadow
banks of the River Soar. Although a massive
power station looms over everything, and the
railway clatters by, this charming village is still
definitely worth a visit.
EAST LEAKE
4 miles S of Ruddington off the A60
Like its neighbour, West Leake, the village name
is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Leche,
meaning water meadow, and both villages lie on
the banks of a tributary of the River Soar. The
village church, which was mentioned in the
Domesday Survey of 1086, was extensively
restored in the 19th century but has retained its
prize possession, a Vamp Horn or shawm. This
extraordinary instrument is some eight feet long
and only five others are known to exist.
Invented in 1670 by Samuel Morland, the horn
was used by the bass singer to lead the choir
from the gallery.
STANTON ON THE WOLDS
4 miles SE of Ruddington off the A606
This rural village, which was until the 1960s
home to seven dairy farms, has few really old
buildings though the village dates back to
Norman times. In the late 18th century,
Stanton was hit by a freak storm in which
giant hailstones rained down on the cottages
and smashed their roofs. The ancient village
Church of All Saints did, however, survive and
can be found standing alone in a field, reached
by a footpath. Dating from the
11th century, the church, one of the smallest
in south Nottinghamshire, is built mostly of
boulders some of which, undoubtedly, were
purloined from the nearby Fosse Way.
BUNNY
2 miles S of Ruddington on the A60
This pretty village has a wealth of lovely
architecture and owes much of its charm to
the eccentricities of its one-time squire, Sir
Thomas Parkyns (1663-1741). A man
obsessed with the sport of wrestling, Sir
Thomas employed two full-time professionals
to spar with him at Bunny Hall. He also
organised an annual tournament in the village
to promote local wrestling talent and this
event continued for nearly 70 years after his
death. In St Marys Church, which was
designed by Sir Thomas, his memorial
graphically illustrates his commitment to the
sport. It depicts the squire standing
victorious over his defeated opponent on a
wrestling mat, while Old Father Time stands
by, perhaps as referee.
Another of Sir Thomas hobbies was
collecting stone coffins, which he provided
free to those of his tenants in need of one.
During his long lifetime he rebuilt much of
the village to his own designs, provided a
school, gave his tenants free medical and legal
advice and also found time to write a Latin
Grammar and a book on wrestling, Cornish
Hugg Wrestling.
KEYWORTH
3 miles E of Ruddington off the A606
In the heart of south Nottinghamshires
farming country this, until very recently, small
village prides itself on having produced no
fewer than 30 professional cricketers, one of
whom went on to be capped for England.
The village has had its share of scandals,
one local legend tells of a tenant farmer who
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was visited by the rector who had a complaint
to discuss. The farmer was not very agreeable
to the criticism and soundly horse-whipped
the clergyman before sending him on his way.
This whip is still in existence though the
nature of the complaint the rector was making
is unknown.
Southwell
A Minster and Chapter House A Vicars Court
A Workhouse A Norwood Park
E Bramley Apple Exhibition
J Farnsfield to Southwell Trail
Southwell is undoubtedly one of Englands
most beguiling towns, miraculously preserved
from developers and with scarcely an ugly
building to be seen. From whichever direction
you approach, it is the twin towers of
Southwell Minster that first catch the eye.
With their pyramidal Rhenish Caps, these
towers are unique in this country although
they would look perfectly in place anywhere
in the Rhineland.
James VI of Scotland was mightily
impressed by Southwell when he passed
through the town in 1603 en route to his
coronation as James I: By my blude, he is
said to have exclaimed, this kirk shall justle
with York or Durham or any other kirk in
Christendom.
Perhaps the least well-known of English
cathedrals, Southwells history goes back to
AD956 when Oskytel, Archbishop of York,
established a church here. The present
building was erected in three phases. The nave,
transept and western towers are the oldest
parts, completed around 1150; the east end
was built around 1240; and the superb
THREADS
2c Main Street, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire NG12 5AD
Tel: 0115 937 6010
Threads is located on the quaint village square of
Keyworth, in the heart of Nottinghamshires farming
country. The village is known for the number of
professional cricketers it has produced, but anyone with
an interest in sewing and knitting will be bowled over by
a visit to this very special place.
Owner Sheila
Grudzinski and her
assistants have created a
very friendly, relaxed
ambience in which customers shop for an amazing selection of
threads and yarns and wools and cottons, zips and needles, ribbons,
buttons and bows, patterns from across the world- everything, in
short, for sewing and knitting. And if its not in stock, theyll do their
very best to order it as quickly as possible.
Threads also stocks a small boutique range of childrens and
ladies clothes and kits for beading and jewellery. Shop hours are 9
to 5.30 Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 9 to 5 Wednesday, Thursday
and Saturday. Once a fortnight, Sheila holds classes in the village
hall - informal but informative sessions which she calls Knit, Stitch
and Natter evenings.
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Chapter House around 1290.
Octagonal in design, the Chapter House has
been hailed as the pinnacle of the Decorated
period of architecture - among chapter
houses as the rose among flowers. The
architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner,
devoted a whole book, The Leaves of Southwell,
to the incredible wealth of stone carvings of
foliage decorating the arcades above the
Canons seats.
The word most often applied to the
cathedral is serene and, as one visitor put it,
Other churches may be older, a few may be
larger, but none are more beautiful.
There is no space here to detail all the
cathedrals other treasures, but the striking
eagle lectern in the choir has an interesting
story attached to it. The lectern was originally
installed at Newstead Abbey. However, during
the widespread looting at the time of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, the monks
threw the lectern into the lake, intending to
retrieve it later. Later turned out to be 200
Southwell Minster
Church Street, Southwell,
Nottinghamshire NG25 0HD
Tel 01636 817810
website: www.southwellminster.org.uk
Southwell Minster is a superb Cathedral
and Minster Church with a Norman Nave
which is one of the finest in Europe.
Other features include the magnificent
Angel window and the world-renowned
stone carvings the Leaves of Southwell
in the Chapter House.
For children there is the popular search for the twelve wooden mice carved by
Mousy Thompson. The Visitors centre incorporates the Minster shop, refectory and
audio visual centre.
Admission is free but donations are always welcome.
Open daily: Summer 8am 7pm, Winter 8am dusk.
years later, in 1750 in fact. Half a century after
that, the 5th Lord Byron presented the lectern
to the Minster.
The Minster (see panel below) stands in a
delightful precinct, surrounded by attractive
buildings. To the south stand the ruins of the
palace of the archbishops of York built in the
14th and 15th centuries. Parts of the old
palace, closest to the minsters south doorway,
have been incorporated into the present
Bishops Palace.
At the east end of the Minster is Vicars
Court, a charming group of five Queen
Anne houses built for the Vicars Choral
around 1702. Just across the road from the
Minster is a picturesque old coaching inn, the
16th-century Saracens Head. Charles I spent
his last hours of freedom before his final
surrender in this delightful half-timbered
building. At that time, the inn was known as
the Kings Head, the name was changed after
Charles was beheaded.
Just to the north of the Saracens Head is
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The disused railway line from Southwell to
Mansfield, opened in 1871, is now an
attractive footpath known as the Farnsfield to
Southwell Trail. As well as the varied plant
and wildlife that can be found along the
4 mile walk, there is also plenty of industrial
archaeological interest including the Farnsfield
Waterworks of 1910, a late 18th-century
cotton mill, and Greet Lily Mill, a corn mill on
the banks of the River Greet.
Norwood Park is the only one of the four
original parks around Southwell that remains
today. The property of the Archbishops of
York, the park remained in the possession of
the Church until 1778. A house was built
here in Cromwells day, but the present
building dates from 1763. Open to visitors
during the summer months, the house has a
very lived-in feel. The surrounding parkland
was laid out in the 18th century at the same
time as the ice house and temple were built
and the lime avenue planted. Southwell has a
racecourse that stages racing throughout the
year, most of it flat racing on an all-weather
surface, but also with some meetings under
National Hunt rules.
Around Southwell
KIRKLINGTON
3 miles NW of Southwell on the A617
Kirklingtons church is partly Norman, and
anyone venturing inside will see that the pulpit
has some small holes in its side that have been
plugged with more recent wood. The
explanation for this odd feature is that in the
early 1800s, Kirklingtons sporting rector would
use the pulpit as a portable screen when he
went duck shooting. He would fire at the ducks
through the holes in the pulpits sides.
Burgage Manor, a handsome Georgian pile
where the young Lord Byron stayed with his
mother between 1803 and 1807 while on
holiday from Harrow and Cambridge. He
joined the local theatrical group and it was
his friends in the town who encouraged him
to publish his first set of poems. Under the
title Hours of Idleness, the book was published
by Ridges of Newark and brought great
acclaim to the young poet. The Workhouse
in Upton Road is the only 19th-century
workhouse in existence offering visitors the
opportunity to explore the building and its
history, the segregated work yards, dayrooms,
dormitories, masters quarters and cellars.
There is also a Time Travel Tour and a Story
Telling Club (01636 817251).
Southwell can also be credited as the
birthplace of the Bramley apple. The story
goes that in the early 19th century, two ladies
planted some apple pips in their cottage
garden in the nearby village of Easthorpe.
Nature took its course and one of the
seedlings grew into a tree. By this time,
Matthew Bramley owned the cottage and the
quality of the trees fruit began to excite public
interest.
Mr Henry Merryweather, a local
nurseryman, persuaded Bramley to let him
take a cutting, which he consequently
propagated with enormous success.
Permission had been granted on the
condition that the apples took Mr Bramleys
name and not that of the two ladies. The
Bramley Apple Exhibition in Halam Road
explains the full history and development of
this famous fruit. While in the town, visitors
should also look out for a Southwell Galette,
a scrumptious pastry confection of hazelnuts,
sultanas, and, of course,
Bramley apples.
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CAUNTON
7 miles NE of Southwell off the A616
The village Church of St Andrew was rebuilt by
the Normans at the beginning of the 13th
century, but by the 1800s the building had fallen
into such a state of disrepair that the altar, a
wooden box, was only used as a resting place
for the hat and gloves of visiting curates.
Restored in 1869, the church contains many
monuments to the Hole family, Lords of the
Manor here since Elizabethan times.
The best-known member of the Hole family
was Samuel Reynolds Hole who became known
as the Rose King - a title bestowed on him by
Tennyson. Before becoming Dean of
Rochester, Hole lived at Caunton Manor as the
squire and vicar and it was here that he began
his extensive study of roses. By 1851, Samuel
recorded that he possessed over 1,000 rose
trees in more than 400 varieties, a collection
that was to make him the most famous amateur
rose grower of all.
UPTON
2 miles E of Southwell on the A612
B British Horological Institute
Upton boasts a couple of very good pubs and
its nine-pinnacled church is worthy of a visit
too. A famous son of the village was James
Tenant, the man who cut the world-renowned
Koh-I-Noor diamond. But perhaps the most
impressive building here is Upton Hall, a
stylish Grecian villa with a central dome and
elegant colonnade, built in the early 1800s.
The hall is now the headquarters of the
British Horological Institute and, inside,
THE WHITE POST FARM PARK
Mansfield Road (A614), Farnsfield, nr Newark,
Nottinghamshire NG22 8HL
Tel: 01623 882977 Fax: 01623 883499
e-mail: anthony
@
whitepostfarm.co.uk
website: www.whitepostfarm.co.uk
A great day out for the whole family is guaranteed at the White
Post Farm Park, which has been attracting crowds and awards
ever since it first opened its doors in 1988. The three young owners who took over in 2004, all
with children of their own, provide visitors with an experience that is both exciting and
educational. Twenty-five acres of picturesque farmland include pleasant walks through paddocks of
farm animals both native and exotic, from sheep, cows, pigs, goats and ducks to llamas and
wallabies. The Reptile House is home to an amazing collection of creatures large and small,
including stick insects, crickets, locusts and leaf-cutter ants, boa constrictors and a Burmese
python, tarantulas, turtles and terrapins, frogs, snails, axolotls, angel fish and clown fish. The site
contains tea rooms and a burger barn and indoor and outdoor play areas.
THE WHITE POST FARM SHOP
Tel: 01623 882977
The Farm shop is full of lovely local produce. Fresh fruit and veg
grown just minutes from the farm. Fresh break baked half a mile
away and wonderful home-reared meat - its delicious! With a great
range of sheds and plants there is something for every garden.
The Centre stands on the A614 ten miles north of Nottingham in the heart of Robin Hood country.
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EAST BRIDGFORD HILL
4 Kirk Hills, East Bridgford,
Nottinghamshire NG13 8PE
Tel: 01949 20232 Fax: 01949 21124
e-mail: eastbridgfordhill@googlemail.com
website: www.eastbridgfordhill.com
Genial hosts Patricia and Alfred Robens have lived at
East Bridgford Hill for 30 years and since 2002 they
have opened their house to Bed & Breakfast guests.
Their lovely Georgian home enjoys stunning views from
its hillside setting, and the beautiful grounds make it
ideal for wedding receptions, private entertaining and
corporate occasions. Patricia and Alfred have created
an ambience of exceptional warmth and hospitality and
pride themselves on providing personal service that
larger establishments cant offer.
The guest bedrooms in the house and adjoining
cottage, each individual in character, are particularly
and comfortable, and the day starts with an excellent
breakfast with prime local produce and eggs from the
owners hens. With a little notice resident chef Ronnie
will cook a splendid evening meal for 4 or more.
Guests have the use of a delightful conservatory and
two drawing rooms period furniture and paintings and lots of books. Croquet and tennis are
available in the grounds, and one of the favourite local walks is along the River Trent opposite
Gunthorpe Lock and Weir. A pick-up service can be arranged from nearby stations and airports and
a helicopter landing facility is available. The owners also offer a variety of holistic and beauty
treatments and various retreats, courses and workshops. East Bridgford Hill lies a short drive east
of Nottingham on the A6097, between the A46 and A612.
visitors can see a fascinating display of historic
clocks and watches, as well as some 5,000
other items including the Post Offices original
speaking clock. Open Saturdays, Sundays and
Bank Holidays April to October. Call first on
01636 813795.
ROLLESTON
3 miles E of Southwell off the A617
A Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church is certainly one of the
countys finest churches and is also the
source of a great treasure: a portion of the
original paper register covering the years
1584 to 1615. An interesting and historic
document completed by the vicar of the
time, Robert Leband, it gives the local gossip
as well as the price of corn and notes of
local events. A curiosity in the church is a
fragment of a Saxon cross, built into the wall
and scratched with the words Radulfus Me
Fe (Radulfus made me). It is one of very few
surviving Saxon works in England to bear its
authors signature.
EAST BRIDGFORD
7 miles S of Southwell off the A6097
The village is situated on a ridge overlooking a
crossing of the River Trent and the edge of
Sherwood Forest beyond. The village Church
of St Peter is believed to stand on one of the
earliest Christian sites in Nottinghamshire.
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GONALSTON FARM SHOP
Southwell Road, Gonalston,
Nottinghamshire NG14 7DR
Tel: 0115 9665 666
e-mail: info@gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk
website: www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk
A warm welcome and a feast of culinary delights
await visitors to Gonalston Farm Shop, which
stands between Lowdham and Gonalston on the
A612 Nottingham-Southwell road. Opened in
2003 by Georgina (George) and Ross Mason, it is
recognised as one of the finest in its field in the
county. The majority of the produce on sale is
local, and pride of place goes to the extended
meat counter with its impressive selection of
cuts and joints.
The farm is coupled with Riverlands Farm in
Gunthorpe village, and both specialise in
producing high-quality cattle from their own
pastures in the Trent Valley. The beef off the
farm is hung for a minimum of 21 days to
develop the full flavour. Almost all the meat is
sourced locally offering full traceability and
keeping food miles to a minimum. Over 30
varieties of sausages are made on site, some of
which have won Great Taste Awards Nationally.
The delicatessen offers over 100 handmade
and farmhouse cheeses, local award winning
hams, salamis, Parma ham, pork pies, game pies
and many ready to eat delicacies. A wonderful
selection of fresh seasonal local vegetables and
fruit are available daily. Preserves, chutneys,
condiments, herbs, spices and dry ingredients all
add to the amazing shopping experience
provided. Fresh handmade bread is delivered daily
from Hambleton Bakery, Oakham and Atherlys
bakery Farnsfield, superb cakes & pastries, beer,
cider and wines complete your meal. Fresh cut
Flowers, cards and gift wrap, Gift vouchers and
hampers are available at any time of the year
making this a great place to purchase a present
for the person who has everything.
Awards and accolades cont....up until 2007,
when a fresh wet fish counter was added
offering fine quality day boat, line caught fish.
Customer loyalty is rewarded with a loyalty
card and regular offers across all departments. Opening hours Tuesday-Saturday 9am to 6.30pm,
Sunday 10am to 4pm. Open all summer bank holidays 10am to 4pm. Look at the excellent website
for information on events and tastings and Christmas trading hours.
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There was already a church here in the
9th century, since it is known to have been
plundered by the Danes when they came up
the river to Nottingham.
SHELFORD
8 miles S of Southwell off the A6097
The name Shelford means the place of the
shallow ford so, presumably, there was once a
ford here across the River Trent, which flows in
a horseshoe bend around the village. Though
now a quiet and tranquil place, in the winter of
1644, Shelford was the site of a particularly
fierce battle. Royalist soldiers, taking shelter in
the church tower, were smoked out by the
Parliamentarian army who set fire to straw at
the towers base. During the same weekend,
some 140 men were slaughtered by Cromwells
men at the manor house that was subsequently
burnt to the ground.
The Royalist troops were commanded by
Shelfords Lord of the Manor, Philip
Stanhope, a member of the illustrious family
who later became Earls of Chesterfield. There
are some fine memorials to the Stanhopes in
the village church, including one by Nollekens.
OXTON
4 miles SW of Southwell on the B6386
C Oldox Camp
A charming village near the edge of
Sherwood Forest and surrounded by parkland,
Oxton has a goodly number of 17th and 18th-
century houses and cottages. The Sherbrooke
family have been the lords of the manor here
since the 16th century, and Oxton still retains
the feel of an estate village even though the
hall was demolished in 1957. An oddity is to
be found in a yard opposite the Green Dragon
Inn. Here stands the tomb of Robert
Sherbrooke who died in 1710. The unusual
location is explained by the fact that
Sherbrooke was a Quaker and this was the site
of their meeting house.
The uncovering of Oldox Camp, one of
the largest and best preserved Iron Age hill
forts in Nottinghamshire, to the north of the
village suggests that this was the original site
of Oxton. Extending over some three acres,
the fort is surrounded by a single ditch and
bank, except at the entrance to the fort where
the defences are doubled.
CALVERTON
6 miles SW of Southwell off the B6386
E Patchings
The charming cottages in this industrial village
date back to the early 19th century and were
once the homes of framework knitters.
Carefully restored by the Nottinghamshire
Building Preservation Trust, the cottages
originally formed three sides of a rectangle,
though one side is now missing. Unusually, the
large windows that provided the light for the
knitters are found on the ground floor instead
of the more usual upper storey.
It was a curate of Calverton, William Lee,
who invented the stocking knitting frame in
1589. According to an old story, his invention
was the result of an unsuccessful love affair.
Whenever William visited the girl he wanted to
marry she always took care to be busily
employed in knittingHe vowed to devote
his further leisure to devising an invention that
should effectually supersede her favourite
employment of knitting. Lee succeeded in
creating an immensely complicated machine
that could produce top quality work between
10 and 15 times as quickly as the fastest hand-
knitters. To develop it further he sought the
patronage of Elizabeth I, but the queen
refused to encourage something that would
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mean great job losses for her loyal subjects.
After being refused a patent by Elizabeth I,
Lee travelled to France and gained the promise
of support from Henry of Navarre.
Unfortunately, Henry was assassinated before
any promises were made good and it is
believed that Lee died in Paris in 1610. Lees
brother, James, brought the frame back to
London where the hosiery industry first
developed before it settled in the Midlands
later in the 17th century.
Also at Calverton is Patchings, formerly
known as Painters Paradise, a series of
gardens that have been designed with the artist
in mind. Here, amongst the rolling hills of
north Nottinghamshire, is a perfect
reconstruction of Claude Monets garden at
Giverney, complete with the elegant little
bridge and the pool of water lilies that he
painted so often. Attractive gazebo studios are
dotted around the 50 acres of grounds, each
designed to provide a picturesque view. An
impressive building of Norwegian spruce
one of the largest wooden structures in
England offers further facilities for artists
and visitors: studios, workshop and dark room
as well as a licensed restaurant.
Newark-on-Trent
A White Hart Inn A Town Hall A Castle
A Church A Henrietta Marias Lodgings
A Governors House B Museum B Air Museum
C Beacon Hill
John Wesley considered Newark one of the
most elegant towns in England. More
recently, the Council for British Archaeology
included it in their list of the best 50 towns
in the country, and in 1968 Newark town
centre was designated as one of the first
Conservation Areas. Its medieval street plan
remains intact, complete with a fine market
square that is still busy every day of the week,
except Tuesdays, with a market of one kind
or another - plus a Farmers Market once a
month. Newark has become firmly
established as one of the most important
centres in Europe for the antiques trade and
hosts the biggest European Antiques Fair
every two months. The town also has long-
standing musical connections. The composer
John Blow, who was born in the town in
1649, taught Henry Purcell and held major
positions at Westminster Abbey and St Pauls
Cathedral. Newark Colleges International
School of Violin Making is now one of the
worlds top violin schools and attracts
students from all over the world.
The square is lined with handsome houses
and inns. The most remarkable of them is
the 14th-century former White Hart Inn
(now a building society/estate agent), which
has a magnificent frontage adorned with
24 plaster figures of angels and saints. Close
by are the Saracens Head where Sir Walter
Scott often stayed, and the Clinton Arms,
the preferred lodging of WE Gladstone
during his 14 years as Newarks Member
of Parliament.
Dominating one side of the square is the
noble Georgian Town Hall, completed in 1777
and recently fully restored. It now houses the
towns civic plate and regalia, and an art gallery
displaying works by Stanley Spencer, William
Nicholson and notable local artists.
The grandest building of all is the Church
of St Mary Magdalene, by common
consent the finest parish church in the
county. Its slender, elegant spire soars above
the town and serves as a landmark for miles
along the Trent Valley. The church dates back
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to the early 12th century, though all that
survives of that structure is the crypt, which
now houses the treasury. Much of the
building seen today dates from the 14th, 15th
and 16th centuries and its exterior is a
fascinating blend of carvings and tracery.
The interior is spacious and airy, and the
treasures on display include a huge brass
commemorating Alan Fleming, a Newark
merchant who died in 1373; a dazzling
Comper reredos of 1937; a splendid east
window depicting Mary Magdalene; a
Victorian mosaic reproducing Van Eycks
Adoration of the Lamb; and fragments of a
painted Dance of Death from around 1500.
Newarks recorded history goes back to
Roman times when the legionaries
established a base here to guard the first
upstream crossing of the River Trent. One
of their major arterial roads, Fosse Way,
passes close by on its way to Lincoln.
Saxons and Danes continued the settlement,
the latter leaving a legacy of street names
ending in gate, from gata, the Danish word
for street.
When the Normans arrived they upgraded
the Saxon wooden fortification replacing it in
AD1123 with a stone castle. The west facing
curtain wall was rebuilt in the late 13th
century. For over 300 years the castle was
owned by the powerful Bishops of Lincoln.
Then, in 1547, following the reformation,
ownership of the castle was transferred to
the Crown and leased out to a succession
of noblemen.
The castles most glorious days occurred
during the Civil War. The people of Newark
were fiercely loyal to Charles I and endured
three separate sieges before finally
surrendering to Cromwells troops.
THE FRIENDLY FARMER RESTAURANT & FARM SHOP
A46/A17 Roundabout, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire NG24 2NY
Tel: 01636 612461
e-mail: info@friendlyfarmer.co.uk
website: www.friendlyfarmer.co.uk
The Friendly Farmer Restaurant & Farm Shop is part of a family-
owned organic farm located off the eastbound A17 (direction
Sleaford) just off the A1/A46/A17 roundabout complex. The
bright, airy restaurant is a great place to seek out, to meet
friends with plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch or afternoon
tea. The farmhouse breakfasts include their own pork sausages,
free-range eggs, traditionally cured bacon and freshly ground
filter coffee and a variety of fair-trade teas. The lunch choice
runs from sandwiches to pies to freshly cooked hot lunches and
a carvery on Sundays, while carrot cake is just one of the many
treats for afternoon tea. The Butchery sells the farms own
organic pork, lamb and Lincoln Red beef, along with sausages,
pies, Scotch eggs and the superb 100% Lincoln Red burgers.
The Farm Shop sells a range of seasonal vegetables fresh from
the farm, locally produced cheeses, pickles, oils, honey, jams
and chocolate, along with home-made or locally produced bread and cakes, some sugar-free and
gluten-free items. Whether eating in the restaurant or shopping at the farm shop visitors know that
they are supporting environmentally friendly local businesses and that the food is fresh, delicious
and good value for money. Trading hours are 8 to 5 Mon - Sat, 9 to 5 Sunday.
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Parliament ordered the slighting of the
castle, rendering it militarily useless, but
following an outbreak of plague, left the
demolition work to the townspeople.
Understandably, they showed little
enthusiasm for the task of demolishing the
eight-foot-thick walls. As a result, the ruins
are quite substantial, especially the mighty
gateway that Pevsner called the biggest and
most elaborate of its period in England. It
was here that King John, devastated by the
loss of his treasure while crossing the Wash,
came to die in 1216. The castle crypt and an
intimidating beehive dungeon have also
survived. Guided tours of the castle (and the
town) are available and its history is
colourfully interpreted at the Gilstrap Centre.
This lies within the Castle Grounds, which,
with its gardens and Victorian bandstand, is a
popular venue for special events as well as a
pleasant spot for a picnic.
Newark possesses several other reminders
of the Civil War. As a defensive measure, two
small forts were built to guard this strategic
crossing over the River Trent. The Kings
Sconce, to the northeast, has since
disappeared, but its twin, the Queens Sconce,
still lies to the southeast. Named after Queen
Henrietta Maria, who brought supplies into
the town after the first siege in 1643, this
square earthwork has a bastion in each corner
and a hollow in the middle.
In the town centre, on Kirk Gate, are
Henrietta Marias Lodgings where,
according to tradition, the queen stayed in
1643. Travelling from Bridlington to the
kings headquarters at Oxford, the queen was
bringing with her men and arms from the
continent. She had paid for them by selling
off some of the Crown Jewels.
Nearby is the Governors House, where
the governors of Newark Castle lived during
the Civil War and where Charles I quarrelled
with Prince Rupert after the prince had lost
Bristol to Parliament. This wonderful timber-
framed building was restored in the late
19th century, and during the work a medieval
wall and some beam paintings were revealed
along with graffiti dating from 1757. Occupying
a former oil seed mill on the banks of the
Trent, the Millgate Museum concentrates on
local life, with sections devoted to archaeology,
social and natural history, art, photography,
costume and civil and military war. The exhibits
(more than 70,000) include an interesting array
of shops and shop fronts, and there is also a
reconstruction of an early 20th-century
terraced house.
On the outskirts of the town, at Beacon
Hill, one of the greatest victories over the
Roundheads took place, in 1644, when Prince
Rupert arrived to lift the second of Newarks
sieges. Under Sir John Meldrum, the
Parliamentarians lost more arms and
equipment than during any other engagement
of the Civil War.
Just northeast of the town, close to the
A1, lies the Newark Air Museum, one of
the largest privately managed collections in
the country. Opened in the 1960s, the
museum has more than 50 aircraft and
cockpit sections on display. Visitors can see
jet fighters, bombers and helicopters that
span the history of aviation, as well as a great
deal of aviation memorabilia, relics and
uniforms on display in the Exhibition Hall.
The museum shop has been described as
the best specialist aviation outlet in the
Midlands. The many aircraft on show range
from De Havilland Tiger Moths and Flying
Fleas, to Vampires, Venoms, a Gloster Javelin
and a mighty Avro Vulcan. Open daily.
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Around Newark-on-
Trent
CROMWELL
5 miles N of Newark off the A1
B Museum of Dolls and Bygone Childhood
A 17th-century rectory and dower house is
home to the Vina Cooke Museum of Dolls
and Bygone Childhood. Appealing to adults
and children alike, there are all manner of
childrens toys on display, but perhaps the most
fascinating are the handmade dolls depicting
royalty, stars of stage and screen, and famous
historical characters (01636 821364).
SUTTON ON TRENT
7 miles N of Newark off the B1164
A Mering Chapel
One of the largest Trentside villages, Sutton
was once famous for basket-making,
fishermens baskets in particular. It has a fine
church, first established in Saxon times and
noted for its Mering Chapel. Dating from
the early 1500s, the chapel was brought here
from the village of Mering on the other side
of the Trent - Mering has since vanished
completely into the watery lowlands
surrounding the Trent. The superb Mering
Chapel, however, contains a distinguished
memorial in Purbeck marble to Sir William
Mering. The tomb is separated from the aisle
by a very rare oak screen crafted around
1510. Sir Williams family, like his village,
is extinct.
SOUTH CLIFTON
This pleasant village along the banks of the
River Trent still has the remains of an old
wharf where the coal from Derbyshire and
Yorkshire was unloaded before being
distributed throughout the surrounding area.
The river here is still much used, though the
local fishermen now have to contend with
water-skiers travelling up and down it. On the
village green stands a young oak tree, planted
in 1981, along with a plaque commemorating
the achievements of a local farmer, Dusty
Hare, who has lived in the parish all his life
and scored the highest number (7,000) of
points in Rugby Union Football and was
honoured with an MBE in 1989.
NORTH CLIFTON
E Japanese Garden
The village, like its neighbour South Clifton,
also lies on the east side of the Trent, close to
the border with Lincolnshire. Although the
two villages are quite separate, they share the
same church, dedicated to St George the
Martyr, which lies between them and has an
imposing 15th century tower.
An unusual attraction here is the Pure Land
Meditation Centre and Japanese Garden,
which offers a haven of peace for all ages who
wish to come and experience the benefits of
relaxation and meditation. Buddha Maitreya, a
former Zen monk from Japan, offers tuition in
meditation to individuals and groups, and has
devoted 25 years to creating the delightful
Japanese garden with its large central pond,
bridges and a small pagoda where visitors can
relax and meditate amidst an abundance of
flourishing plants and trees.
THORNEY
In 1805, this hitherto peaceful little village was
the site of a dreadful murder. A local
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labourer, Thomas Temporell, also known as
Tom Otter, was forced to marry a local girl
whom, it was claimed, he had made pregnant.
Tom was so upset by the accusations and the
enforced marriage that, in a frenzy, he
murdered his bride on their wedding night.
The story goes that he then took her body
and left it on the steps of a public house in
Saxilby, Lincolnshire. Caught and tried, Tom
was sentenced to death with the extra penalty
of gibbeting (the practice of hanging the
offenders body in chains at the scene of
their crime).
Small though it is, Thorney possesses a
huge and magnificent church, built in 1849
by the Nevile family of nearby Thorney Hall
(now demolished). Constructed in the
Norman style, the church contains a wealth
of superb stone carvings, both inside and
out. Among them are no fewer than
17 fearsome dragons heads.
TUXFORD
12 miles NW of Newark off the A1
This pleasant little town used to have its own
market and, because of its position on the
Great North Road, prospered greatly during
the days of stage coach travel. A devastating
fire in 1702 destroyed most of the town, but
the rebuilding produced some attractive
Georgian buildings. Among the buildings that
did survive are the pleasing little Grammar
School with its hipped roof and dormer
windows, founded in 1669, and the medieval
Church of St Nicholas. The church contains
some interesting memorials to the White
family and a striking font of 1673 standing
beneath a magnificent hanging canopy.
THE MUSSEL & CRAB
Sibthorpe, Tuxford, Nottinghamshire NG22 0PJ
Tel: 01777 870491 Fax: 01777 872302
website: www.musselandcrab.co.uk
Landlocked Nottinghamshire is not usually known for its
seafood, but the passion of owners Bruce and Allison and the
skills of head chef Philip and his team have made the Mussel &
Crab a very notable exception. In their busy, lively country pub-
restaurant they aim to provide the freshest fish, both native
(much of it landed daily at Brixham) and from more exotic
waters. Starters might include crab chowder, rock oysters from
Mersea Island in Essex, King scallops from the Isle of Wight and
mussels from the Isle of Shona in Scotland, while among main
courses could be Atlantic cod, lemon sole, grilled tuna with
pesto sauce, monkfish, red snapper, sea bass, barramundi and
lobster Thermidor. Theres also plenty of choice for meat-eaters,
including steaks, duck, beef Wellington and seasonal game, and
vegetarians always have a choice of main courses. The choice
changes constantly, announced, along with the wines, on more
than 20 blackboards spread around the various eating areas, which include the bar, the piazza
room, the vibrant Mediterranean room, the traditional beamed restaurant, an alfresco are and a roof
garden. There are quirky features and surprises at every turn, including wooden seats in the shape
of cupped hands in the bar and live goldfish in the cisterns in the gents. The Mussel & Crab, which
lies on the B1164 just moments from the A1/A57 junction at Markham Moor, is open every
lunchtime and every evening.
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KELHAM
3 miles W of Newark on the A617
Originally an estate village serving Kelham
Hall, the village farms were among the first to
grow sugar beet when it was introduced to
England during World War I. A lane still leads
from the village to the huge sugar beet factory
a mile or so to the west. Kelham Hall, now
council offices, is the third manor house to be
built on the site. The first was the Kelum Hall
where Charles I was briefly imprisoned. That
building was destroyed by fire in 1690.
Another mansion was built for the Sutton
family, Lords of the Manor of Kelham. That
too went up in flames in 1857. The present
building was designed by George Gilbert Scott
and opinions are sharply divided over the
merits of its red-brick towers, pinnacles, gables
and Gothic windows.
Like the Hall, Kelhams bridge over the Trent
also suffered misfortune - during the frightful
winter of 1881 ice packs floating down the river
demolished the old wooden structure.
AVERHAM
4 miles W of Newark on the A617
I Robin Hood Theatre
Pronounced locally as Airam, this pleasant
town has a picturesque corner off the main
road where the Norman church and Georgian
rectory form an appealing little group on the
edge of the Trent. In the rectory grounds
stands the remarkable Robin Hood Theatre,
established by a former Rector and built by a
local carpenter. The Reverend Cyril Walker
opened it in 1913 as a private theatre for opera
lovers. It had a fully equipped stage and
orchestra pit, and boasted the rare amenity of
being lit by electricity. The late, great Sir
Donald Wolfit, a local man born at nearby
Balderton, gave his first performances here.
The theatre went through a rocky period in
the 1960s and closed for several years, but it is
now operating successfully again, offering a
variety of shows and plays throughout the
year, including a five-week production by the
Robin Hood Theatre Group.
EAST STOKE
4 miles SW of Newark on the A46
C Battle of Stoke Fields
The village is the site of the last great
conflict of the War of the Roses, the Battle
of Stoke Fields that took place here on 16
June 1487. The battle saw the army of Henry
VII defeat the Yorkists and the pretender
Lambert Simnel in a bloody conflict that
lasted for three hours and left a toll of 7,000
deaths. The defeated army fled across the
meadows to a ravine leading to the river,
which is known locally to this day as the Red
Gutter. Many of those who died in battle lie
in Deadmans Field nearby, and local farmers
have occasionally uncovered swords and
other relics from the battle when ploughing
their fields.
ELSTON
7 miles SW of Newark off the A46
A Chapel
This rural village was once well-known for
the local trade of skep-making, or basket-
making, using specially grown willows, but
the craft has all but died out. A curious
building on the outskirts of the village is the
deserted Elston Chapel, a quaint little
building with a Norman doorway and many
other Norman and medieval features. Its
origins have been shrouded in mystery, but
recent research has suggested that the
building was the chapel to the hospital of St
Leonard that once existed in this locality.
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SIBTHORPE
5 miles S of Newark off the A46
A Dovecote
All that remains above ground of a priests
college, founded here in the 14th century, is
the parish church and a Dovecote (NT).
Standing in the middle of a field, and some
60 feet high, this circular stone building has a
conical tiled roof and provided nesting places
for more than 1,200 birds.
SCREVETON
A Church of St Wilfrid
The ancient village, whose name means farm
belonging to the sheriff, has a delightful, small
13th-century church that lies in a secluded
position some way from the village. Reached
by a footpath, the Church of St Wilfrid is
home to a fine alabaster tomb of Richard
Whalley, who is depicted with his three wives
and 25 children at his feet.
CAR COLSTON
Now a conservation area, this village is
fortunate in that it has remained unspoiled by
modern development. Of particular interest
here are the villages two greens, both of
which date from the reign of Elizabeth I. At
that time individual strips of land were
cultivated by the villagers and the typical ridge
and furrow appearance can still be made out.
In 1598, the parish was enclosed, the land
being turned into the fenced fields that
became the norm, but the land in the middle
of the village was left open so that the
villagers could graze their cattle. The Large
Green, at 16.5 acres, is the largest in the
county and, at the other end of the village lies
Little Green (a mere 5.5 acres).
There are several interesting houses in the
village, but Old Hall Farm, which dates from
1812, is probably the one that receives most
attention. The interest is generated not so
much by the building itself, but because it was
the home of Robert Thoroton who, in 1677,
published his Antiquities of Nottinghamshire.
The first major history of the county, the
work was updated in the late 18th century by
John Throsby and remains today one of the
prime sources for local historians.
SCARRINGTON
8 miles S of Newark-on-Trent off the A52
The main attraction of this small village is not
a grand house or a splendid village church, but
a remarkable man-made edifice. A pile of
around 50,000 horseshoes towers 17 feet high
and was built by the former blacksmith, Mr
Flinders. Over the years, souvenir hunters have
taken the odd shoe here and there, with the
Sibthorpe Dovecote
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result that the monument is bending over very
slightly at the top.
However, the obelisk that Mr Flinders
began in 1945 stands rock solid, though all he
used to bond the horseshoes was his skill and
a great deal of luck! At one time it was
coveted by an American visitor who wished to
buy it and transport it to the United States.
ALVERTON
7 miles S of Newark-on-Trent off the A52
A small hamlet of just a handful of houses,
Alvertons tiny population is occasionally
augmented by two resident ghosts. The first
has been seen in the old Church of England
schoolhouse, which is now a private residence,
and is believed to be the ghost of a teacher
who was murdered at the school.
Alvertons second ghost, an elderly lady
dressed in Victorian clothes, has been sighted
at one of the hamlets larger houses. The lady
is believed to be Mary Brown, a sewing maid
to Queen Victoria, who gave up her job after
the death of her sister-in-law. Mary moved
back to her brothers house to act as
housekeeper to him and his four children and,
by all accounts, she proved to be a formidable
woman. She ruled the house with a rod of
iron. In later years, when noises were heard on
the upper floors, it was said that Aunt Polly
was on the warpath again.
Bingham
The unofficial capital of the Vale of Belvoir,
Bingham is an ancient medieval market town
that grew up around the church. After
passing through a period of depression in the
20th century, the town is once again thriving.
The area around the market square has been
smartened up and the octagonal butter cross
with its Victorian tiles and inscriptions
provides an attractive focus here. Most of the
buildings around the market place are also
Victorian but All Saints Church is medieval,
dating from the 13th century though, again,
there are many Victorian additions and
decorations.
Bingham was the third Nottinghamshire
town to provide an Archbishop of
Canterbury. George Abbots tenure of office
was almost as unremarkable as that of
Thomas Secker of Sibthorpe, except for one
unfortunate accident in 1621. Abbot was out
shooting deer with a crossbow when he
missed and killed a gamekeeper instead.
Around Bingham
COTGRAVE
4 miles SW of Bingham off the A46
C Mill Hill
The discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial
ground on Mill Hill, Cotgraves highest point,
confirms that there has been a settlement here
for many centuries. The excavation team
uncovered the skeletons of nearly 100 people
including some 13 children and the remains
have been dated to around the mid to late
6th century.
Close to the burial ground stood the
villages old post mill, itself the site of an
unsolved mystery. One of the millers
disappeared without trace after having been
accused of pilfering corn. Rumours in the
19th century suggested that a body had been
discovered in the mill foundations and, despite
believing that this could be the remains of the
missing miller, the villagers kept quiet and the
rumour was never investigated. During an
excavation of the post mill site in the 1970s
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the skeleton of a male was uncovered that
showed injuries suggesting that the
unfortunate man was killed by a blow to the
head. Whether or not this was all that
remained of the missing miller has never
been established.
Cotgrave is probably most well known as
the home of Cotgrave Colliery, which opened
in 1964 and was a showplace mine for a
number of years. The promise of work here
for the next 100 years brought many miners
from other coalfields to the village and also
generated a huge expansion and building
programme. Unfortunately, major geological
faults made it impossible to mine the huge
reserves and the colliery is now closed.
KINOULTON
6 miles S of Bingham off the A46
A Church of St Luke
The village, on the edge of the wolds, stands
on high ground and from this vantage point
there are views over the Vale of Belvoir to
Belvoir Castle. Today, Kinoulton is a large
commuter village but it has a long and
interesting past. In the 12th century, there was
a castle here, its commanding position being
ideal since it was also close to the Fosse Way.
Archbishop Cranmer had a palace nearby and,
to the west of the village, lies the spring that
brought the village to prominence in Georgian
times as a spa with curative properties. Later,
the arrival of the Grantham Canal ushered in
a period of mild prosperity. (The canal still
passes through the village and provides some
pleasant walking.)
Standing beside the canal, Kinoultons
Church of St Luke was a gift of the squire,
the Earl of Gainsborough, in the 1760s. The
earl felt the old church was too near what was
then a major thoroughfare, the Fosse Way. The
slate headstones in the old churchyard have
some fine inscriptions but not all of the stones
have survived. Some were borrowed by the
local baker to line his oven, a piece of
recycling that was exposed when a customer
noticed that his loaf was imprinted with the
words in loving memory.
BRUMPTON BUTCHERS LTD
3 Plumtree Road, Cotgrave,
nr Nottingham NG12 3HT
Tel: 0115 989 2220
website: www.cbrumptonbutchers.co.uk
Since 1896, four generations of the Brumpton
family have run this high-class family butchers.
Quality has always been paramount throughout the
range of meats, baked goods and accompaniments,
and Stephen and Judy work hard to ensure that Brumpton Butchers stays up-to-date, upholding
traditional values while keeping the shop fresh and contemporary with new ideas and new recipes.
Stephen sources his meat as locally as possible; he knows his farmers personally and his
knowledge of the rearing process ensures quality from start to finish traditionally hung beef,
lamb joints, steaks and mince, succulent pork, bacon and sausages with both traditional and
special flavours. Judys handmade pies, pasties, cakes and tartlets are treats not to be missed, and
other items include cheeses, preserves, pickles and sauces. Open from 7.30 to 5.30 (Monday to
12.30, Friday to 6, Saturday to 3).
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HICKLING
Lying on the western edge of the Vale of
Belvoir, this agricultural village was the site
of a busy basin on the Grantham Canal.
Building work on the basin finished in 1797
and the canal, which carried coal, building
materials, and agricultural goods, was in
constant use until the 1930s when it began to
fall into disrepair. Recently cleared, Hickling
Basin is once again attracting people, this
time visitors who come to see the resident
flocks of wildfowl.
COLSTON BASSETT
A The Cross
For centuries this small village was the
property of the Bassett family and later the
Hackers and the Goldings. Between them they
planted the many trees that shade the winding
lanes, built a noble manor house, landscaped
the gracious park, and in 1892 added a striking
if rather over-elaborate church. The
cumulative effect is to make Colston Bassett
one of the most picturesque villages in the
Vale of Belvoir.
At one time the village was large enough to
sustain its own weekly market and the partly
medieval Market Cross can still be seen.
Since 1933, the Cross has been owned by the
National Trust - the first property it acquired
in Nottinghamshire. The Cross stands near the
old post office, itself a picture postcard
building that used to feature in GPO
advertisements during the 1960s.
On the outskirts of the village stand the
forlorn ruins of the former village church,
which has been abandoned since 1892.
CROPWELL BISHOP
A St Giles Church
Much of the furniture from Colston Bassetts
old church was moved to Cropwell Bishop
and installed in St Giles Church. St Giles is
the oldest building in this sizeable village and
dates back to around 1215.
The village lies close to the old Roman road,
the Fosse Way, now the A46. The coaching
inns of Cropwell Bishop are said to have given
shelter to highwayman Dick Turpin while he
was plundering the coaches using the busy
thoroughfare.
In modern times, the village has prospered
from gypsum works. Two of the works bottle
kilns still stand alongside the Grantham Canal.
LANGAR
3 miles SE of Bingham off the A52
A St Andrews Church
E Naturescape Wild Flower Farm Visitor Centre
Really, the English do not deserve great
men, declared George Bernard Shaw. They
allowed Butler to die practically unknown.
He was referring to Samuel Butler, author of
The Way of All Flesh, who was born in the
elegant Georgian rectory at Langar on
December 4, 1834. A trenchant satirist,
Butler mocked the pomposity and exposed
the hypocrisy of the Victorian middle classes.
No wonder they didnt much care for him.
Langar itself appears in his major work as
Battersby-on-the-Hill and the portraits of its
residents are far from flattering. The year
2002, the centenary of Butlers death,
provided an opportunity to commemorate
one of the villages most famous residents in
some way but no one bothered. This small
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LANGAR HALL RESTAURANT WITH ROOMS
Langar, Nottinghamshire NG13 9HG
Tel: 01949 860559 Fax: 01949 861045
e-mail: info@langarhall.co.uk website: www.langarhall.co.uk
Once in a blue moon it is still possible to come across a
country house that makes one want to jump for joy. These
are the words of someone who definitely knows his hotels,
and anyone who visits Langar Hall will agree with his praise.
