Public Art, Research

WTF is this?

I’ve been trying to create a tour that people could do without me being physically present. I put a lot into presenting my tours and it takes a lot out of me…

A sunny day in St Peter’s Square, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

I’ve tested a few options including audio tour apps (hit and miss quality-wise), printed tours (where’s my reading glasses?) and dragging guidebooks with me onto the street (haphazard and increasingly heavy to lug around – the updated Nottinghamshire Pevsner guide weighs almost 1kg). 

One of my ideas for an audio tour was for an in-depth look at some of Nottingham’s public artworks and commemorative plaques. Now come on, don’t yawn…

Who doesn’t love a statue selfie? Me with one of the Lions from the demolished Black Boy Hotel, now in the grounds of Nottingham Castle.

So while the sun was out I popped down to the centre of town to walk a route I had in mind, I wanted to include the new Standing In This Place sculpture in this survey of statues, so I headed down towards the Broadmarsh.

On the way, at St Peter’s Square (outside M&S) there is a sculptural work, placed in the 1980s by the well-meaning City Council, back when it had money to spend on the Public Realm. I snapped a photo and as I went by something caught my eye. There was something written in felt tip pen on the marble.

WTF? Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Now, I’m always on the lookout for stuff to put on the Watson Fothergill Walk Instagram, so a little later I launched this photo of Leaf Stem with brief information about the artwork, I was a bit peeved but not massively so, it’s rather neglected and hardly anyone notices it these days. I didn’t think much more about it.

It auto-posted to Facebook and there were a few comments – the usual mild outrage that I’d suggested “LOCAL PEOPLE” might have committed vandalism, a few tales about how people thought it looked like a certain anatomical shape and the names they used to call it when they arranged to meet their friends by it, that sort of thing. 

What I hadn’t really considered was that the algorithms love a bit of rage. The post started to get a bit more traction than my usual photos of buildings with names and dates. However, the next morning I awoke to a text from a friend – Saw this Notts Post headline and thought “I know her!”

It even made the print edition! Modern journalism, eh?

A little late notoriety for Paul Mason’s Leaf Stem – here’s a blog telling the story of the work in more depth. 

So I suppose I should put something together, possibly with all the slightly rude names that this sculpture has collected over the years… 

Nottingham has some great sculptures – Robin Hood, Brian Clough, Rachel Carter’s fantastic new Standing In This Place, not to mention the Left and Right Lions. They all have stories to tell. Would you like a self-guided public art trail? Do let me know…

Events, Research

Let’s see Nottingham differently!

As promised, more walks are coming up. There are still tickets available for both parts of Deco in the Details in February. March sees the return of the Carrington Crawl, plus more chances to join me for the Watson Fothergill Walk and Hine Hike in Nottingham city centre. I can also take private bookings for groups of 5 or more on weekdays and I can present illustrated talks to groups, so please drop me a line if you’d like to organise an event. Terms and conditions apply.

Click on the links below for info and tickets: 

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part One – Weds, 12 February, 2 pm

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part Two – Weds, 19 February, 2 pm

Watson Fothergill Walk: City Centre – Sun, 23 February, 10 am SOLD OUT more walks soon or book a private tour

Watson Fothergill Walk: The Carrington Crawl – Sat, 8 March, 1 pm

Watson Fothergill Walk: City Centre – Sun, 16 March, 10 am

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine – Sun, 23 March, 2 pm

Tickets are £20 each* 

Valid gift vouchers purchased before the end of 2024 will be honoured – please send an email if you have any difficulty redeeming vouchers. 

*This now includes ALL FEES and is the same price across all platforms (Eventbrite, Yuup and TripAdvisor) whose fees vary. This helps my small business to reach a larger audience. 

Thanks to Jane for the photo!

Hire a House Historian

Lucy Brouwer (seen here with her mate the Left Lion) is a tour guide, art historian and researcher who likes to look at things differently. If you’d like to hire a researcher to look into the history of your house, business premises or other pre-1940 building then send an email via this form. Rates start at £57 for a preliminary investigation into each property. More details here.

Research

Hire a House Historian

I am now available to carry out research on the history of houses and the people who lived in them, in Nottingham and the surrounding area. I’m particularly interested in Victorian properties but will branch out where appropriate resources are available. 


If you’d like to see who lived in your house* through time or maybe you want to discover if a renowned architect was involved in designing your property, then please contact me to arrange a research package. 

For more details see the Hire a House Historian page here.

*or shop!

Have a look at some research I did last year on a house in Elm Bank, Mapperley Park… Inside Elm Bank

And here’s another house, this time in Chilwell, with Watson Fothergill connections that I looked into in 2021.

I’m not only interested in Fothergill houses… Nottingham has a lot of Victorian architecture and I’m always interested to find out more.

Events, Research

Researching buildings PLUS Summer dates for tours

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.

Here are the dates and links to tickets.

Watson Fothergill Walk (Nottingham City Centre tour), Sunday 26 May, 10 am

June 2024

A summer evening Watson Fothergill Walk (Nottingham City Centre tour) Thursday 13 June, 6pm 

Watson Fothergill Walk(Nottingham City Centre tour) Sunday June 23, 10am 

Hine Hike – The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, Sunday 30 June, 2pm

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!

Inside, Research, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Inside Thurland Street Bank

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”. 

The Parliament of Fowls, Geoffrey Chaucer.

See previous blog for a full translation into modern English. 

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!

Research, Travels

A Visit to Wightwick Manor & The De Morgan Foundation

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.

Image of Wightwick Manor Wikimedia Commons Rick Massey


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.

Lawrence G Summers, Research

Inside Elm Bank… a house through time

Over on Instagram you might have seen an account called Inside Elm Bank, here the new owners of a Victorian villa in Mapperley Park are documenting their efforts to restore it to something of its original character. The house has some distinctive features that might be familiar to Fothergill-spotters. However, in this case, the alterations to the front of the house, the addition of a breakfast room, kitchen and scullery with bedroom over, were carried out by Watson Fothergill’s chief assistant, Lawrence George Summers. 

Evidence of this work was identified by Darren Turner in his Fothergill; A Catalogue of the Works of Watson Fothergill, Architect, in the section on work signed off by L.G. Summers. The house at 9 Elm Bank, which for many years was known as Elm Bank Lodge, was already in existence before it was altered in 1893. 

I’ve had a look at the evidence to see if I could find more information on who built the house, who lived there and who commissioned the alterations. 

Thanks to the new owners for a few new clues… here’s my attempt at A House Through Time…

9 Elm Bank (centre) when it was on the Market in 2021 (archived photos from Estate Agent listing).

1875. The land that the house was built on was part of land owned and sold by Edwin Patchitt (1808-1888). Patchitt was a solicitor, clerk and land owner (and Mayor of Nottingham in 1852) who was responsible for laying out the Church (Rock) Cemetery (in 1851). Patchitt’s land also included the plot sold to Fothergill Watson in 1870, where he built his own house at 7 Mapperley Road (now Fothergill Court). Patchitt lived at Forest House, which was adjacent (later owned by Thomas Birkin, it was donated to become the Children’s Hospital 1899-1978). Leonard Lindley (1835-95), mentioned in the conveyance deeds was also a JP (Justice of the Peace)like Patchitt, he lived on Mapperley Road (in 1885 at Redcliffe House). I have not been able to trace the William Ellis who was also mentioned in the documents.

1880. The land was again conveyed between William Ellis, James Bingham, Joseph James Acton & John Eley Bryan.

It appears the original house was built some time between this point and the 1881 census when Joseph James Acton and his family were listed as being in residence. Taken in April 1881, the census listed Joseph James Acton (1837-1887) Building Surveyor to the corporation of Nottingham, his wife Sarah E Acton, their baby daughter Ethel, along with a cook, housemaid and groom. (Acton was brother of Frederick Acton, solicitor who lived at Elm House.)

The rear of 9 Elm Bank does not show the typical markers of the Fothergill Style that Summers employed on the front. Photo archived from Estate Agent listing.

John Eley Bryan (1851-1918) was also listed as living on Elm Bank, but not in a census year and the number of the house is not mentioned, which leads me to believe that the original plot may have been split. There are now 3 houses quite close together on the site. John Eley Bryan was Accountant to the Corporation of Nottingham (aka The Boro Accountant). His wife Mary died in 1882 and shortly afterward there was an advertisement for the Freehold of his villa on Elm Bank but the number was not mentioned, it had three floors which makes me think it was the house next door.

Elm Bank circa 1899 https://maps.nls.uk

I have found conflicting information from newspapers and trade directories which point to other names who might have lived at 9 Elm Bank – in 1883 there was mention of Stephen Waine (1837-1889) of Barker and Waine Lace Dressers (but other evidence – in newspaper announcements – points to Mr Waine living around the corner at Claremont on Redcliffe Road.) Another name mentioned by trade directories in 1885 was William Henry Butler. The only evidence I can find for him was a report of a boot and shoe maker of that name being sued by the Nottingham Patent Brick Company to recover the deposit they had payed to him for the sale of a villa and grounds at Mapperley. As the NPBC could not use the land as a brickfield they wished to cancel the sale. I don’t believe this refers to Elm Bank, but no address is mentioned.

The next piece of solid evidence was a newspaper advertisement from 1887 “Good general servant who can cook nicely: two others kept; six in family; first-class character required. – Mrs Willatt, 9 Elm Bank Mapperley Road.” Mrs Willatt was Mary Jane (nee Attenborough) wife of John Willatt (1849-1901), Wine and Spirit Merchant of J Willatt & Co, 17 Chapel Bar. (He had recently taken over the firm from his father Issac Willatt). By 1891 and the census, the Willatts were living at Pelham Road.

The 1891 census offers the residents of 9 Elm Bank to have been the Holland family. William Holland (1835- 1907?) an accountant born in Lancashire, his wife Hannah and their children Arthur aged 18 working in a Lace Warehouse, Jessie aged 15, Edwin aged 12 and Elizabeth Newbitt a 16 year old servant. By 1901 William had become a school teacher and the Hollands were living at 17 Private Road, Mapperley Park.

In 1893 the plans were submitted for the alterations to the house. Lawrence George Summers, FRIBA signed as architect. Summers worked as Fothergill’s chief assistant. Of all the works signed as solely by LG Summers, the additions to this house are closest to the work of Fothergill in appearance. The builder was listed as R. Howitt and the client was Mr Thomas Jopling.

Thomas Jopling (1837-1897) was resident in the house 1895-1897. He was a Draper from Sunderland. A little searching turns up evidence that his firm was Jopling and Tuer, a well known Sunderland firm with a large shop. What was he doing in Nottingham? He writes to the Newcastle Journal in February 1895 to remark that the birds in Nottingham are showing signs of spring… “The rooks are now assembling on the trees, and we soon will see those sable gentlemen in full swing reconstructing their rookeries.”

From: Newcastle Chronicle, 9 March 1895, British Newspaper Archive.

Thomas Jopling died while residing at 9 Elm Bank in 1897. He left his widow Jane Jopling, eldest son Hugh, daughters Jennie, Emily, Kathleen, Marion, Eliza, Margery, and younger sons Tom & Mark. They -return to Sunderland after the death of Thomas. Hugh was already married and had moved to Leeds. In 1899 Emily married a farmer, Stanley Beardall and they lived at Stanford on Soar, Notts. with her mother Jane and her brother Tom. They later moved to Yorkshire.

From Northern Guardian, 13 March 1897, British Newspaper Archive.

From 1898, the house at 9 Elm Bank was occupied by Arthur Ernest Blake (1866-1935) and his family. Arthur E Blake (from 1920 Sir Arthur E Blake KBE) was a stockbroker and some-time estate agent. His place of business was briefly 2 Victoria Street (he was working from The Nottingham Club, or at least using it as an address) and then from 1897 he worked in Prudential Buildings (Alfred Waterhouse’s impressive building at the intersection of King and Queen Streets in the centre of Nottingham). He was a member of not only the Nottingham Club, but also the Borough and Constitutional Clubs. He had a long association with Nottingham Rowing Club and the Conservative Association.

In 1895 he had married his wife Florence Emily Blake (1870-1942), her father John Angrave Howitt(1829-1899) had been a Lace Manufacturer and was possibly later the publican of the Albert Hotel. Florence had at least 3 sisters and a brother. They were mentioned in newspaper reports of the sister’s marriages and wedding receptions held at Elm Bank in 1905 (Hilda Constance Howitt and Edgar Horne), 1908 (Maud Howitt and Henry White Thompson) and 1909 (Dorothy Howitt and Thomas Chambers Dawson). In all three of these reports the house was called “Thornhill”.

In 1911 the census records the residents of 9 Elm Bank to be Arthur Ernest Blake, Florence Emily Blake, their children Majorie, Olive Joan and Kenneth Arthur (their elder sons Geoffrey and Robert having already left home), the servants at this time were a cook and two house maids.

Sir Arthur was knighted in 1920 and was the Hon President of the Nottingham Savings Bank. His portrait is held in the Lloyds TSB archives and the National Portrait Gallery.

Arthur Ernest Blake, from Pike’s Directory 1901

Sir Arthur Blake was High Sheriff of Nottingham in 1924 and by this time the family had moved out to West Leake manor (from 1915). The Blake’s eldest son, Geoffrey Stuart Blake (1896-1917) was killed in action in WW1. In 1925 their second son Robert Anthony Blake (1897-1928) married Annie Isobel Boobbyer – Annie Isobel was the daughter of Annie Forbes Watson Fothergill Boobbyer and Dr Phillip Boobbyer, Medical Officer of Health for Nottingham – making her Watson Fothergill’s granddaughter. Fothergill’s own house on Mapperley Road was a stone’s throw from Elm Bank. In 1928 Robert was killed in an aeroplane accident when flying with Nottingham Aero Club. They had one son, Philip Anthony Blake, born 1926. The wedding in 1925 had been quite an event – this photo captures some of the glamour.

Daily Mirror 7 August 1925, Marriage of Robert Anthony Blake and (Annie) Isobel Boobbyer (Watson Fothergill’s Granddaughter) in London. From British Newspaper Archive.

The Blake family were commemorated in the church at West Leake with stained glass and plaques. Lady Florence Blake went to live in the Park Estate at Fairholme, 13 Lenton Road after Sir Arthur’s death in 1935 while on a voyage to Durban South Africa. She died in 1942.

After the Blakes, 9 Elm Bank was home to James Allan Battersby (1871-1931) his wife Lois Allen Battersby and their 5 daughters – Edith Mary, Marguerite, Kathleen Ada, Joyce Allen and Helen Houghton Battersby. J. Allan Battersby OBE was a barrister who had been a famous Poor Law Officer in London, who came to Nottingham to work as Clerk to the Guardians of Bagthorpe Infirmary, he died suddenly in 1931 having become Superintendent Registrar of Births and Deaths for the City and Clerk to the Public Assessment Committee. The family had already moved out of Elm Bank to Magdala Road some time after 1927.

James Allan Battersby, from Nottingham Evening Post 9 July 1931, British Newspaper Archive.

In 1936 the house was briefly empty (there was a report of a burglary from the empty house of a sideboard top). Then in 1937 the next known residents were Bernard Savage (b.1888) and his wife Marian, nee Walton (b.1894). They married in Halifax, where they were from, in 1916. Bernard Savage had come to Nottingham to be manager of the new Halifax Building Society branch opened in June 1937 at Halifax House, Milton Street in Nottingham (the building is now home to 200 Degrees Coffee’s 3rd Nottingham Branch). Bernard was in Nottingham until at least 1947 as district manager of the Halifax.

Halifax House, Milton Street, Nottingham. Formerly Halifax Building Society 1937, (Remodelled by Cyril FW Hazeldine FRIBA) Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The next trade directory I was able to find was from 1950 and it appears that 9 Elm Bank had been turned into 3 flats with the residents listed as at number 9 Cyril E Langford, at 9A Arthur Gosling and at 9B Hugh S McAllister. Later, into the present decade, Elm Bank Lodge was run as a Bed and Breakfast when the owner was the late Mr Andrew Stewart.

9 Elm Bank 2021. Photo archived from Estate Agent’s listing. The brick nogging and decorative woodwork on the upper floor, along with the metal finial and canted oriel window to the side are redolent of the work carried out by the office of Watson Fothergill in the 1890s.

Not much of the original interior of the building has survived, but it’s possible that the copper fireplace in the Breakfast room could be part of LG Summers’ decorative scheme.

The Breakfast Room. Possibly some original period features remain? Photo: archived Estate Agent’s listing.

Follow the progress of the renovation of the house at Elm Bank on Instagram and you can find me at watsonfothergillwalk.

If you have any information on previous residents of Elm Bank or you would like me to research the history of your house, please send a message here.

Events, Research, The Park Estate

Fothergill’s Buildings in The Park Estate

It has taken a lot of research but I’ve put together an illustrated talk on Fothergill’s Buildings in The Park Estate… and some of the people who lived in them. I will be premiering this lecture for The Park Residents Association on Wednesday 4 October (7 pm for 7.30 pm) at The Park Tennis Club, Tattershall Drive, Nottingham. Details here.

I will hopefully be available to give a version of this talk to other groups in future – so please get in touch if you have a group who would be interested in hearing about some great buildings and their interesting history.

The Park Garden Trail 2023, 5 & 7 Lenton Road, (1873, Fothergill Watson). Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Meanwhile I have a couple of dates for the Watson Fothergill Walk coming up – There are a handful of tickets left for Sunday 8 October, 10 am and a rare weekday fixture on Thursday 12 October, 2 pm.

Join me to see Nottingham from a different angle!

Influences, Research, Travels

Lichfield Cathedral

In June, I visited Lichfield and called in at the Cathedral – the relevance to this project being that such a visit was a massive inspiration to Fothergill Watson when he was a trainee architect.

Lichfield Cathedral front. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Whilst working in Frederick Jackson’s office in Nottingham, Fothergill visited many buildings of architectural interest in England including Lichfield Cathedral in 1858. It was this visit to the Cathedral which really fired his enthusiasm for his chosen career, architecture. This can be seen from an entry in the Family Records, “my enthusiastic love for Gothic architecture began, a love which has grown with the years. So did it stir my zeal for architecture as a profession that I commenced to work as I had never done before, and left no stone unturned in my endeavours to thoroughly master my profession.”

Lichfield Cathedral front, detail. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

In November 1903, Fothergill re-visited Lichfield Cathedral which had been the inspiration for his ambition to follow a career as an architect. He noted that it was 42 years since he last visited the Cathedral: “what a jewel among Cathedrals”. (Information from the Fothergill Watson Family Record extracted from Denis S. Kilner, PhD Thesis – Watson Fothergill: A Victorian Architect, University of Nottingham, 1978. Copy at Nottinghamshire Archives).

During my visit I spotted a stained glass window that depicts builders and architects. The Hackett Window, by Charles Eamer Kempe c. 1901 shows Bishop John Hackett (1661-70) poring over plans for the rebuilding of his cathedral which had been ‘overthrown by violent and wicked hands’ during the Civil War. (Lichfield Cathedral, A Journey of Discovery by Jonathan Foyle)

Perhaps Fothergill saw this window on his second visit in 1903? He certainly remembered the sculptural figures when he was designing his office on George Street, Nottingham!

Statues on Cathedral front, Lichfield. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Gargoyle at Lichfield Cathedral. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Statuary on Fothergill’s George Street office, Nottingham. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Learn more about Fothergill’s buildings and his influences by joining The Watson Fothergill Walk, the next available date is Sunday 6 August, 2023, 10 am. Tickets here or book a private walk for your group.

Inside, Research, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Inside Woodborough Road Baptist Church

I was up in Mapperley giving my talk on Watson Fothergill and his architecture to a large gathering of U3A members, on the way back into town I took the opportunity to go inside a Fothergill building I have been meaning to visit for ages… Woodborough Road Baptist Church.

View from Woodborough Road. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Woodborough Road Baptist Church is dated 1894 and opened in February 1895.

There had been a temporary iron chapel on the site since about 1875 and money was raised to commission a building to house the increasing number of worshipers.

On 20th June 1894 the memorial stones were laid, the first by Miss Bayley. Inside was a bottle containing “a copy of each of the Nottingham daily papers, copies of Baptist publications, a statement of the present number of members, scholars and teachers, the names of the contractors and the name of the architect.”

“The builders were Messrs Fish and Co with Mr Kennedy as Clerk of the Works, the architect was Mr W Fothergill of Clinton Street.”

Schools entrance and memorial stone laid by Miss Bayley. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The old classrooms were preserved and the new chapel was to be 109ft long and 49ft wide. Built in red brick with Derbyshire stone facings with a clock tower planned to be 90ft tall it would “greatly improve the appearance of the neighbourhood”

1964 view of Woodborough Road Picture Nottingham

The Rev. G. Howard James (who was president of the Nottingham Sunday School Movement) gave a toast at the luncheon to celebrate the commencement of works, hoping that “…in coming years they would find it more and more a spiritual success, and a joy to Nottingham people of many succeeding generations.”

View from Alfred Street Central. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

On 5th February 1895, the opening service was conducted by Rev. Dr R Glover of Bristol. The total cost of work had been £5,000 (exceeding the original estimate of £4,500). Mr W. Fothergill, now of George Street had provided plans for “a commanding structure. and an undoubted ornament to the town.”

With a “nave of 7 bays, aisles of slightly unequal width, iron columns, a semi-circular arcade and clerestories. At one end a many sided polygon and at the other a semi-octagon, chorister and platform. There was room for 284 in the gallery and 930 seated downstairs. The interior was “rather unconventional in treatment, attractive, well-lighted and comfortably heated”. The tower was by now 100ft and octagonal in shape with red brick, blue brick and Derbyshire stone dressing and rock-faced plinth with terracotta bands. A lobby connected the two entrances and there were five new classrooms to compliments the three old ones.

Interior of Woodborough Road Baptist Church, now Pakistani Centre. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The building is now home to the Pakistani Centre which provides an Older Persons Day Car Service, a community restaurant and space for prayer.

Iron Columns, arches, Clerestory and gallery. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The school rooms below are home to Switch Up and the Nottingham School of Boxing who provide support for local young people. It seems these endeavours are not so different from the building’s original purpose – non-conformist worship and “the elevation of their fellow men”.

Veggie curry lunch! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

It was lunchtime when I visited so I ordered the vegetarian lunch and stayed for a look around. The community restaurant serves a lunch for £5-£6 curry, rice and chapati every weekday between 12 noon and 2 pm. Filling!

Lots of recognisable Fothergill features. Interior, Woodborough Road Baptist Church. Photo: Lucy Brouwe

The building is grade II listed and up-close it has many distinctive features that are recognisable form other Fothergill buildings of the period. The leaded glass, the polychrome brickwork and stone dressings in particular stand out.

The cast-iron columns, arches, clerestory and vault. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Rear view of Woodborough Road Baptist Church. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Date stone over the entrance. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Woodborough Road view. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

According to Darren Turner’s Fothergill Catalogue, the church was one of the buildings for which Fothergill commissioned photographs from Bedford Lemere & Co, the architectural photographers. The pictures are now lost but are recorded in the daybook for 1897. I have been unable to find any photographs of the interior when it was in use as a church. If anyone has any leads or memories of the building then please contact me.

Learn more about Watson Fothergill, an architect who had a major impact on the look of Victorian Nottingham, by joining my guided tour, The Watson Fothergill Walk. The next date is 8 May, 2022 starting at 10 am, tickets here.