I’m busy researching buildings for what I hope will be at least one new tour in Nottingham and maybe something else for extra-keen Fothergill-spotters (all very exciting and I will share this properly with you when things are closer to being ready!)
Research!
Meanwhile, there are some of my walks coming up, including Watson Fothergill Walk and Hine Hike.
Lucy, your tour guide, being over excited about a Watson Fothergill building – in this case The Simons and Pickard Paper Warehouse 1894, now Castle Court, Nottingham.
Please check out some of the lovely reviews people have been leaving on TripAdvisor (thank you so much if you’ve taken the time to write one.) (Booking directly through me or Eventbrite is the best value option for tickets).
It’s getting harder and harder to reach new people on social media… so if you’ve enjoyed Watson Fothergill Walk please tell your friends!
So, if you live in or around Nottingham or just visiting, you’re interested in History, architecture, and eccentricity (me? the architect?) you might enjoy my tour. Plus you get your steps in & there’s a pub at the end!
Dates in June with tickets available – all details and links to tickets here or sign up to the mailing list to hear about new dates each month. Thank you everyone!
Thank you if you’ve already joined a tour this year – and thanks if you’ve told your friends or written a lovely 5-star TripAdvisor review – it’s great to get the word out!
Tickets for walks in June 2024 are now live on Eventbrite.
Thanks to everyone who has supported my small business by joining me for a Watson Fothergill Walk or Hine Hike around Nottingham. More dates now on sale, including another date for the Carrington Crawl, see below.
Thanks to everyone who has joined me so far for The Watson Fothergill Walk. The first Hine Hike of the year is sold out so I’ve added another date in April, and that month also sees the return of The Carrington Crawl. Tickets are moving fast for the city centre walk in March – there might be a couple left for 17 March if you’re quick…
Fothergill’s – the end of the city centre Watson Fothergill Walk – you can book in for a meal or stay for a drink. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
The stories behind the domestic architecture of Watson Fothergill and his chief assistant L.G. Summers in Mapperley Park, Sherwood Rise and Carrington.
An introduction to the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, prolific architect of Victorian Nottingham. Takes in some of his houses near The Park Estate and industrial architecture of the Lace Market.
I hope you can join me for a tour of Nottingham’s beautiful architecture. If you have a group of 5 or more and would like a tour at a time to suit you – please send a message here.
The price of each book includes a donation to Nottingham Civic Society – you can join them and attend their program of talks and walks for just £12 per year.
Thanks to everyone who joined me for a walk, bought a voucher or listened to a talk this year. Your support really means a lot! Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year…
Tickets are £15 each – book early and save on Eventbrite fees. If you have gift vouchers there is now a specific ticket category for you to use.
If you need a last-minute present for someone who you think would like to explore Nottingham – Watson Fothergill Walk Gift Vouchers are still available. They are valid for 12 months. They can be purchased and sent by email:
Observant Nottinghamians will have noticed some changes taking place in one of the city’s largest Fothergill buildings recently. The sports bar chain Box has moved into the Former Nottingham & Notts Bank (lately All Saints and before that Nat West) on the corner of Pelham Street and Thurland Street.
Picture of how the Thurland Street Nottingham and Notts Bank looked circa 1898 from The Builder (found at archive.org) Building was completed 1882 – “Fothergill Watson” carved beneath the date stone as this predates his 1892 name change.
Thurland Street Bank, November 2023. Note how the chimneys have changed over the years (there is one fancy one left at the back of the building). Photo: Lucy Brouwer
I’ve waited a long time to get inside parts of this building and my ambition to have a look at the stained glass upstairs was finally realised as the bar opened to the public last week. Thanks to the friendly staff for letting me have a look around. The building has been developed with strict rules about how the listed interior can be used, so hopefully the fabric of this fantastic example of Fothergill’s work will survive this regeneration for use as a party venue!
I’ll hopefully get time to do a more thorough post on the history of the building soon but meanwhile here are some photos of the stained glass, which is in a part of the building that is not open to the public.
The oriel window features Chaucer and Shakespeare. The motto: Tolle Lege “Take up and read”. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Fothergill has form with Chaucer – inside his office, there is a carved quotation:
“The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne, Th’assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge”.
Fothergill was also fond of a religious quotation “Tolle lege” are the words spoken to St Augustine during his conversion to Christianity…
Chaucer – was one of the authors revered and published by William Morris also an inspiration to Watson Fothergill? Photo: Lucy Brouwer
William Shakespeare – recognisable even from outside when back to front! Photo: Lucy Brouwer
From the outside this window looks like it was once on a staircase, that is long gone like the rest of the interior decoration upstairs, but the quality of the work shines through. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
The female figures on this window represent Art, Science, Agriculture, Commerce, Manufacture and Mining. This chimes with the frieze on the exterior that represents the three major industries of Nottinghamshire in the 1880s – Agriculture, Textiles and Mining. The quotation underneath is:
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. For there is no work nor device for knowledge nor wisdom in the grave wither thou goest. The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 verses 10 & 11, King James Bible Version
I’d love to track down evidence of the artist who designed this stained glass, so if anyone has any leads please get in touch!