Langar Hall is a house of charm in quiet seclusion
overlooking gardens, with sheep grazing under the ancient
trees in the park. Owned for over 25 years by Imogen
Shirving, this delightful home has gently evolved into a
lovely family hotel.
The en suite accommodation comprises eight double/twin
rooms, a four-poster room and a suite; most enjoy lovely
views, and all are quiet, very comfortable and well equipped
for both business and leisure stays. Among the day rooms are
the Study, for reading or small meetings; the White Sitting
Room for afternoon tea and pre-dinner drinks; the Indian
Room for private parties and conferences.
The popular neighbourhood restaurant serves fresh
seasonal food, including home-reared lamb, locally raised
pork, beef and poultry, fish from Brixham, game in winter
and home-grown vegetables and herbs, is the basis of the
menus. English country cooking with a twist, with the
emphasis on freshness and flavour provides memorable
signature dishes such as twice-baked cheese souffl, a trio
of Langar lamb and scrumptious desserts.
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rural village in the heart of the Vale was also
the home of Admiral Richard, Earl Howe
(1726-99), Black Dick of Lanagar. Richard
achieved national fame on the Glorious 1st
of June, 1794, at the Battle of Ushant where
his victory included the capture of seven
French ships of the line. The Admiral
himself merits only a modest plaque in St
Andrews Church, but other generations of
the Howe family, their predecessors, the
Scropes, as well as the Chaworths from
nearby Wiverton Hall, are all celebrated by an
extraordinary gathering of monuments. The
most splendid is a four-poster free-standing
alabaster monument to Thomas, Lord
Scrope, who died in 1609, and his wife.
According to Pevsner the figures are good
enough to be in Westminster Abbey.
To the south of Langar, the former airfield
is surrounded by an unsightly industrial estate
that nevertheless contains the Naturescape
Wild Flower Farm Visitors Centre, part of a
commercial nursery, where visitors are able to
explore the 40 acres of wild flower meadows
and see a wide variety of species in their
natural habitat. Open from 11am to 5pm
every day April to September.
GRANBY
4 miles SE of Bingham off the A52
This small, once self-sufficient village is still
proud that its name was adopted by the Dukes
of Rutland, of nearby Belvoir Castle, as the
courtesy title of their eldest son. It was John,
son of the 3rd Duke, who brought most lustre
to the name as Commander in Chief of the
British forces in Germany in the mid 1700s.
The Marquis was immensely popular with his
troops, many of whom followed an old
tradition on leaving the Army and became
publicans. Which explains why so many
hostelries up and down the country are named
The Marquis of Granby including naturally
the inn at Granby itself.
WHATTON
3 miles E of Bingham off the A52
The Norman St Johns Church was restored in
the 1860s under the direction of Thomas
Butler, rector of Langar, and the stained-glass
THE PADDOCK AT PEACOCK FARM
Main Road, Redmile, Nottinghamshire NG13 0GR
Tel: 01949 84222475
e-mail: info@peacock-farm@.co.uk
website: www.peacock-farm.co.uk
The Paddock at Peacock Farm is a small, secluded B&B
establishment where guests can look forward to style,
comfort and friendly service from owner Nicky Need.
The setting in the Vale of Beauvoir is both beautiful and peaceful, adding to the Paddocks appeal
as the perfect choice for business visitors, walkers, cyclists, riders and tourists. The three large en
suite rooms are furnished and equipped to a very high standard, each having a double and a single
bed and space for an extra bed or cot. Two of the three rooms are on the ground floor and have a
kitchenette with fridge, microwave and dining area, a communal conservatory and a pretty garden
with a childrens play area. Well-behaved dogs are welcome. Nicky and her sister Mandy offer a
number of massage and holistic treatments. A relaxing retreat the ideal place to meet up with
friends or family.
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windows, including some crafted by William
Morris to the designs of Burne-Jones, were
added later that century. The font, which is
dated 1662, replaced one that had been
damaged during the Commonwealth. This
church was used by Thomas Cranmer and his
family until he left the area to take up his
studies at Cambridge. A memorial to his
father, Thomas Cranmer senior, who died in
1502, can be found inside.
ASLOCKTON
2 miles E of Bingham off the A52
This village is now separated from its
neighbour, Whatton, by the main Nottingham
to Grantham railway line, though the
footpaths linking the two can still be walked
today. This was the village in which Thomas
Cranmer was born and spent his early years.
Born in 1489, he attended the parish church at
Whatton and also a local grammar school,
possibly at Southwell, before leaving at the age
of 14 to continue his education at Cambridge.
It was in 1533 that Henry VIII proposed this
obscure theologian and academic as
Archbishop of Canterbury, an appointment
that had to be approved by the Pope the last
time Rome had any say over who should be
Primate of All England.
One of Cranmers first duties on gaining
his appointment was to pronounce the
marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine
of Aragon null and void. During the course
of his 23 years in office, Cranmer also
pronounced invalid Henrys marriage to
Anne Boleyn and granted him a divorce from
Anne of Cleves. Loyal to his monarch
throughout, Cranmer aided Henry in
effecting the independence of the Church in
England from Rome. He was also responsible
for drafting much of the Common Prayer
Book that was used right up until the 1970s
when it was replaced by a modern language
version. Following the death of Henry VIII,
Cranmer was convicted of treason under
Mary I and burnt at the stake in 1556.
Though not built until the late 19th
century, Aslockton Church is appropriately
dedicated to Thomas while the village school
also bears the name of its most famous
resident. Cranmers Mound, to the east of the
church, is a Norman motte some 15
feet high that is clearly visible from the
footpath to Orston. Further along this same
footpath can be seen the site of the manor
house where Cranmer was born.
Sherwood Forest
It seems likely that it was William the
Conqueror who designated Sherwood as a
Royal Forest, an administrative term for the
private hunting ground of the king. The land
was not only thickly wooded, but also
included areas of rough heathland as well as
arable land, meadow land, small towns, and
villages. The Norman kings were passionate
about their hunting and, to guard their royal
forests, there were a set of rigidly upheld
laws to conserve the game (known as the
venison) and vegetation (known as the vert).
No one, even those with a private estate
within the royal forest, was allowed to kill or
hunt protected animals, graze domestic
animals in the forest, fell trees or make
clearings within the boundaries without the
express permission of the king or one of his
chief foresters. It is little wonder then, with
such strict rules imposed upon them, that the
people turned to the likes of Robin Hood
and others who defied the laws in order
to survive.
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Edwinstowe
E Major Oak J Vicar Water Country Park
F Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre E Farm Park
A Church of St Mary I Sherwood Forest Fun Park
Lying at the heart of Sherwood Forest, the life
of the village is still dominated by the forest,
as it has been since the 7th century. Edwin,
King of Northumbria, who gave the village its
name, died in the Battle of Hatfield in AD632.
The village developed around the church built
on the spot where he was slain. In 1912, a
cross was erected by the Duke of Portland to
mark the kings grave. From then on until the
time of the Domesday Survey, Edwinstowe
remained small. Following the Norman
Conquest, the village found itself within the
boundaries of the royal hunting forest of
Sherwood and it became subject to the
stringent laws of the verderers. Dating from
the 12th century, the Church of St Mary was
the first stone building in Edwinstowe and,
according to legend, it was here that the
marriage took place between Robin Hood and
Maid Marian. Buried in the graveyard is Dr
Cobham Brewer whose Dictionary of Phrase &
Fable, first published in 1870 and still in print,
is possibly the most readable reference book
ever compiled.
A little way up the road leading
northwards out of Edwinstowe is the
Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre. The
Visitor Centre (01623 823202) houses a
display of characters from the Robin Hood
stories, with appropriate scenes of merry
making. This theme has also been successfully
translated to the city of Nottingham in the
Tales of Robin Hood exhibition.
Sherwood, the Shire Wood, was once a great
woodland mass stretching from Nottingham
to Worksop. Although only relatively small
pockets of the original forest remain today, it
is still possible to become lost among the
trees. Whether or not Robin and his Merry
Men ever did frolic in the greenshawe is,
however, debatable. Arguments still rage as to
which particular historical figure gave rise to
the legend of the famous outlaw. Records
from the 12th century suggest a number of
possible candidates, including the Earl of
Huntingdon.
During the 15th century, several references
to the outlaw can be found in the writings of
two Scottish historians. In 1521 a third
Scotsman, John Major, wrote
About the time of King Richard I, according to
my estimate, the famous English robbers
Robert Hood and Little John were lurking in
their woods, preying on the goods of the wealthy.
However, none of the historians gave any
clues as to the sources of their writings. By the
16th century, there were two conflicting stories
emerging as to the birthplace of Robin, one
suggesting Kirklees, while the other suggested
Locksley.
Tracing the stories of Robin Hood is a
difficult task as the tales, which have been told
for over 600 years, were spoken rather than
written since few local people could read and
write. One of the earliest known stories of the
outlaws exploits can be found on a piece of
parchment that dates from the mid 15th
century, but it was not until William Caxton
set up his printing press in London in 1477
that cheaper books could be produced. From
then on, the story of Robin Hood, his merry
band of men, Guy of Gisborne, and the evil
Sheriff of Nottingham has inspired countless
books and at least a dozen major films.
Among others, the medieval outlaw has been
portrayed by Douglas Fairbanks, Kevin
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Costner and Sean Connery.
Undeterred by the vague
foundations upon which the legend is
built, visitors still flock to see the
great hollow tree that the outlaws
purportedly used as a meeting place
and as a cache for their supplies. The
Major Oak is located about 10
minutes walk along the main track in
the heart of the forest and presents a
rather forlorn appearance. Its 33ft
girth and branches 260 feet in
circumference are now supported by
massive wooden crutches and iron
corsets. There is no denying that the
tree is at least 500 years old, and
some sources claim its age to be
nearer 1,000 years. Despite its
decayed appearance the tree is still
alive thanks to careful preservation.
Recent tests have established that
some parts of the tree have
successfully taken to grafting and
there are hopes that at some stage a
whole colony of minor oaks may be produced.
Another impressive attraction in
Edwinstowe is the Sherwood Forest Fun
Park, which can be found to the north of the
A6075 Mansfield to Ollerton road. This
family-run funfair contains a variety of
popular fairground rides including dodgems,
a ghost train, and a giant Astroglide. The
park is open daily from 10am to dusk
between mid-March and mid-October;
admission is free, pay as you go on the rides
(01623 823536).
Not far from Edwinstowe, off the A6075, is
the Sherwood Forest Farm Park, a naturalist
and animal lovers delight, beautifully laid out,
with picturesque water gardens and three
wildfowl lakes. Enjoying a peaceful setting in a
secluded valley on the edge of Sherwood
Forest, the Farm Park, open every day from
April to the end of September, boasts no fewer
than 30 of Britains rarest breeds of farm
animals and other endangered and protected
species. A peaceful spot to relax can be found
by visitors even on the busiest of days. The
pets corner with its goats and the exotic bird
garden are just two of the delights, and among
the many other attractions are the family of
kune kune pigs, water buffalos, shire horses and
Suffolk Punches, a group of wallabies, a tree
house, tractor and trailer rides and the summer
maize maze. A miniature steam railway
meanders through the grounds.
A couple of miles southeast of
Edwinstowe off the B6030 is Vicar Water
Country Park. Open daily throughout the
The Major Oak, Sherwood Forest
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year, from dawn to dusk, the Park covers 80
hectares of attractive countryside, complete
with a large lake, and provides excellent
walking, fishing, cycling and horse-riding.
Footpaths and bridleways link the Park to the
Sherwood Pines Forest Park, the Timberland
Trail, the Maun Valley Way and the Robin
Hood Way. The Visitor Centre has ample
information about the area and also a caf.
Around Edwinstowe
CUCKNEY
5 miles NW of Edwinstowe on the A60
Five main roads converge on this sizeable
village, which in medieval times was a marshy
island. A large mound in the churchyard is all
that is left of Thomas de Cuckneys 12th-
century castle. Because the nearby church was
built on the marshes it was necessary in the
1950s to shore it up by building a concrete
platform underneath. In the course of this
work the remains of hundreds of skeletons
were uncovered. At first it was thought the
bones were the grisly relics of some 12th-
century battle. More recent research has
revealed that the remains are much older. They
have now been linked to the 7th century Battle
of Heathfield between Edwin of
Northumbria and Penda of Mercia.
An estate village to the country seat of the
Dukes of Portland, Welbeck Abbey, Cuckney is
made up of farm workers cottages. Along with
Clumber House, Thoresby Hall and Rufford
Abbey, Welbeck Abbey makes up the four large
estates in this area of Nottinghamshire, all
owned by Dukes. Naturally, the area became
known as The Dukeries. It was the 5th Duke of
Portland who began, in 1854, an extensive
THE SCHOOL OF ARTISAN FOOD
Lower Motor Yard, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire S80 3LR
Tel: 0845 520 1111
website: www.schoolofartisanfood.org
At The School of Artisan food we have passion, expertise and understanding - all under one roof.
We specialise in providing a platform for non industrial food production methods to flourish once
again. Our award winning team of practitioners guide students through the fascinating world of
baking, dairy, butchery and brewing, as well as preserves and pickling, teaching the skills and
techniques of each discipline.
Housed in an historic listed courtyard
building in the heart of Sherwood Forest,
our state of the art training rooms provide
the perfect setting to master all aspects of
artisan food and drink, from sourdough and
specialist cheese, to sausage making and
cider brewing.
Our courses range from half a day to
five days in length and have been specially
designed for all skill levels, whether youre
an amateur cook or a critically acclaimed
chef. More details and course structures
are available on our website
www.schoolofartisanfood.org
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THE COURTYARD AT WELBECK
A60 Mansfield Road, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 3LW
The Farm Shop: 01909 478725 The Gallery: 01909 501700
website: www.harleygallery.co.uk or www.thewelbeckfarmshop.co.uk
The courtyard at Welbeck offers a unique mix of attractions set
in the tranquil surroundings of rural North Nottinghamshire.
Spend a relaxed afternoon taking in an art exhibition at The
Harley Gallery, enjoy a cream tea or light lunch at the Lime
House Cafe, then sample some of the best foods produced
North Nottinghamshire on sale at The Welbeck Farm Shop.
The award-winning Harley Gallery houses a unique mix of
contemporary and historical art exhibitions, a craft shop selling
work from fine jewellery to sculpture and an activity area for
children. The Gallery was built in 1994 on the site of the
original 19
th
century gasworks for Welbeck Estate and has won
numerous awards including a Civic Trust Award for Architecture
and a Heart of England Tourist Board Award for Excellence.
The Welbeck Farm Shop, voted one of the top 30 farm shops
in the country by the Daily Telegraph, sells fantastic produce
made on the Welbeck Estate, including Stichelton an
organic blue unpasteurised cheese and traditional breads
baked in wood fired ovens from the Welbeck Bakehouse.
Welbeck reared game and meat alongside the finest
seasonal vegetables is also always available.
The Lime House Cafe offers a stylish interior to
enjoy its bistro style menu. A changing selection of
freshly baked cakes, home made soups and open
sandwiches are served alongside daily specials prepared
by The Welbeck Farm Shops resident chef which range
from hearty stews to delicious light salads.
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building programme that turned Welbeck into
what is seen today. Pedestrian access is
confined to footpaths forming part of the
Robin Hood Way. However, there is general
public access to the Welbeck Farm shop and
The Harley Gallery. This gallery, managed by
the Harley Foundation trust, shows a
combination of contemporary arts and crafts
together with items from the Cavendish-
Bentick art collections.
CLUMBER PARK
4 miles N of Edwinstowe off the A614
A Chapel of St Mary the Virgin J Clumber Park
Clumber Park was created in 1707 when the
3rd Duke of Newcastle was granted
permission by Queen Anne to enclose part of
the Forest of Sherwood as a hunting ground.
The building of Clumber House began in
1760, though it was much altered in the early
19th century. After a devastating fire in 1879,
the house was rebuilt in an Italianate style but,
due to the vast expense of its upkeep,
Clumber House was demolished in 1938. All
that remains today are the foundations.
However, any sense of disappointment is
quickly dispelled by the charm of the buildings
that remain in this lovely setting. The estate
houses with their high pitched gables and
massive chimneys are most picturesque. The
redbrick stables are particularly fine as they are
surmounted by a clock tower crowned by a
domed cupola. The inset clock in the tower
dates back to 1763 and the stables now house
the caf and visitor centre.
By far the most striking building on the
estate, however, is the Chapel of St Mary the
Virgin, built by GF Bodley in the 1880s. It
was commissioned by the 7th Duke of
Newcastle to commemorate his coming of
age. A fervent Anglo-Catholic, he spent the
then colossal sum of 30,000 on its
construction. The church has many elaborate
features including some wonderful stone and
woodwork and stained glass by Kempe.
The 3,800-acre Clumber Park, once the
country estate of the Dukes of Newcastle, has
been in the care of the National Trust since
1946. The man-made lake is particularly lovely
and is crossed by a fine classical bridge. Five
different roads enter the park and each entrance
is marked by an impressive gateway. Most
imposing of them all is the Apleyhead Gate,
off the A614, which leads into the glorious
Dukes Drive. Stretching for a distance of two
miles, the drive is the longest double avenue of
limes in Europe and contains some 1,300 trees.
The house was demolished in 1938, but the
Gothic Revival chapel still stands, along with
some truly spectacular glasshouses. Produce
from the organically managed Walled Kitchen
Garden can be enjoyed in the smartly
refurbished restaurant.
PERLETHORPE
4 miles NE of Edwinstowe off the A614
H Thoresby Gallery
Situated in the valley of the River Meden,
Perlethorpe lies within the estate of Thoresby
Hall, at the eastern end of Thoresby Lake.
The first hall was built in the late 17th century
for the Earl of Kingston, but this was
destroyed in 1745 and replaced by a Palladian-
style mansion. The hall seen today is a
Victorian mansion built by Anthony Salvin in
1864 for the Pierrepont family and is
surrounded by the largest park in the county.
The Hall itself is now a hotel.
The village church, which was completed in
1876, was built by Salvin at the same time as
he was working on the hall. At the beginning
of the 20th century, Countess Manvers of the
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great hall took a keen interest in the welfare of
the village children and was always informed
of any who did not attend Sunday school. She
would then visit them and scold those who
had failed in their duty. But if a child had been
absent because of sickness, she would ensure
that hot soup was delivered until the child was
well again. The Thoresby Gallery in
Thoresby Park is an imaginative conversion
with three well-lit exhibition areas featuring
paintings, ceramics, glass, jewellery and textiles.
There is a permanent exhibition of the works
of Marie-Louise Pierrepont, Countess
Manvers. Open 10.30am to 5pm daily.
OLD OLLERTON
2 miles E of Edwinstowe off the A614/A6075
A Water Mill
Not to be confused with the more workaday
town of New Ollerton, Old Ollerton is a
delightfully preserved cluster of old houses, a
charming Georgian coaching inn covered in
creeper, and a church set beside the River
Maun. Straddling the river is Ollerton Water
Mill, more than 300 years old. Visitors are
welcome to wander around the ancient
building with its huge water wheel, browse in
the Exhibition Area, watch a short video
illustrating the age-old milling process, or
sample the refreshments in the tearoom. The
name of the village was originally Alreton, or
Allerton, meaning farm among the alders,
and the alders still grow here along the banks
of the River Maun. The village lay on the
road from London to York (though now it is
bypassed) and also on the roads from
Newark to Worksop and Lincoln to
Mansfield. As a consequence, Ollerton
THAYMAR DAIRY ICE CREAM
FARMSHOP & TEAROOM
Haughton Park Farm, nr Bothamsall, Retford,
Nottinghamshire DN22 8DB
Tel: 01623 86232
e-mail: sales@thaymaricecream.co.uk
website: www.thaymaricecream.co.uk
Thaymar Dairy Ice Cream Farmshop and Tearoom has
been delighting customers with its luxury ice cream and
other delicacies since 1988. More than 35 delicious hand
made flavours of ice cream and sorbets are now made on
the farm, ranging from Apple &Cinnamon to Wild Cherry.
They are made using fresh milk and double cream straight
from the neighbouring dairy together with raw cane sugar.
To this scrumptious base are then added delicious
ingredients ranging from local fresh fruits to Belgian
chocolate and Nottinghamshire honey to produce an unforgettable ice cream experience. Thelma,
Thomas, Emily and Chris Cheetham are the family working together on the farm. They all make ice
cream and love the fact that people travel from miles around to sample the delectable end product.
The tearoom offers a full menu of hot meals and sandwiches - and, of course, some
wonderful ice cream desserts. All of the meals have been made on the farm by the tearoom team
and if you have any special requirements they will do their best to accommodate you. Round off
your visit with a browse through the farmshop which stocks a fantastic selection of local and
homemade produce.
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Wellow Maypole
developed as a meeting place for Sherwood
Forest officials and the inns became staging
posts during the coaching era.
WELLOW
2 miles SE of Ollerton on the A616
A Maypole A Church of St Swithin
This pretty conservation village is located on
the site of an early settlement and was once
fortified by an earthwork and, on the western
side, by Gorge Dyke. The remains of the
earthwork can still be seen and villagers have
retained the right to graze their cattle on
enclosed land. On the village green stands the
tallest permanent Maypole in England -
60 feet high, colourfully striped like a barbers
pole, and with a cockerel perched on the top.
Because earlier wooden poles rotted away,
were stolen or got knocked down, this one is
made of steel and firmly fixed in place. It was
erected to commemorate Elizabeth IIs Silver
Jubilee in 1976 and forms the focus for the
May Day festivities held on the Spring Bank
Holiday Monday. The jollities include dancing
around the Maypole and the crowning of a
May Queen.
Other notable features of this surprising
village include a Ducking Stool; part of the
old stocks; and a 17th-century case clock in
the 12th-century parish Church of St
Swithin. The clock face was made locally to
commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II
in 1953.
Each year on 19 September, the three
church bells, which are between 300 and 400
years old, are rung in memory of a certain
Lady Walden. Some 200 years ago she was
paying a visit to Wellow and became lost in a
local wood. Following the sound of the
church bells, Lady Walden eventually found
her way to the village and, such was her relief,
that she left money for the bells to be rung
each year on that day.
LAXTON
4 miles E of Ollerton off the A6075
A Dovecote Inn C Castle Mound
Laxton is unique since it is one of a handful
of places in the country that have managed to
retain their open field farming system.
Devised in the Middle Ages, this system was
generally abandoned in the 18th and 19th
centuries when the enclosure of agricultural
land took place. The fields have been strip
farmed here for about 1,200 years and the
system ensured that farmers had an equal
share of both good and poor land. A farmer
could hold as many as 100 strips, representing
about 30 acres. In the 1600s, the strips were,
on average, about half an acre in size, but with
the advent of more efficient means of
ploughing, this increased to three-quarters of
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Egmanton and Laxton
Distance: 6.0 miles (9.6 kilometres)
Typical time: 180 mins
Height gain: 50 metres
Map: Explorer 271
Walk: www.walkingworld.com ID:1440
Contributor: David Berry
ACCESS INFORMATION:
Egmanton lies between the A6075 (Ollerton
to Tuxford road) and the A616 (Newark to
Ollerton). It is only a short distance off the
A1; northbound, leave at Tuxford,
southbound at Markham Moor. There are bus
services to Egmanton village from Tuxford,
Newark, Ollerton and Retford.
DESCRIPTION:
This walk is set in the undulating
Nottinghamshire countryside 10 miles to the
northwest of Newark. The old coalmining
area of Ollerton is five miles to the west but
does not impinge on the scenery of this walk.
WALK|1
Egmanton is a typical, small, red-brick village
of this area with church and pub. Laxton is a
little bigger, again with church and pub. It is
Englands last open field farming village with
an ancient strip field system. There is a visitors
centre explaining this feudal scheme, and on
the walk a couple of explanatory placards are
passed. The majority of the walk is on farm
tracks and field footpaths, but the last mile is
along a quiet country road with little traffic.
FEATURES:
Pub, Toilets, Museum, Church, Wildlife, Great
Views.
WALK DIRECTIONS:
1
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From The Old Plough Inn walk in an easterly
direction. Shortly, take the right fork, Weston Road.
Proceed along this road for 150 metres.
2
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Turn right up Wood Lane, which is between
some expensive-looking new properties and a
council-looking row of houses. The road becomes a
stone track and climbs up, heading for the right-
hand corner of Egmanton Wood. Ignore a turning
left into the woods. Continue to the corner and stay
on the track as it follows the edge of the wood.
3
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When the track ends, continue more or less
straight ahead on a path across a
field. In the middle of the field, there
is a small tree on the path. In the
distance, in line with the path, is a
pylon. Walk to the hedge and turn
left for 18m. Go through a gap in the
hedge. Turn left and follow the edge
of the field to your left.
4
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Turn right when you get to the
footpath, which is identified by
having an electricity pole and two
large trees on it.
5
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Continue along the path to the far
side of the field, which will lead you
to a gateway (with no gate). Go
through the gateway, turn sharp right
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Winson Hill
West Field
Laxton
Egmanton
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Woo
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0 200 400 600 800metres 1
0 200 400 600yards
KILOMETRES
MILES
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Looking for somewhere to stay, eat, drink or shop? www.findsomewhere.co.uk WALK|1
43
along a farm track. Over the brow of the hill you
will see Laxton church tower.
6
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Having walked around 500 metres along this
track, you will see a footpath off to the left. Follow
this and you will now be heading slightly to the left
of the church tower. The path enters a playing field.
Keep left and walk the edge of the field. At the
pavilion, continue on your heading to pass through
the hedge. Turn immediately right for 30m.
7
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Turn left through the hedge and under a wooden
bar at a footpath that once more heads towards the
church. Go diagonally across the field to a footpath
sign in the corner. Keep to the left edge of the next
field to a stile. The next short footpath takes you
down to a village road. Turn right and head for
Laxton village centre. On the right you will pass one
of the several placards explaining the open field
system. Ahead is The Dovecote Inn. Beside it there
is a visitors centre explaining the field system and
toilets. You might at this stage take in the centre
and explore some of the fields. You might also
choose to visit the pub.
8
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When all this is complete, the walk continues
along the road to the left, signposted Boughton and
Ollerton. Ignore a footpath by Cross Hill Farm and
a bridleway sign by the information placard
opposite the church. Pass the post office and a
B&B at Lilac Farm.
9
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Take the right fork No Through Road. In
400m there is a public footpath sign to the right,
just before a bungalow. Follow a well-defined
footpath across the crop field to the left hedge,
which the path then follows to the corner of
the field.
10
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At the corner of the field, cross the stile and
go through the gateway beyond. Walk down this
narrow field to a stile on the left. Cross the stile and
you will see, down to the left, a footbridge. Make
for that by following the hedge to your right and
then turning left on reaching a ditch. Cross the
footbridge and the stile immediately beyond it.
11
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Continue straight ahead, along a well-defined
path through the crop, keeping the hedge of the
field to your right. As you reach higher ground,
notice that you are heading towards a
communications tower in the middle distance. To
your right you can see your destination, Egmanton.
It might seem that you are in the middle of
nowhere, but beyond Egmanton you can see the A1
traffic and to the left and right, cooling towers. So,
civilisation is not that far away! The path is now
diverging away from the hedge, but you are still
heading towards the communications tower.
12
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The well-defined path ends at the corner of
another field projecting into this one. Climb the
mound at that corner and turn right along a track. A
short way along that track there is a gateway (no
gate) with a yellow arrow, the direction of which
seems to indicate walking across the crop. It seems
that previous walkers have not done this but have
followed the track made by the wheels of a tractor.
This runs parallel to the hedge, displaced into the
field some 30m. As the hedge bends to the left and
then curves right, so does the tractor-wheel track.
As the track starts dropping down the hill, look for
the line where previous walkers have turned left
through the crop, which is the proper line of the
footpath, towards a fingerpost in the far hedge. At
the fingerpost over the stile, turn right and follow
the fence, keeping it on your right.
13
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In the right-hand corner there is a wooden
barrier, with a footpath sign. Go over the stile.
Navigation is now simple just follow a straight
line keeping the hedge/ditch on your left. Look for
quite an incredible amount of badger activity. Their
paths for their nightly runs are long-established. It
is almost a mile along this footpath. Reassurance
that all is well is when you cross over a substantial
private road up to a farm. You know you have
reached the last field when you notice some strange
mounds to your right. On the OS map they are
labelled as an antiquity Fish Ponds.
14
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At the corner of this field, the footpath ends
and there is a rather dilapidated gate. Go through it
onto a short track.
15
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The track leads to the road to Egmanton.
Turn right.
16
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Entering Egmanton the end is in sight!
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an acre. The familiar three year crop rotation
also ensured productive use of the land.
Another unique feature of this fascinating
village is the magnificent Dovecote Inn, which
is owned (but not run) by the Queen. Here, a
form of manorial government that has
survived from medieval times still continues.
Each winter, villagers gather at the inn to
appoint a jury that is then responsible for
inspecting the fallow fields in the next cycle.
The jurors tour the fields left fallow for the past
year then adjourn for lunch back at the
Dovecote. During the afternoon they discuss
any offences committed by farmers. A week
later comes the Court meeting.
The 18th century was a great time of
rebuilding in Laxton and many of the houses
display the patterned brickwork that was typical
of this period. The still visible stonework
around the bottom of some buildings suggests
that the foundations were of much older
timber-framed constructions.
Just north of the village, along a lane close to
the church, is another fascinating aspect of
Laxtons medieval history. This is the Norman
motte, or Castle Mound, which lies almost
hidden beneath the trees. At the beginning of
the 12th century, the stewardship of Sherwood
Forest moved to Laxton and the village became
the administrative centre for the forest. As a
consequence, the motte and bailey castle was
one of the biggest in this part of the country.
Although no ruined keep or crumbling walls
exist today, the castle earthworks are still the
largest and best preserved in the county.
EGMANTON
5 miles E of Ollerton off the A1
A Shrine of Our Lady of Egmanton
Reached by quiet winding lanes, Egmanton is
little visited these days, but during the Middle
Ages it was very popular. A local woman
claimed to have had a vision of the Virgin
Mary and the Shrine of Our Lady of
Egmanton became a major place of
pilgrimage right up until the Reformation.
The cult was revived in 1896 by the
7th Duke of Newcastle who commissioned
Sir Ninian Comper to completely restore and
redecorate the church. The result is an
exuberant re-creation of a medieval church
with all its colour and graven images. The
exterior is really quite modest, but the interior
is resplendent and inspiring, with the light
from many tapers and candles helping to
create a mesmerising atmosphere.
RUFFORD
2 miles S of Ollerton off the A614
C Abbey E Country Park H Craft Centre
Rufford Abbey was founded in 1148 by
Gilbert de Gant as a daughter house to
Rievaulx Abbey. During the Dissolution it
suffered the fate of many religious houses
and came into the hands of the 6th Earl of
Shrewsbury, fourth husband of the
redoubtable Bess of Hardwick. The Earl
pulled down most of the abbey and built a
grand Elizabethan mansion. All that remains
of the abbey is a vaulted crypt, said to be
haunted by the ghost of a giant monk with a
skull-like face. According to the parish
register for Edwinstowe, a man died of fright
after catching sight of this unholy visitor.
The abbeys stable block now houses an
impressive craft centre and a ceramics centre,
and the restored 18th-century Orangery
features a changing display of outdoor
sculptures and large-scale ceramics. In the
vaulted stone undercroft, and exhibition,
Rufford the Cistercian Abbey, traces the
varying functions of the Cistercian order in
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England from the 12th
century through to the
Dissolution of the
Monasteries in the reign of
Henry VIII.
The grounds of the
abbey, now the Rufford
Country Park and Craft
Centre, are well worth a
visit. In addition to the
variously themed formal
gardens near the house,
there are also some hides
where birdwatchers can
overlook a portion of the
lake that has been
designated a bird sanctuary. In the grounds,
too, stands an 18th-century corn mill, now
home to a display of Nottinghamshire
history, and two icehouses dating from the
mid 1800s. As well as the majestic Lime
Avenue, there is also the Broad Ride, at the
southern end of which are several animal
graves. Most were pets belonging to the
family at the house but one grave is that of
the racehorse Cremorne, the 1872 Derby
winner. Events throughout the year
include the Earth & Fire Ceramic Fair
in June (01623 822944).
BILSTHORPE
The hall where, during the Civil War, Charles I
is reputed to have hidden in a cupboard still
exists, but is now incorporated into a farm
that stands opposite the village church.
Bilsthorpe remained a quiet farming
community, as it had been for many
centuries, right up until 1922 when a coal
mine was sunk in the village by Stanton
Ironworks. An explosion at the mine with a
subsequent loss of life brought the vicar and
the mine manager into a dispute over
compensation. The manager, unwilling to pay
out, built a wooden church away from the
main part of the village and near the
temporary accommodation provided for the
mine workers.
FARNSFIELD
E Farm Centre I Wheelgate Adventure Park
Close to the crossroads of the A614/A617
near Farnsfield are two popular family
attractions. White Post Modern Farm
Centre, open daily from 10am, is a working
farm with more than 4,000 animals, among
them llamas, deer, owls, piglets, chicks and
even mice. Wheelgate Adventure Park has
a wealth of attractions for visitors of all ages:
a large tropical house with exotic butterflies
and birds, fish and insects, including a colony
of leafcutter ants; a large indoor soft play
area with a giant pirate ship and a Jungle
Room; adventure play areas including a 54ft
trawler in a giant sandpit; one of the largest
Rufford Country Park
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hedges in the country; trails and woodland; a
pet shed; a water fun fountain; a miniature
railway; a garden centre and much more.
In Farnsfield village itself traces of a
Roman camp can be found and the ghost of a
Roman soldier is reputed to haunt one of the
villages pubs. More recently, the village was
the birthplace of the explorer, Augustus
Charles Gregory. After emigrating to Australia,
Gregory became the first person to explore
the countrys interior. The Royal Geographical
Society commissioned an expedition led by
him in 1855, a journey during which 5,000
miles of the country was mapped. Gregorys
respect for the native culture earned him the
unofficial title of Protector of the Aborigines.
RAINWORTH
7 miles SW of Ollerton off the A617
J Rainworth Water
Pronounced Renoth locally, this is a mining
village whose development was solely due to
the now closed pits. There are, however, two
very different places of interest within the
village. Rainworth Water, a series of lakes
and streams, which attracts walkers,
naturalists, and fishermen, is also the site of a
bird sanctuary founded by the naturalist
Joseph Whitaker.
Rainworths other claim to fame is its fish
and chip shop, which found itself on the front
pages of the national newspapers in the early
1980s as the place where the Black Panther
was caught. A local shopkeeper had noticed a
man loitering in the area and had contacted
the police who kept a watch for the suspicious
man on the main street of the village.
Realising that he was being followed, the
suspect began shooting at the police, injuring
one, but the customers in the chip shop, seeing
what was going on, apprehended him. Though
at the time the police did not know the
identity of the gunman, he later turned out to
be the notorious Black Panther who was later
convicted of murder.
RAVENSHEAD
9 miles SW of Ollerton on the A60
B Pumping Station H Rural Craft Centre
Although the name Ravenshead appears in the
Domesday Book, the village of Ravenshead is
relatively new and dates from 1966 when the
three hamlets of Fishpool, Larch Farm and
Kighill merged. Situated by the side of the
main road is the Bessie Shepherd Stone, which
marks the spot where, in 1817, Bessie was
murdered as she walked from Mansfield
to Papplewick.
Longdale Lane Rural Craft Centre was
established in the 1970s and it is the oldest
such centre in the country. Its a re-creation of
a 19th-century village, complete with
flagstones and Victorian street lamps. Behind
the decorative, period shop fronts a whole
host of professional artists can be seen
making both traditional and modern objects.
Papplewick Pumping Station is Britains
finest Victorian water pumping station,
superbly restored as a spectacular example of
Victorian craftsmanship. Original features
include an ornate engine house, an ornamental
cooling pond and a boiler house with six
Lancashire boilers. Open Sunday afternoons
call 0115 963 2938 for more details.
Mansfield
A Bentinck Monument B Museum
The second largest town in the county,
Mansfield stands at the heart of what were
once the great North Nottinghamshire
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47
coalfields. That industry has now vanished, but
Mansfield still has the atmosphere of an
industrial town, although its economy is
now based on a broader spread of varying
businesses.
The most distinctive structure in Mansfield
is undoubtedly the great railway viaduct that
sweeps through and above the town, carried
by 15 huge arches of rough-hewn stone.
Built in 1875, it is one of the largest viaducts
to be found in an English town and gives
some dignity to a community that suffered
badly from thoughtless development in
the 1960s.
In the old market place stands the
impressive Gothic Bentinck Monument.
This was erected in 1848 in memory of Lord
George Bentinck, the younger son of the
Duke of Portland. Bentinck was a long
serving Member of Parliament for the town
and a great friend of Disraeli. The memorial
was raised by public subscription but
unfortunately funds ran out before the
finishing touch, a statue of Bentinck himself,
could be placed in the central space.
Standing just to the northwest of the
market place, Mansfield Museum
concentrates its collections largely on local
interest and includes a model of a Roman
villa that once stood at nearby Mansfield
Woodhouse. The collection spans the
centuries from that early occupation right up
to more recent times, with pictures and
artefacts relating to the industry of the town
and surrounding villages. The adjoining art
gallery also carries a local theme and features
works by artists of the area including the
water colourist AS Buxton, who is well-
known for his paintings of Mansfield.
Around Mansfield
MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE
2 miles N of Mansfield on the A60
A St Edmunds Church
Originally a settlement within Sherwood
Forest, Mansfield Woodhouse is now virtually
a suburb of Mansfield, but the core of the
village remains remarkably intact and several
interesting buildings have survived.
Opposite The Cross, in the heart of the
town, stands one of these fine houses, the
Georgian Burnaby House. Still retaining
many of its original, elegant features, the
house was obviously built for a prosperous
family and, during the mid 1800s, it was
occupied by the Duke of Portlands land
agent. On the other side of the road stands a
stump, which is all that remains of the
Market Cross, erected here after a great fire
in 1304. The village stocks stood close by and
were once used to detain George Fox, the
Quaker Movement founder, after he had
preached the gospel to the villagers.
At the bottom of the street is the oldest
building in Mansfield Woodhouse,
St Edmunds Church. Most of the original
church was lost, along with the parish records,
when fire swept through the village in the
early 14th century. The present church was
built on the same site though it underwent
some severe restoration in the 19th century.
Standing not far from the church is a manor
house known as Woodhouse Castle because of
the battlements that were added to the
building in the early 1800s. Dating from the
1600s, this was the home of the Digby family
and, in particular, of General Sir John Digby,
Sheriff of Nottingham, who distinguished
himself during the Civil War.
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Another building of note is the essentially
18th-century Wolfhunt House found just off
the High Street. The unusual name is derived
from a local tale that suggests that the land on
which the house is built once belonged to a
man who was employed to frighten away the
wolves in Sherwood Forest by blowing a
hunting horn.
SKEGBY
2 miles W of Mansfield off the A6075
Skegbys church had to be rebuilt in the 1870s
because of mining subsidence, but some
interesting features were salvaged from the old
church: some monuments to the Lindley
family; a fine east window; and two delightful
effigies from the early 1300s showing a
Sherwood Forester and his wife. She is dressed
in a wimple and long gown; he carries a
hunting horn.
The village is lucky in having a particularly
fine example of a 14th-century cruck cottage
though this was not discovered until restoration
work was taking place on the building in the
1950s. The villages pinfold, the place where
stray animals were held until their owner
claimed them, has also been restored and can
be found on the Mansfield road.
TEVERSAL
3 miles W of Mansfield off the B6014
A rural oasis in the heart of this former
mining district, Teversal stands on a hill
looking across to the lovely Elizabethan
Hardwick Hall, which is actually just over the
border in Derbyshire. Teversal village is the
fictional home of Lady Chatterley and the
woodlands of the Hardwick Hall estate
were the meeting place for her and
gamekeeper Mellors in DH Lawrences
Lady Chatterleys Lover.
The village also boasts, according to
Pevsner, one of the most rewarding village
churches in the county. It has a Norman
door, 12th-century arcades and a 15th-century
tower, but eclipsing all these are the wonderful
17th-century fittings, all marvellously intact. A
wealth of colourful hatchments, ornate
monuments to the Molyneux and Carnavon
families, Lords of the Manor, and original box
pews all add to the interest. The Carnavons
own family pew has embroidered cushions
and is set apart from the lowlier seating by
four spiral columns, which give it the
appearance of a four-poster bed.
SUTTON IN ASHFIELD
2 miles SW of Mansfield on the A38
This once small village expanded over the
years as a result of local coal mining and
modern development has not been kind.
However, a few of the original 17th and 18th-
century cottages can be seen near the Church
of St Mary Magdalene. The church contains
some Norman work on the west wall, 13th-
century arcades and a 14th-century spire. A
tombstone lying beside the path leading to the
porch commemorates a certain Ann Burton
who achieved the remarkable feat of dying on
the 30th of February 1836.
ANNESLEY WOODHOUSE
5 miles SW of Mansfield on the A608
All that remains of old Annesley is the
roofless ruin of what DH Lawrence
described as a mouldering church standing
high on a bank by the roadsideblack and
melancholy above the shrinking head of the
traveller. Another great writer also knew the
village well. Annesley Hall was the home of
Mary Chaworth, a lady for whom Lord Byron
formed an early affection. The poet and the
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beautiful heiress would often walk up to the
breezy summit of Diadem Hill, 578ft high
and visible for miles around. The liaison was
a little odd since Mary had inherited her great
fortune from William Chaworth: William had
been killed in a duel by Byrons great uncle,
the 5th Lord Byron. Perhaps because of this
unfortunate event, Mary did not succumb to
the poets charms. Instead she married John
Musters, the sporting squire of Colwick Hall
near Nottingham. She died there in 1832 as
the result of an attack on the Hall by Reform
Bill rioters.
NEWSTEAD
5 miles S of Mansfield off the A608
A Abbey
A magnificent 13th-century ruin attached to a
Victorian reworking of a Tudor mansion
provides one of the countys most historic
houses. Newstead Abbey was founded by
Henry II around 1170 as part of his
atonement for the murder of Thomas
Becket, and sold at the Dissolution of the
Monasteries to Sir John Byron who destroyed
much of the Abbey and converted other
buildings into a mansion. The Newstead estate
remained in the Byron family for almost 300
years, its last owner being the celebrated poet
George, Lord Byron.
He inherited the property from his great-
uncle, the 5th Lord Byron, better known as
Devil Byron (see previous entry). As
mentioned earlier, the 5th Lord had killed an
old family friend in a duel and although he
was only convicted of manslaughter, he was
obliged to pay huge punitive costs.
Ostracised by London society, he retreated to
Newstead in malevolent mood. To pay his
debts he virtually denuded the estate of its
great plantations of oaks. And just to spite
his son and expected heir, he ordered the
slaughter of the deer herd that had grazed
the parkland for generations. As it happened,
his son died before him and the estate passed
to that brat from Aberdeen, as he referred
to his great-nephew who was living there in
poverty with his mother.
When the poet arrived at Newstead in
1798, he found that the only room in this
huge mansion without a leaking roof was the
scullery. The estate was burdened with debts,
and so was Byron.
He managed to let
the estate out for
some years, but
when he finally took
up residence in
1808, he was still
hard put to make
the house even
reasonably
habitable. In 1817,
he gave up the
struggle, sold the
estate to an old
Harrow schoolmate,
Newstead Abbey
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Colonel Thomas Wildman, for 94,000,
removed himself to Italy and never saw
Newstead again.
Colonel Wildman spared no expense in
refurbishing and extending the dilapidated
house, an undertaking that took 12 years to
complete. The house and grounds that visitors
see today is essentially the creation of Thomas
Wildman, but the presiding spirit of the house
is undeniably that of the wayward poet.
Over the years, many Byron manuscripts,
letters, books, pictures and personal relics
have found their way back to the Abbey, and
both the house and grounds are beautifully
maintained by the present owners, the City of
Nottingham, to whom the estate was
bequeathed in 1931. The house is open every
afternoon from April to September, and the
grounds all year round. These include a secret
garden; a beautifully carved fountain
decorated with fantastic animals; the famous
and elaborate memorial to Byrons dog
Boatswain, and a large lake where the 5th
Lord used to re-enact naval battles.
Byron died from a fever while travelling in
Greece supporting the patriots war of
independence against the Turks. His body was
returned to England, but his scandalous
reputation for womanising made a proposed
burial in Westminster Abbey unthinkable.
Instead, he was interred at Hucknall, a
couple of miles south of Newstead Abbey
(see opposite).
LINBY
6 miles S of Mansfield on the B6011
One of the prettiest villages on the north
side of Nottingham, was Pevsners rather
cautious praise of this small village where a
stream runs along the main street with its
broad grass verges, and enough stone-built
houses to face down the unfortunate sprawl
of 1930s red brick houses near the church.
The village is situated on the banks of the
River Leen, which, during the late 18th
century, was a busy, bustling place with six
cotton mills being powered by the water. The
mills were strictly functional but George
Robinson, their owner, did not want to be
outdone by his near neighbours at Newstead
Abbey, so he added battlements and other
ornate features and thus gave Castle Mill its
name. Young apprentices were brought in
from as far away as London to work in Castle
Mill. Housed in small lodges nearby, the
children worked long hours weaving cotton
cloth in terrible conditions with minimal
food and clothing provided. Brought to work
in the mills from a young age (some were no
more than 10 years old), many died early. In
Linby churchyard the graves of 42 apprentice
children bear witness to Robinsons callous
pursuit of profit.
When the 5th Lord Byron dammed the
River Leen upstream from Linby, in order to
create a lake on his estate, he also played
havoc with the water supply to the mills.
