Society of Landscape Studies Study Weekend in Nottinghamshire, May 2011

The Society of Landscape Studies has organised a study weekend for the 14-15 May 2011 which will focus on the area around Norwell, Ossington and Egmanton on the first day and the parkland landscape of Thoresby Hall on the second day.
Further details are available on the society's website.

New book on the Pierrepont family

Ashbracken of Radcliffe-on-Trent has recently published a lavishly-illustrated, comprehensive history of one of Nottinghamshire's most illustrious families, the Pierreponts. Their extensive estates were centred on Holme Pierrepont and Thoresby and members of the family were prominent in military, political and sporting fields. Amongst their strong-willed women were "a daughter whose broken marriage laid the way for modern divorce; another who introduced inoculation against smallpox; and a bigamous duchess."
Further information is available on the Ashbracken website.

Recent publications from Nottinghamshire County Council

The County Council has recently published the following:

• Turning Back the Pages on Nottinghamshire Canals by Ray and Joanne Bickel (see article in the Nottingham Evening Post)
• An outline history of the Railways of Nottinghamshire by Michael A. Vanns
• Map of Nottinghamshire from The English Counties Delineated by Thomas Moule, 1837
• Politics, Law and Society in Nottinghamshire: The Diaries of Godfrey Tallents of Newark 1829-1839, edited by Richard A Gaunt

See the local studies publications page on the County Council website for further details and an order form.

Watson Fothergill's buildings in Nottingham

The BBC Nottingham website has an interesting article on the exhuberant buildings of Victorian architect, Watson Fothergill, which are a characteristic feature of Nottingham. The article is accompanied by two short videos presented by Dominic Heale:

• A bus tour of central Nottingham to show some of Watson Fothergill's finest buildings
• A look at the restoration of the impressive former Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank on Thurland Street

For further information on the architect and his buildings see:

• The Watson Fothergill website
• Ken Brand's article on Fothergill and other Nottingham architects on the Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway website

Archaeologists to study Viking meeting place near Warsop

A mound in Sherwood Forest ("Thynghowe") is to be investigated in January by archaeologists from Nottinghamshire County Council and University College, London. The County Council team will be conducting a topographical survey of the mound and its surrounding landscape and the University College archaeologists will undertake a magnetometry survey.
Thynghowe is said to be a Viking meeting-place, also known as a "Thing", and was discovered five years ago by a couple from Rainworth.

• The Yorkshire Post article on the project
• The Friends of Thynghowe website

BBC's Turn Back Time Flickr project

"Turn Back Time is a new BBC TV living-history series that transports four empty shops and a group of contemporary shop-keeping families back to the high street's heyday in the 1870s." The series will also cover the families through the following 100 years.

The BBC have a number of projects and activities accompanying the series, including a group on the photo-sharing website, Flickr, that allows people to upload "then and now" photos of high street shops in their area.

Nottinghamshire museums, libraries and the archives office are also running events (workshops, talks, walks and exhibitions) in association with the project.

• BBC Nottingham news article
• Turn Back Time Flickr Group

Nottingham University Local History Seminars 2010-11

Nottingham University's School of History is running a series of Saturday Local History Seminars this autumn/winter. They start at 10am and admission costs £5. The programme is as follows:

• 9th October 2010 - Prof J V Beckett: The state of local history today
• 13th November 2010 - Sue Clayton: Counters and conflicts? Village shops c.1880-1954
• 11th December 2010 - Dr Kate Holland: The forgotten world of the choir-band
• 12th March 2011 - Prof David Hey: Surnames, DNA and family history

Further information is available on the School of History website.

Durban House, Eastwood, under threat again

It is depressing to read that the future of Durban House in Eastwood, home to the D H Lawrence Heritage Centre, is under threat yet again. Broxtowe Borough Council, who owns and runs the building, is trying to save money in the face of severe cuts to its budgets. Prominent figures in the arts such as Salman Rushdie, Glenda Jackson, Martin Amis, Lord Putnam and Ken Russell have published an open letter arguing "DH Lawrence is one of the world's most important writers and that he has a unique place in British culture that should be celebrated" and expressing their disquiet at the council's proposal to close the DH Lawrence heritage centre in his home town of Eastwood.

• Open letter in the Guardian
• Editorial in the Guardian
• BBC Nottingham news story

Laxton on TV

The open field system at Laxton was featured on the second episode of Michael Wood's fascinating series, the Story of England. The episode (and the previous one) can be viewed on iPlayer. Further details are available on the BBC FOUR website.
Other websites on Laxton:

• Laxton Visitor Centre
• Laxton medieval village learning resource
• Laxton Nottinghamshire

TO THE CASTLE! A walk through Nottingham retracing the 1831 Reform Riots, 10th October 2010

The Nottingham and Notts Radical Histreh group have organised a walk retracing the 1831 Reform Riots on Sunday 10th October at 2pm. 

Council plans to set up new museum and national centre for the English Civil War in Newark

Newark & Sherwood District Council have applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a £2.8 million grant to support a project to turn the 16th century Magnus Buildings on Appletongate into a museum incorporating galleries devoted to the English Civil War.

• Newark and Sherwood District Council press release

Prehistoric and Roman remains uncovered during widening of the A46

Archaeologists working as part of the Highways Agency scheme to widen the A46 between Newark and Widmerpool have uncovered prehistoric flint tools and flint knapping debris dating from 11,000BC, beaker pottery and a Bronze Age ring ditch near Stragglethorpe. Roman buildings, including a stone-lined well and building foundations have also been excavated.

• Highway Agency press release
• Highway Agency Flickr Photostream

New exhibition on the history of Nottingham Castle

A new exhibition, 'Fragments from Nottingham Castle', tracing the history of this city landmark from medieval fortification to the country's first municipal art gallery outside London, has recently opened. 100 objects from the site, including stone, furniture and furnishing along with models and paintings tell the story of the castle. The exhibition is in the Nottingham Story gallery.

Further information is available on the Nottingham City Council website:
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11051

Who do you think you are? Monty Don's Retford connections.

I was interested to see my old home town of Retford make an appearance on this week's edition of "Who do you think you are?" Monty Don's great-great-grandfather, the Reverend Charles Hodge, was vicar of St Saviour's church on Welham Road in the 1840s and 1850s. Monty found several of his printed sermons at Nottingham University manuscripts department, one of which was a "fire and brimstone" tirade against the poor of his parish for not being sufficiently pious!

Intriguingly, his wife Anne emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1850s, leaving Charles and their nine children behind. A few years later she came back to Retford and most of the family emigrated to New Zealand. However, in 1859 Charles left the family and headed back to England but tragically drowned when the steam clipper Royal Charter sank off the coast of Anglesey on its way to Liverpool. Anne remained in New Zealand and died there in 1890.

The programme can be viewed on the BBC's iPlayer site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tfpvn/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are_Series_7_Monty_Don/

BBC Hands on History website

The BBC Hands on History website has recently been launched. Initially the website focuses on the Normans and includes an interactive map of the UK featuring walks, trails and great day trips to Norman sites and buildings around the country: Southwell Minster and the early Norman church of St Mary and St Martin in Blyth are included.

The website also includes free activity packs which families can download, including 'I Spy' guides for Norman churches and castles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory/