Listed buildings in Nottinghamshire on the English Heritage 'Heritage At Risk' Register

The ruins of Haughton chapel

English Heritage has just published its 2011 Heritage At Risk register for listed buildings in England. The Risk Register "includes grade I and II* listed buildings, listed places of worship, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, protected wreck sites and conservation areas that are at risk as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.

Pages 59-68 of the East Midlands summary document highlight the heritage assets at risk in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Entries include Annesley Hall (last occupied in 1974 and a worry to locals ever since), the Roman fort at Scaftworth near Bawtry, the ruins of the medieval chapel at Haughton near Walesby, the west front of Newstead Abbey, Worksop Manor Lodge (seriously damaged by arsonists in 2007) and the Roman vexillation fortress at Osmundthorpe near Southwell.

• Heritage At Risk Register 2011 - East Midlands

Open day at Kirkby Hardwick excavation, 15 October 2011

I had an interesting time on Saturday morning wandering around the archaeological excavation at Kirkby Hardwick near Sutton in Ashfield. The ruins of an impressive house dating from the 16th century stood here for many years until the wrecking ball demolished most of it in 1966. Nottinghamshire County Council's Community Archaeology Team, along with local volunteers, have spent the last fortnight trying to determine how much of the complex has survived among the trees.

The archaeologists were very informative and helpfully explained the site and its potential. It is hoped that the Heritage Lottery Fund will provide sufficient funding for further seasons of work on this intriguing site.

• G G Bonser's article on Kirkby Hardwick on the Notts History website

Open Heritage Day events: 8-11 September 2011

"Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission." A wide range of properties in Nottinghamshire will be open, including Nottingham Central Fire Station, Sneinton Hermitage caves, Barton's bus garage in Chilwell, St Ann's Heritage Gardens, Pleasley Pit and Retford's Majestic Theatre in addition to behind-the-scenes tours of Nottinghamshire Archives and the Local Studies Library.

A full  list of events in the county is available here: http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory/county/Nottinghamshire

There is also a booklet for events in Nottingham: http://nottinghamcivicsociety.org.uk/images/pdf_files/heritage2011v3.pdf

Fading Faces exhibition at the Central Library in Nottingham

The Fading Faces Project is recording gargoyles, grotesques & reliefs in Nottinghamshire. The aim is to "document, archive and record these stone sentinels of history in anyway possible before they disappear completely."

A photographic exhibition showing examples of Nottinghamshire gargoyles is running throughout May at Nottingham Central Library.

• BBC Nottingham gallery

Nottingham Civic Society celebrates demolished hotel

Nottingham Civic Society has unveiled a plaque on the site of the long-demolished Nottingham landmark, The Black Boy Hotel. This impressive 1887 building was designed by the flamboyant architect Watson Fothergill and regrettably destroyed in 1970 to be replaced by a dismal Littlewoods store (now occupied by Primark).

Ken Brand of the Civic Society commented that "its demolition was considered by most to be the worst example of architectural vandalism of that era in Nottingham."

• BBC Nottingham news item

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

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

English Heritage research reports

Buried deep inside the English Heritage website are a handful of research reports on places and buildings in Nottinghamshire:

• The Urban Development of Newark-on-Trent : A Dendrochronological Approach (2002)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Ravens Farm, 8 Church Street, Misterton, Nottinghamshire (2002)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Manor Farm Barn, Town Street, Askham, Nottinghamshire (2003)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Teversal Manor Garages, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (2003)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Riding House Roof, Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire (2004)
• The Old Hall (Manor House) at Church Warsop (2007)
• St Edmund's Church, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire : An Assessment of the Pews (2007)
• Shelford Manor, Shelford, Nottinghamshire Report on Geophysical Survey, October-November 2007 (2008)
• Nottingham: The Creation of the City’s Identity (2009)

Grants for Nottinghamshire churches

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have awarded grants amounting to £250,000 to restore a handful of Nottinghamshire churches. £107,000 will be given to St. Martin of Tours church in Bilborough and smaller awards will be given to St. George's in North Clifton and St. Wilfrid's in South Muskham and The Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Woodthorpe, Nottingham.

English Heritage press release: http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=411359&SubjectId=15&DepartmentMode=true
Nottingham Evening Post article: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Notts-churches-given-163-250-000-boost-preserve-heritage/article-1842283-detail/article.html

Blue plaques for Nottingham buildings

Nottingham Civic Society is starting a scheme to commemorate famous people and places in the city by erected Blue Plaques. The first two plaques will go up in the Spring on the Primark Store on Long Row (to commemorate the long-demolished Black Boy Hotel) and on a house on Manton Crescent in Lenton (marking the birthplace of Alan Sillitoe, author of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning).

The society is compiling a plaque list and asking for suggestions: please email hilarysilvester2002@yahoo.co.uk.

Open day at Beauvale Priory

Just returned from a fascinating afternoon wandering around the ruins of the Carthusian priory of Beauvale, a couple of miles north-east of Eastwood. The site was made accessible as part of the Heritage Open Days initiative. The current owners have restored the farmhouse (which has lost its render revealing timber framing with brick in-filling) and at long last a start has been made on conserving the priory thanks to funding from English Heritage (see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.21048 for further information).

The priory was founded in the 1343 by local lord, Nicholas de Cantilupe. The Carthusians were the strictest of any of the religious orders and each monk lived in his own separate dwelling, and none of them were allowed to go out of the bounds of the monastery except the priors and proctors, and they only to attend to the necessary affairs of the house. They were enjoined to study, and to work with their hands, their labour consisting in cultivating the fields and gardens, and in transcribing books.

Keep it Local audio tour of Newstead Abbey

The CHAD newspaper has launched the first in their 'Keep it local' audio tours and it's a guided tour of Newstead Abbey by Stephen Thirkill.

Listen to it on the CHAD website:

http://www.chad.co.uk/keepitlocal/Keep-it-Local-Audio-Tour.5501382.jp

Clifton Hall for sale

Clifton Hall, the Grade I listed building which recently hit the headlines with tales of ghosts driving the owner out, is up for sale for an impressive £2.7 million. Have a browse through the sale brochure and marvel at the impressive state rooms in this wonderfully restored house.

Details of the property are on the Knight Frank website: http://www.knightfrank.co.uk/search/property/results.aspx?OfficeID=8&lk_id=1