With a reduction in power, Robinson had to
find another reliable power source and in
1786 his sons were the first to apply steam
power to a cotton mill when they installed a
Boulton and Watt engine.
HUCKNALL
7 miles S of Mansfield off the A611
G St Mary Magdalen Church
Hucknall attracts a constant stream of visitors
to St Mary Magdalen Church, not so much
for its 14th-century font or for the 27
attractive stained-glass windows by Kempe,
but to gaze at a simple marble slab set in the
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floor of the chancel. It bears the inscription:
BYRON, Born January 22nd, 1788, Died April
19th, 1824.
The inscription is surmounted by a laurel
wreath, in classical times the only award to
winners in the original Olympic Games. The
memorial was presented to the church in 1881
by the King of the Hellenes in appreciation of
Byrons support for the Greeks against their
imperial masters, the Turks.
Byron died in Greece where his body was
embalmed and transported back to England.
For several days the body was exhibited at an
inn in Nottingham before being buried in the
Byron family crypt at Hucknall. Many years
later, in 1938, the vicar of Hucknall entered
the now closed crypt to challenge a tradition
that the poets body had been removed. He
found the lid of the coffin loose and its lead
lining cut open. Very reverently, I raised the
lid, and before my eyes lay the embalmed body
of Byron in as perfect condition as when it
was placed in the coffin 114 years agoThe
serene, almost happy expression on his face
made a profound impression on me. The feet
and ankles were uncovered, and I was able to
establish the fact that his lameness had been
that of his right foot. Another occupant of
the family vault is Ada, Countess of Lovelace,
Byrons only daughter. Ada was a friend and
associate of Charles Babbage, inventor of the
forerunner of the computer.
Hucknall boasts another famous son. Eric
Coates, the son of a local doctor, was born
here on 27 August 1886. He displayed
musical talent at an early age (he demanded
and got his first violin at the age of six), and
became the most celebrated viola player of
his generation. But Coates became even more
famous as a composer of light music his
Sleepy Lagoon is immediately recognisable to
millions as the signature music of BBC
Radios long-running programme Desert Island
Discs.
SELSTON
9 miles SW of Mansfield on the B600
Mentioned in the Domesday Book as a place
with a church and three acres of meadows,
like many other village communities in this
western area of Nottinghamshire, Selston was
at that time very much a farming community.
But beneath the fertile agricultural land lay
coal, and leases for coal mining were granted
REDGATES FARM SHOP
Mansfield Road (A608), Brinsley, nr Eastwood,
Nottinghamshire NG16 5AE
Tel: 01773 713403
The Redgate family have farmed here for many years and
since 2007 David and Jean have sold produce from the
farm at Redgates Farm Shop, which stands on their farm
off the A608 Mansfield Road just north of Eastwood.
Customers come from many miles around to buy top-quality
home-raised meat, including Limousin and Hereford beef,
Lleyn and Dorset poll lamb and traditional cuts and joints of pork. The bacon is home-cured,
sausages come in several tasty varieties and Jeans super pies are always in demand. The shop
also sells game, poultry, eggs and dairy produce, locally grown fruit and vegetables and a selection
of jams, preserves and pickles. Redgates Farm Shop is open from 9 to 5 Tuesday to Saturday.
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as early as 1206. For centuries the coal mining
operation remained small-scale, but by the
1850s Selston had taken on many of the
aspects of a modern colliery village. The last
coal pit in Selston closed in 1956, and more
than half a century later, the village still has a
lacklustre air to it.
From the churchyard of the partly-Norman
Church of St Helen there are some splendid
views across the neighbouring Derbyshire hills.
The graveyard is the last resting place of Dan
Boswell, king of the gypsies. For years
newborn gypsy babies were brought to
Boswells gravestone to be baptised and many
gypsies made special journeys to the church to
pay their respects.
Eastwood
B Heritage Centre
G DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum
I have always hated it, wrote DH Lawrence
of the mining town where he was born in
1885. Reviling the ugliness of my native
village, he wished it could be pulled down
to the last brick. Local people reciprocated
his dislike: He were nowt but a big soft gel,
said one of his contemporaries many years
later when the gawky lad whose mum insisted
he should never go down the pit had become
a writer and painter of internatonal repute.
The Lawrence family home, a two-up, two-
down, terrace house at 8a Victoria Street is
now the DH Lawrence Birthplace
Museum (see panel opposite). It has been
furnished in a late 19th-century style with
which the Lawrence family would have been
familiar. There are some household items on
display that belonged to the family and
anyone visiting the museum will see that the
houses front window is larger than others in
the same street. This is where Mrs Lawrence
displayed childrens clothes and other linen
items that she made and sold to supplement
the fluctuating wages brought home by her
miner husband.
In 1887, the Lawrence family moved to a
larger, end-of-terrace house in Eastwood,
which today is known as the Sons and Lovers
Cottage since it featured as the Morels house,
The Bottoms, in Lawrences novel. This house
too is open to the public, though by
appointment only, and is also laid out with
furnishings and artefacts appropriate to the
time. Lawrences father was a miner at the
nearby Brinsley Pit and though the family
moved house in Eastwood several times, the
Lawrences remained short of money. Young
Lawrence attended the local school and was
the first Eastwood boy to gain a scholarship to
Nottingham High School where he was a
pupil until 1901. Lawrence started his working
life as a clerk before undertaking a teacher-
training course and moving to teach in a
school in Croydon. The offices where as a boy
DH Lawrence would pick up his fathers
wages are now the Durban House Heritage
Centre, which houses a range of exhibitions.
Though Lawrence had already begun
writing, his major novels were not written until
after 1912, the year he eloped with his former
professors wife and left England. Drawing
heavily on the influences of his upbringing in
Eastwood, Sons and Lovers, first published in
1913, not only describes the countryside
around Eastwood, but also portrays many
local personalities. The unflattering
descriptions of, among others, Lawrence
senior, caused a great deal of local resentment,
a resentment that astonishingly persists to this
day in the village. Lawrence and his wife,
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Frieda Weekley, returned to England during
World War I, but they were unable to settle,
and at one point were detained as suspected
German spies. They were soon on their travels
once again.
In the early 1920s, Lawrence published
Women in Love and, a few years later, was
diagnosed with tuberculosis, the disease from
which he died in 1930. It was while he was in
Florence, trying unsuccessfully to find a cure
for his crippling condition, that Lawrence wrote
his most famous novel, Lady Chatterleys Lover.
First published in 1928, the full text of the
controversial story was not printed until 1960
and, even then, it was the subject of a court
case that is almost as famous as the book.
A place of pilgrimage for devotees of
Lawrence, Eastwood also attracts those with an
interest in railway history. It was at the Sun Inn
in the Market Place that a group of Iron
Masters and Coal Owners gathered on
16 August 1832 to discuss the construction of
a railway that would eventually become the
mighty Midland Railway. A plaque on the wall
of the inn commemorates the seminal meeting.
The railway was formed to compete with
D.H. Lawrence Birthplace
Museum
Durban House Heritage Centre, Mansfield Road,
Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, NG16 3DZ
Tel: 01773 717 353 Fax: 01773 713 509
e-mail: culture@broxtowe.gov.uk
website: www.broxtowe.gov.uk
Whether you want to find out more about
the son of a miner, who went on to
become the infamous author of Lady
Chatterleys Lover, or simply want to step back in time to domestic days gone by,
then a trip to D.H. Lawrence Heritage is for you. Lawrence spent the first half of his
life here in Eastwood, and describing the area in 1929, he wrote, In this queer jumble
of the old England and the new, I came into consciousness. Come and visit our two
heritage sites to find out more. Although D.H. Lawrence is known primarily for his
novels, such as Sons and Lovers and Women in Love, he also wrote short stories,
poems, plays and was an exhibited artist. He was born in Eastwood, a small mining
town in the industrial Midlands but against the odds escaped from this life to become
one of the great writers of the twentieth century, travelling the world and challenging
conventions at every step.
The Birthplace Museum is the house where Lawrence was born in 1885, and the
first of the familys four Eastwood homes. Through a guided tour, you will be able to
learn about his family life and the type of working class home and mining community
that shaped his formative years.
The tour includes the parlour, kitchen and bedrooms as well as the outdoor
washhouse. In the adjoining building there is the chance to watch a DVD on Lawrence
and visit our exhibition space, which houses several original Lawrence paintings and
personal items such as his travelling trunk.
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the Erewash Canal, completed in 1779 and
effectively put out of business by the 1870s.
Almost a century later, following years of
neglect, the canal was cleared and made
suitable for use by pleasure craft. The towpath
was resurfaced and now provides a pleasant
and interesting walk.
Around Eastwood
AWSWORTH
1 mile S of Eastwood on the A6096
In order to lay the tracks for the Great
Northern Railway line from Derby to
Nottingham, a viaduct was needed to carry the
railway over the Erewash Canal, the River
Erewash and the Nottingham Canal, which all
lie close to Awsworth. The resulting
construction, built in 1876-1877, is still an
impressive sight though the line is now
disused. One of only two viaducts in England
to be made of wrought iron lattice girders, the
Bennerley Viaduct has 16 spans, which are set
on pillars 56 feet high.
KIMBERLEY
1 mile S of Eastwood off the A610
Kimberley - the name means a clearing in the
forest - was first mentioned in the Domesday
Book, and for many centuries it remained a
small rural farming hamlet. The village church
fell into ruin down the centuries, but with the
arrival of industries such as brewing, mining
and silk making, and the growth of the
population, a new church, Holy Trinity, was
built in 1847. A well-known landmark is the
War Memorial, which commemorates the
villagers who fell in the two World Wars. It is
thought to be the only domed war memorial
in the country. Most villages in Britain have
their little eccentricities, and in Kimberley they
stage pram races on a day in July in support of
local charities.
COSSALL
3 miles S of Eastwood off the A6096
Now a conservation area, this village draped
across a low hill boasts some attractive
buildings, notably the picturesque 17th-century
Willoughby almshouses and a farmhouse that
includes part of the original home of the
Willoughby family. They were a branch of the
Willoughbys of Wollaton, a dynasty that was
founded by a wealthy 13th-century wool
merchant from Nottingham named Ralph
Bugge. This rather unfortunate name (which
means hobgoblin) was understandably changed
by his descendants to the more acceptable
Willoughby; a name taken from the village of
Willoughby-on-the-Wolds, on the border with
Leicestershire, where Ralph owned a fair
acreage of land.
Cossall was another of DH Lawrences
haunts and it featured in his novel The Rainbow
as the village of Cossethay, home of the
Brangwen family. The fictional character,
William Brangwen, is said to have been based
on Alfred Burrows, to whose daughter, Louise,
Lawrence was engaged for some time. She duly
appears as Ursula Brangwen. The Burrows
family lived in a cottage, now marked by a
plaque, near the charming village church, which
contains a fine marble tomb of the Willoughbys.
Retford
B Bassetlaw Museum
B Percy Laws Memorial Gallery F Cannon Square
Retford is actually two communities, East and
West Retford, set either side of the River Idle.
West Retford is the older settlement; its twin
grew up during the 1100s as a place where
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tolls could be collected from travellers making
the river crossing. Retford has been a market
town since 1246 and markets are still held here
every Thursday and Saturday.
Retford received a major economic boost in
1766 when the Great North Road was diverted
through the town. That was when the Market
Square was redeveloped and some of the
elegant Georgian buildings here, and in Grove
Street, were erected. The grand and rather
chateau-like Town Hall, however, dates from
1868 and replaced the Georgian hall. Outside
the Town Hall can be found the Broad Stone,
which is probably the base of an old parish
boundary cross. Tradition has it that during the
times of the plague in Retford, in the mid 16th
and mid 17th centuries, coins were placed in a
pool of vinegar in the hollow in the top of the
stone to prevent the disease from spreading
while trading was taking place at the market.
In the northwestern corner of the square is
an archway that leads down to the River Idle.
Bearing the inscription JP Esquire 1841, the
archway once led to the gardens of John Parker
who lived in a nearby house, now business
premises. A close inspection of the garden wall
will reveal that it has a hollow curve. This was
in order to funnel hot air along the wall to
warm the fruit trees grown in its shelter.
Cannon Square is home to one of
Retfords more unusual attractions - a Russian
cannon. Dating from 1855 and weighing over
two tons, the cannon was captured by British
soldiers at Sebastopol and brought to Retford
at the end of the Crimean War. The townsfolk
paid for its transportation and, in 1859, after
arguments raged about its siting, the cannon
was finally placed in the square and named the
Earl of Aberdeen after the incumbent Prime
Minister. During World War II, the cannon
was threatened with being melted down to
help the war effort and was only saved after a
Retford gentleman bought it and hid it until
the war was over.
One of Retfords most infamous visitors
was the highwayman Dick Turpin, and several
historic inns still stand as a reminder of the
romantic days of stage coach travel. Another
man who stood and delivered here, though in
a more respectable fashion, was John Wesley,
who conducted many open-air meetings in
East Retford.
While in Retford, it is well worth visiting the
Bassetlaw Museum in Armcott House, Grove
Street. This imposing late 18th-century town
house was at one tome or another the home of
the Whartons, the woollen drapers; Sir Wharton
Armcott, MP for the Borough of East Retford;
and the Peglers, local industrialists. It was
extensively restored and opened as a museum
for the District of Bassetlaw in 1983. The
house is noted for its finely executed internal
plasterwork and elegant wrought iron staircase,
which the restoration has returned to their full
Georgian splendour. The museum has a distinct
local emphasis, with displays of local
archaeology, civic, social and industrial history,
and fine and decorative art. Occupying the
former service wing of the house, the Percy
Laws Memorial Gallery has a permanent
display of historic Retford civic plate and also
hosts short term exhibitions.
Around Retford
MATTERSEY
6 miles N of Retford off the B6045
A Priory
From the eastern end of the village, a rubbly
lane leads down to the sparse ruins of the
romantically sited Mattersey Priory, founded
in 1185 for the Gilbertine Order, the only
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GOOD HEALTH
73 Carolgate, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 6EB
Tel: 01777 706384
e-mail: shop@goodhealthretford.co.uk
website: www.goodhealthretford.co.uk
Established over 30 years ago, Good Health is an
independent health store in the Nottinghamshire market
town of Retford. The friendly staff are on hand to offer
information and advice for customers on all their products.
Good Health has a wide range of seeds, nuts, cereals and dried fruits, together with ranges of
herbal teas, Japanese foods, preserves, honey and foods suitable for those who need special
diets gluten, wheat and sugar free. There are plenty of snack bars, seed mixes, healthy
biscuits and drinks.
The main vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements stocked are Solgar, Bioforce, Lamberts,
Higher Nature and Natures Aid. Good Health also offers speciality supplements for a wide range
of ailments and an Ayuvedic herbal range of remedies and great teas. Homeopathic remedies and
creams are available by Helios and Weleda. Terranova is a truly holistic nutritional range of
supplements, full of unadulterated superfoods for optimum nutrition.
For face, body and bath, choose from the holistic skincare ranges such as Dr Hauschka and
Weleda. Barefoot Botanicals are great for those with sensitive skin conditions. Faith in Nature and
Jason are good budget lines of natural, ethical bodycare. There are natural baby care ranges,
dental products, make up and hair colours.
Good Health makes it easy for you to look after yourself inside and out as naturally as possible.
