Lost Country Houses of Nottinghamshire
September 2006 Meeting Report
Guest Speaker - Jean Nicholson
The September 2006 meeting of The Keyworth & District Local History Society was held in The Centenary Lounge, Keyworth, on 1 September 2006. The topic for the evening was “Lost Country Houses of Nottinghamshire” and the guest speaker was Jean Nicholson. Jean began her presentation with a quote from Lord Byron in which he refers to his ancestral home, Newstead Abbey, and complains about the state of disrepair that it is in and how much of a drain on his resources it was to him. Nevertheless Newstead Abbey has survived, albeit in a very fragmented manner, whilst a great many of Newstead’s contemporaries in Nottinghamshire have long ceased to exist.
The stately homes of the British landed gentry have been a feature of our landscape for centuries. They were built as statements testifying to the elevated position that the owners enjoyed in society and were a flamboyant show of wealth of their owner’s affluence, particularly aimed to impress “the neighbours”. Thus the state and size of a house would be a good barometer of the social standing and wealth of the owners. As that wealth and standing fluctuated so the house and estate may fall into disrepair or be demolished or extended to make it grander. In this way, prior to the 20th Century many great houses were demolished to make way for much larger and grander buildings.
It was during the 20th Century that the loss of country houses was the greatest. Two main causes can be identified to explain this dramatic decline in the fortunes of the country house. The first was the devastating financial burden that the First World War imposed on the national economy. After 1918 labour costs rose sharply whilst the supply of labour declined, the net result being that estates were under-funded and/or understaffed. It was, in many instances, simply impossible for acquire the labour needed to run a large estate and to be able to finance it as well. Likewise, after the First World War Death Duties continued to rise and to have a devastating effect on the owners of large, landed estates. For these reasons many estates were sold off, broken up, or simply left to crumble and decay. Bad as the situation was before the Second World War it deteriorated further after 1945, in fact the worst decade of the century for losing country houses in Nottinghamshire was the 1960’s. Two important reasons for the sudden upsurge in demolitions during this period were the introduction of Capital gains Tax in 1965 and The Town & Country Planning Act of 1968. Under The Town & Country Planning Act owners of buildings had to apply for permission to demolish their properties rather than serve notice of their intention to do so. This led to a spate of demolitions prior to the introduction of the legislation.
The presentation then continued in the form of a slide show. The audience were shown Nottinghamshire country houses that have been lost forever. Amongst these was Thoresby Hall. In point of fact there have been three Thoresby Halls. The building that we were shown was the second to carry that name which was demolished in the mid 19th Century to make way for a newer and larger house, (which is now a luxury hotel and spa retreat). The demolition came about as a result of Sydney Pierrepoint inheriting the estate when his father died in 1860 and he became the 3rd Earl Manvers. He wanted something grander and more in keeping with his new social standing so the second Thoresby hall was demolished and Anthony Salvin was commissioned to design a new house for the purpose.
Perhaps the grandest of Nottinghamshire’s lost country houses was Clumber House, or as it was also known, Clumber Palace. This was finally demolished in 1938 after surviving since the mid 1700’s. It was built in parkland originally created for Queen Anne in 1707 when 3,000 acres of Sherwood Forest were enclosed to create a Royal Park. The house itself was built between 1760 and 1772 for the second Duke of Newcastle and was a very impressive structure, reputedly capable of accommodating up to 150 guests in comfort. It stayed in the Newcastle family until the 8th Duke acquired it 1928. Crippling death duties forced him to abandon the property and he eventually had it demolished.
Another house that was described was Aspley Hall. A building of that name is first mentioned in 1554 but the last house to carry that name was built in the 18th Century and belonged to the Roman Catholic branch of the Willoughby family. The house was situated quite close to Western Boulevard and, after years of post war neglect was finally demolished in 1968. Another building lost in the 20th Century and also situated not too far from Aspley Hall was Nuthall Temple.This had been built between 1754 and 1757 for Sir Charles Sedley who had been an M.P. for Nottingham in the 1740’s. The Temple was one of four Palladian buildings constructed in England and were based on an Italian villa at Vicenza. Demolition began on the house in 1926 but it was in 1966 that it disappeared forever when what remained of it was flattened by explosives to make way for the new M.1 motorway. Yet another lost country house nearby was Broxtowe Hall. The Hall dates back to the 16th Century and amongst it’s more notable occupants was the early Baptist leader Thomas Helwys. During the English Civil war the house was badly damaged whilst being used as a garrison for troops. The Hall was demolished in 1937 to make way for a council housing estate.
Many other properties were mentioned including; Moreton Hall, Grove Hall, Wyston Hall, Ranby Hall, Babworth Hall, and Kneeton Hall, to name a few. All in their own way were of historical and architectural interest and importance, all now gone forever. With more foresight and planning it might have been possible to utilise some of them as hotels, schools, colleges etc, at least then some would have survived. It certainly is a great shame that so much of our architectural heritage has been lost forever.