A first attempt at video so forgive the portrait mode!
Today (16th November) marks the anniversary of the birth in 1839 of the artist William De Morgan.
William De Morgan portrait by Evelyn De Morgan and De Morgan shop sign in tiles at De Morgan Foundation, Wightwick Manor (better image at NPG) Photo: Lucy Brouwer
De Morgan was a lifelong friend of William Morris, a potter who designed tiles, stained glass and furniture for Morris and Co. I have wanted to visit the wide-ranging collection of his work and the work of his wife, artist Evelyn De Morgan at Wightwick Manor, near Wolverhampton for some time and last weekend I had the chance to see the house and its fantastic contents.
The house itself is something of a trickster, built by architect Edward Ould for Theodore Mander in two parts in 1887 and 1892 in an Old English style with timber framing, red brick and tile hanging it looks like a carefully restored medieval building but it is not all it seems. On closer inspection the house is almost too good to be true – the timbers and patterns are a front and don’t reflect the construction of the place at all. There is a long process of restoration taking place and scaffolding was up when I visited, the untreated timbers are gradually being replaced and the illusion is being upheld.
Entrance to Wightwick Manor under restoration. I think Fothergill would have liked the faux-medieval tower… Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Tile hanging and timber at Wightwick Manor. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Timbers full of detail at Wightwick Manor. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
The Mander family who made their fortune in paint and varnish later turned to local politics. They wanted period details for their home, and it was comfortably furnished with attention to craftsmanship and artistic interest. Stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe (see previous blog on Lichfield Cathedral), wallpapers and rugs by William Morris, the house is a great example of late Victorian taste. I imagine that the lush textures and busy walls resemble to some extent what Fothergill’s house at 7 Mapperley Road in Nottingham might have looked like. Art, porcelain and glass but set off with electric lights. Carefully chosen objects and medieval themes dominate.
Four seasons stained glass by Charles Kempe at Wightwick Manor. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
William De Morgan plate. Bold colour and strong shapes. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
In the 20th century, Geoffrey Mander and his wife Rosalie gave Wightwick to the National Trust but continued to live there and collect Pre-Raphaelite art, William Morris designs and the pottery of William De Morgan. The house also contains paintings by Evelyn De Morgan – a painter whose skills and contribution to this colourful style are enjoying closer attention in the 21st century.
Evelyn De Morgan’s colours were fantastic but I also really liked this Study of a head. Better photos of some of the work here
The De Morgan Foundation – set up by Evelyn’s sister the redoubtable Wilhelmina Stirling – houses some of both artists’ work in the coach house on the site. The lustreware tiles and bowls made by William are startlingly modern and bright, Evelyn’s drawing and painting to my mind sometimes even finer than that of the more celebrated Edward Burne Jones.
A couple of people I’ve met who live in Fothergill houses have mentioned that they have tiles that might be De Morgan or at least inspired by his style. I love these galleons that were in the medieval hall at Wightwick Manor. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Next on my list of places to visit – Cannon Hall near Barnsley where more of William and Evelyn De Morgan’s work is housed.
Earlier this year, the former Lord Mayor of Nottingham Wendy Smith accompanied me on the Watson Fothergill Walk… this week she invited me to take a tour of the interior of the Council House with her. As a former mayor, she knows more than most about this historic building. Completed in 1929, it was designed by architect Thomas Cecil Howitt. Inside there are lots of beautiful original details, domes, stained glass, walnut wood panelling and made-to-measure furniture. Here are some photos from my visit.
Council Chamber ceiling and frieze by sculptor Joseph Else
The author takes a turn in the Mayor’s chair in the Council Chamber. (It’s on rails so you can hutch up!)
The Ballroom (being made ready for a Citizenship Ceremony) view from the minstrel’s gallery.
Beautiful original Electroliers in The Ballroom (electric light chandeliers).
The view out over the Exchange Arcade (Murals by Noel Denholm Davis just visible) The rents from the shops help pay for the upkeep of the building. The Exchange Arcade was inspired by Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan.
The architect of Nottingham’s Council House Thomas Cecil Howitt (photo displayed in the Lord Mayor’s parlour) – he also built some of Nottingham Council Housing in the post WW1 period, the Home Brewery and Raleigh’s HQ.
Stained Glass from the original Exchange Building which was demolished in 1926 to make way for this building. , representing architecture. (Lord Mayor’s Parlour)
Telephone Booth in the entrance of The Council House (one of a pair with the Enquiries booth).
All photos taken by Lucy Brouwer.
If you’d like to book a tour of the Council House please contact Nottingham City Council via this link. (Please don’t contact me – only special volunteers can lead the free tours!) You can also hire rooms in The Council House for weddings and special occasions.
Huge thanks to Wendy for showing me around and telling me all about the rooms, their functions and the history of the building.
I still have a few copies of Nottingham Civic Society’s book on the Council House with some excellent colour photos by Martine Hamilton Knight – available for sale in the webshop.
An earlier photo of the Council House by Lucy Brouwer
Remember to look up next time you’re in town and notice the decorations (sculptures by Joseph Else and his students outside and Noel Denholm Davis inside the Exchange Arcade) on Nottingham’s magnificent Council House!