THE CRAFT SHOP & WORKSHOPS
Georgian House, 81a Carolgate, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 6EH
Tel: 01777 705433
e-mail: dianehemsley@sky.com website: www.the-craft-shop.biz
Diane Hemsley opened The Craft Shop & Workshops in September 2008, having converted the
former coach house into an emporium of crafting and creativity. The shop stocks an extraordinary
range of craft materials - as Diane says: We opened our doors with only three shelves of wool and
due to demand we now have an entire wool room!. Bursting with variety, the wool room is sure to
provide inspiration. In addition to the beautiful wools, there are adult and childrens knitting patterns,
crochet patterns, knitting needles, crochet hooks and knitting kits. Youll find a similar wealth of
embroidery materials, papercraft items and
there is always a selection of handmade
jewellery on display. New creations are
constantly added as Diane develops new
techniques and designs.
The shop also offers an extensive range
of courses ranging from a couple of hours
to a 7-week jewellery course. In addition to
the large workshop area above the shop,
theres also a gallery space which provides
a perfect opportunity for upcoming artists
and local groups to showcase their art to
the public.
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monastic order to be established by an
Englishman, Roger de Mattersey. When the
Priory was founded, it had only six canons.
Though the number of priests fluctuated over
the years, Mattersey was never a wealthy
institution, at the time of the Dissolution of
the Monasteries only five canons had to be
turned out onto the streets. The original priory
buildings at Mattersey were destroyed by fire in
1279, so the remains seen today are of the
14th-century dormitory, refectory and the walls
of the Chapel of St Helen. The site is rarely
visited by tourists but, with the River Idle
flowing nearby, it is a peaceful and picturesque
hidden place, well worth seeking out.
GRINGLEY ON THE HILL
7 miles NE of Retford on the A631
Gringley commands some astonishingly wide
views over Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and
Nottinghamshire. The best vantage point is
Beacon Hill (235ft) on the east side of the
village. As the name suggests, Beacon Hill was
used as the site for beacon fires designed to
warn of impending invasion.
The village Church of St Peter and St Paul
dates from the 12th century and one of the
church bells is, rather unusually, dated to the
time of the Commonwealth. During that
period, bells and other decorative items were
considered frivolous and were generally
dispensed with but, as the parish records show,
the people of Gringley did not subscribe to
such kill-joy ideas. They also celebrated
Christmas in defiance of Puritan edicts
forbidding the festival.
NORTH LEVERTON
5 miles E of Retford off the A620
A Windmill I Adventureland
The correct name for this attractive village is
North Leverton with Habblesthorpe, a
mouthful that has been hailed in the Guinness
Book of Records as the longest multiple place
name in England.
The 12th-century village Church of St
Martin is reached via a bridge over a stream
and, with its 18th-century Dutch gables, looks
rather like an import from Holland. So, too,
does the splendid North Leverton Windmill,
the only one in Nottinghamshire still grinding
corn. When the mill was built in 1813, it was
known as the North Leverton Subscription
Mill in acknowledgement of the farmers from
four surrounding parishes who subscribed to
the cost. Three storeys high, the elegant
structure has four sails, one of which was
struck by lightning in 1958. Thanks to the
efforts of local people, assisted by financial
support from the County Council, the mill is
now fully operational and visitors can follow
the whole milling process in action. If they
wish, they can also purchase some of the
freshly ground flour.
About three miles south of the village,
Sundown Kiddies Adventureland is a unique
theme park designed especially for the under-
10s. Theres a pet shop where the animals join
in and sing a musical chorus; a Witches
Kitchen where the kids are in charge of the
gruesome cuisine; rides; an adventure play
area; caf and much more.
BABWORTH
1 mile W of Retford on the A620
Babworth has a fine Georgian Hall, a church
with Pilgrim Father associations and a
spacious park laid out by Humphrey Repton
but virtually no village. Its inhabitants were
moved to the village of Ranby, two miles to
the west, when the park was improved. The
old Great North Road used to pass through
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Babworth and it was here, in 1503, that
Margaret Tudor was entertained by the
Alderman of Retford at a cost of 12.11s
(12.55p). She was on her way to marry James
IV of Scotland.
Inside the porch of the small Church of All
Saints, with its battlements and pinnacles, a
plaque records that the Pilgrim Fathers William
Brewster and William Bradford worshipped
here before sailing on the Mayflower.
Worksop
A Priory Gatehouse A Mr Straws House
B Chesterfield Canal
One of the major attractions of Worksop is
the Priory Gatehouse, which is best
approached from Potter Street where the full
glory of the 14th-century building can be
seen. Its great niches house large and
beautifully carved statues and the immense
entrance is rather reminiscent of a cave
opening. Originally the portal to a large
Augustinian monastery, the gatehouse together
with the Church of St Mary and
St Cuthbert, is all that remains. There is also a
wayside shrine, which makes it a unique
ecclesiastical attraction.
The first canal to be built in
Nottinghamshire was the Chesterfield Canal,
which runs from Chesterfield in Derbyshire to
the River Trent. Some 46 miles long, work on
the canal was begun in 1771 and took six years
to complete under the supervision of John
Varley, the deputy of the great canal engineer,
James Brindley. In the mid 1800s, the canal
was taken over by the Sheffield and Lincoln
Junction Railway, which in 1863 decided to
cease maintaining the waterway and allowed it
to run down. The collapse of one of the
canals two tunnels, at Norwood in 1908,
hastened its decline by effectively cutting off
Chesterfield from the rest of the waterway.
During the canals heyday, in the early 1800s,
it was a busy waterway and many buildings
lined its route, particularly through Worksop.
Pickfords Depository, spanning the canal in the
centre of the town, was typical of this time.
The trap doors in the stone archway over the
canal were used for the loading and unloading
of the cuckoos, as the narrowboats on the
Chesterfield Canal were called.
The National Trusts Mr Straws House at
7 Blyth Grove, is a must for visitors to the
area. The house, together with an
endowment of one million pounds, was left
to the Trust by William Straw in his will. The
Trusts surveyors were surprised to find upon
inspection of the Edwardian semi-detached
house that they were actually stepping back in
time. Inside, everything had remained
untouched since the death in 1932 of William
Straw senior, a grocer and seed merchant in
Worksop. His wife, who died seven years
later, neither altered nor added anything. Nor
did her two sons, William and Walter, who
lived a bachelor existence at the house.
Walter, who took on the family business, died
in 1976; his brother William in 1990. The
parents bedroom had been closed up and
everything left as it was. A 1932 calendar was
still hanging on the wall; William Seniors hats
were still perched in the hall; his pipes and
tobacco pouch lay ready by the fireside.
The Mayflower Trail starts at Scrooby
church and guides visitors around the local
sites connected with the Pilgrim Fathers,
including William Brewsters Manor House at
Scrooby and Gainsborough Old Hall, just
across the Trent in Lincolnshire.
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Around Worksop
CARLTON-IN-LINDRICK
3 miles N of Worksop on the A616
B Old Mill Museum
This villages name has a delightful meaning
the freedmens enclosure in the lime wood. In
fact, it is not one, but two villages, North
Carlton and South Carlton, the latter of which
is the more ancient. Believed to have been a
Saxon settlement, South Carlton, or Carlton
Barron as it was also called, is home to the
village church. With its massive Saxon tower,
the church is quite awe-inspiring as it soars
above the village. In Church Lane is the Old
Mill Museum, housed in a converted
18th-century water mill. On display are some
unusual linen pictures, used by the Victorians
as educational material, as well as farming
implements and mill machinery.
BLYTH
5 miles NE of Worksop on the A634
A Church of St Mary and St Martin
E Hodsock Priory Gardens
A village on the old Great North Road, Blyth
is distinguished by a fine church and, until the
1970s, also boasted a stately home, Blyth Hall.
The latter was demolished and the site is now
covered by executive homes. But the
magnificent Church of St Mary and St
Martin still stands, its great tower surmounted
by eight lofty pinnacles soaring high above the
village.
The original church was built around 1100
THE HOUSE OF ELEGANCE
116 Bridge Street, Worksop,
Nottinghamshire S80 1HT
Tel: 01909 530201
website: www.house-of-elegance.co.uk
The House of Elegance is one of the largest ladies wear
stockists in the area. It stands at the top end of the High
Street, opposite Worksop Market, with car parking at the
back. Owner Jayne Otter has many years experience in the
retail business and she knows her customers well. She
regards customer service as key to the success of her
enterprise, and she and her team of experienced sales staff
are always ready with advice and assistance a philosophy
that regularly brings clients from as far as 50 miles away.
The shop, catering for most ages and sizes mainly from 10
to 20, specialises in bridal, wedding guest and mother-of-
the-bride outfits, prom dresses and tiaras, ball gowns and
evening and cocktail wear, as well as a wide variety of
casual, everyday, cruise and swim wear. Jayne also
personally selects a range of hats and fascinators, shoes,
handbags, jewellery and other accessories and new product ranges are introduced twice a year.
Featured brands usually in stock include Dynasty prom, cocktail and party dresses and ball
gowns; After Six bridesmaids dresses; Veni Infantino Italian makers of wedding and occasion
wear; wedding outfits by Tia and Whimsy; Unzo shoes; and Frandsen waterproof garments. The
House of Elegance is open from 9.15 to 5 (Thursday 10 to 4; closed Sunday).
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HODSOCK PRIORY & GARDENS
Blyth, nr Bawtry,
Nottinghamshire S81 0TY
Tel: 01909 591204
e-mail: gb@hodsockpriory.com
website: www.hodsockpriory.com or website: www.snowdrops.co.uk
Since 1765, Hodsock Priory has been the home of the Buchanan family, and the house is now in
the excellent care of the ninth generation, George and Katharine. The major renovation programme
they recently undertook has restored all the very best features of the house while adding stunning
entertaining space for private events. The wonderful gardens, the style and elegance of the house
and the owners background in hospitality, entertainment, food and wine has given them the
perfect qualifications to host weddings, family gatherings, anniversaries, birthdays and corporate
functions, from an intimate dinner for six to sit-down meals for up to 120, evening parties for 250
and a major event for up to 500 in a marquee on the Italian Terrace. The archway of the Tudor
gatehouse at the end of a mile-long private drive makes an impressive approach to the house,
where the day rooms the panelled hall, the library, the bar, the ante room combine the
grandeur of times past with a relaxing, inviting ambience.
The recently created Pavilion is a beautiful setting for ceremonies and receptions, and the
superb gardens, with their lawns, lakes, ancient trees and terraces provide wonderful photographic
opportunities for a wedding reception; the Priory is also licensed for civil ceremonies and
partnerships. In February thousands of visitors come to see Snowdrops, with millions of
snowdrops and many other early flowers, woodland walks, a bonfire, Victorian beehives, a shop,
plant sales and a tea room. Hodsock Courtyard opens in 2010 offering B&B and 24 hour
conferencing. Hodsock is signposted on the B6045 2 miles southwest of Blyth.
and much of that Norman building has
survived in all its sturdy strength. Pevsner
thought that there was nothing like Blyth to
get a feeling for early Norman grimness.
Opinions differ on that, since the now bare
and rough-hewn walls were originally brightly
painted. However, most agree that the
medieval Gothic additions to the church were
eminently successful. The most treasured
possession here is a 15th-century wall painting
of the Last Judgment, one of the largest and
most complete medieval murals in England.
Restored in 1987, the mural has been
described as unsophisticated, probably
done by a travelling artist, but it is still
mightily impressive.
There are many other buildings of note in
the village, including a handsome stable block
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and the former rectory, surmounted by a
cupola. Among the red brick Georgian
houses there are also a number of coaching
inns providing a reminder that Blyth was
once an important staging post on the Great
North Road.
Just to the southwest of the village lies
Hodsock Priory (see panel opposite) and its
beautiful Gardens surrounded by parkland
and meadows. Although this would seem to
be the perfect setting for a medieval
monastery, no priory ever stood here. The
present house was built in 1829 in the Tudor
style to complement the marvellous 16th-
century gatehouse. The gatehouse is
approached across an ancient rectangular
moat and, within this area, the gardens have
been laid out. The southern arm of the moat
was made into a small lake around 1880. The
Snowdrop Garden and Snowdrop Woodland
Walk are open to visitors for four weeks from
early February. Hodstock Priory also briefly
opens part of the grounds in Bluebell season
and hosts occasional open-air theatrical
productions.
Between Blyth and the nearby village of
Styrrup, to the north, lies the Tournament
Field. Dating back to the Middle Ages, the
field was one of only five in the country to be
granted a royal licence by Richard I.
CRESWELL
3 miles SW of Worksop on the A616
C Creswell Crags
Creswell village is actually in Derbyshire, but
its most famous feature lies just inside the
Nottinghamshire border. Creswell Crags
form a dramatic limestone gorge pitted with
deep, dark and mysterious caves. Here the
bones of prehistoric bison, bears, wolves,
woolly rhinos and lions twice the size of their
modern descendants have been found.
Around 45,000BC, humans took over the
caves, where todays visitors can see the only
Ice Age cave art in Britain, carved some
13,000 years ago. One piece is a bone
fragment engraved with a fine carving of a
horse. Sir David Attenborough recently
opened the new Creswell Crags complex,
where in June 2009 the new museum became
the UKs first National Centre for the Ice Age,
bringing to life the human (and animal) story
of Ice Age Britain. The exhibition spaces
house state-of-the-art displays including
temporary exhibitions from the British
Museum and the Natural History Museum,
and the new caf has floor-to-ceiling windows
that afford panoramic views over the
limestone gorge below. Open every day
February to October, weekends only
November to January (01909 720378).
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ADVERTISERS AND PLACES OF INTEREST
ACCOMMODATION, FOOD AND DRINK
The Courtyard at Welbeck, Welbeck pg 38
East Bridgford Hill, East Bridgford pg 19
The Friendly Farmer Restaurant & Farm Shop,
Newark on Trent pg 23
Greenwood Lodge City Guest House,
Nottingham pg 7
Hodsock Priory & Gardens, Blyth pg 60
Langar Hall Restaurant with Rooms, Langar pg 32
The Mussel & Crab, Sibthorpe pg 26
The Paddock at Peacock Farm, Redmile pg 33
Thaymar Dairy Ice Cream,Farmshop &
Tea Room, Bothamsall pg 40
ACTIVITIES
The Craft Shop & Workshops, Retford pg 56
The School of Artisan Food, Welbeck pg 37
ARTS AND CRAFTS
Threads Wools & Babyware, Keyworth pg 15
FASHIONS
The House of Elegance, Worksop pg 59
JEWELLERY
The House of Elegance, Worksop pg 59
PLACES OF INTEREST
D H Lawrence Birthplace Museum, Eastwoodpg 53
Hodsock Priory & Gardens, Blyth pg 60
Nottingham Castle pg 6
The School of Artisan Food, Welbeck pg 37
Southwell Minster, Southwell pg 16
White Post Farm Park, Farnsfield pg 18
SPECIALIST FOOD AND DRINK SHOPS
Brumpton Butchers Ltd, Cotgrave pg 30
The Friendly Farmer Restaurant & Farm Shop,
Newark on Trent pg 23
Gonalston Farm Shop, Gonalston pg 20
Good Health, Retford pg 56
Redgate Farm Shop, Brinsley pg 51
Thaymar Dairy Ice Cream,Farmshop
& Tea Room, Bothamsall pg 40
White Post Farm Shop, Farnsfield pg 18
63
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ORDER FORM
To order any of our publications just fill in the payment details below and complete the order form. For orders of less than
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Guide To Rural England - Nottinghamshire

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