Last week I attended the launch (via Zoom) of the new edition of The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire, commonly known as The Pevsner Guide.
The hefty new edition of The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire.
You can watch the interview with Clare Hartwell, who has throughly revised and updated the Nottinghamshire guide, on Five Leaves Bookshop’s YouTube channel.
As you can see the new 2020 edition (bottom) has somewhat expanded on the previous editions! (the 1997 reprint of the 2nd edition, and the pocket-sized Penguin from 1951).
The Pevsner Guides are pretty much the bible for anyone doing research on architects and architecture and I’ve now got all three editions of the Nottinghamshire book, as well as Elain Harwood’s Nottingham City Guide.
The edition of the Nottingham city guide that I regularly use for researching my walks. As you can see, I’ve bookmarked a lot of buildings!
Nottinghamshire was the second county of England that Nikolaus Pevsner covered when he originally put the guides together in the 1950s. The guides have evolved from pocket-sized paperbacks to hefty hardbacks that offer a summary of the architecture of each county.
The first edition also features Southwell Minster on the cover, but the book was considerably cheaper and more portable!
Much as I wish they were a little more portable, the new one is more than double the size of the last edition and weighs almost a kilo, it is really worth taking them with you on your travels (or perhaps making appropriate notes before you set off). I wonder, have Yale University Press considered making an online version available to purchasers of the book? It would make a fantastic app! (So far there’s only a Pevsner Architectural Glossary available).
Plenty of bookmarks in this, the 2nd edition, that I bought second hand at the much missed Jermy & Westerman bookshop.
Something of Pevsner’s eccentricity may have been lost – indeed in his first Nottinghamshire edition he attributes the bank in Newark to “Fothergill & Watson”, Fothergill’s name change being the source of no end of confusion! – but as a basis for discoving more details about the architecture around you, the guides are completely indispensible.
The new edition has been lavishly illustrated with photographs, the majority of which are by Martine Hamilton Knight. Here’s Watson Fothergill’s Office (as well Papplewick Pumping Station and Trent Navigation Warehouse in Newark)
For more on Pevsner listen to this excellent BBC Radio 4 Programme, Pevsner: Through Outsider’s Eyes (I’m off to listen to it again).
When I first started working on tours – back in Glasgow, researching material for Walking Heads’ Clydeside Promenade – one of our contributors was journalist Peter Ross. I remembered Pete from my early forays into student journalism and so I’m always pleased when he has a new book out.
His latest, A Tomb With A View: The Stories And Glories of Graveyards, is available from 3 September 2020, it’s had rave recommendations from Hilary Mantel, Ian Rankin and Robert Macfarlane among others and I’ve been lucky enough to read it in advance.
In the book, Peter explores his own fascination with graveyards and looks at stories of people and places in cemeteries around Britain and Ireland. There are great chapters on Highgate in London, Greyfriars in Edinburgh and an in depth look at the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The relationship between ghost story writers and their graves is explored. He traces remarkable lives as well as forgotten ones, and as always with Peter’s journalism, personal stories are the heart of what he writes about.
My interest was piqued earlier in the year by Peter’s tweets with photos from his local graveyard, Cathcart Cemetery. He had uncovered the grave of a Scottish architect, William Gardner Rowan, who would have been practicing around the same time that Watson Fothergill was working in Nottingham. Like Fothergill’s grave stone in Nottingham, this one was designed by the architect himself.
After finishing A Tomb With A View, I took a long delayed walk into Rock (Church) Cemetery at the top of Mansfield Road, Nottingham, close to where I’ve been starting my Carrington Crawl walks.
Gates of Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Both Watson Fothergill and Lawrence George Summers, his chief assistant, are buried there. I had seen Fothergill’s headstone on a long guided tour given by Nottingham Civic Society a couple of years ago, but I had not yet been to look for Summers. Thanks to a generous researcher, I had the plot number I needed help me find it.
I asked at the gate house for some help and James, the caretaker, looked out a copy of the St Mary’s Mount map and caught up with me at the far end of the graveyard (litter picking as he went).
Searching for LG Summers’ grave plot.
We tracked the plot number to find… a gap. There is no stone for Summers and his wife Louise (both buried here, 10 feet down according to the records). I was a little disappointed not to find a marker and snapped a picture in the hope that I’d be able to find the spot again. I can’t say I felt as comfortable in this cemetery as Peter Ross seems to be in graveyards in his book. It was slightly less daunting than it had felt on the 3 hour Civic Society tour, but no less Gothic.
LG Summers’ grave (unmarked). Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
It started to rain, but I pressed on to find Watson Fothergill’s grave. The stone he designed himself is unusual in shape and colour compared to those around it. Some people think it looks a bit like a bird table. In contrast to the lack of stone for Summers (who is understood to have been a more modest man), Fothergill makes a typical statement of his individuality with the hexagonal red granite column.
Grave of Watson Fothergill, Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
His names and death date are carved around the top in a typeface that appears familiar from his other work.
Grave of Watson Fothergill, Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy BrouwerGrave of Watson Fothergill, Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
At the bottom, I spotted this stag, perhaps a symbol of Nottingham, where Fothergill spent his working life and where most of his buildings are located.
A Nottingham stag? Grave of Watson Fothergill, Rock Cemetery, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
You can’t quite see the top of Mapperley Road, where Fothergill built his house, from here but the site is only a few minutes walk away. It would have been hard to have laid him to rest any closer.
I’d highly recommend A Tomb With A View. I was particularly struck by the chapter about the life and death of Dublin graveyard tour guide Shane MacThomais, where a friend of his sums up the secret of a good tour guide: “Make them laugh, make them cry, tell them something they know, tell them something they don’t.” And this is exactly what this book does, like a good tour it takes something you previously took for granted and makes you see it in a new way.
You can order A Tomb With A View by Peter Ross from your local bookshop (Nottingham has Five Leaves Books who are still doing orders by post). Or try Hive where you can support an independent book shop of your choice.
September 2020 sees the return of The Hine Hike – my tour looking at the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, another architect who had a big impact on Victorian Nottingham.
For the following two Sundays, tours will be available for booking through Debbie Bryan. Tickets will include tea and cake or cream tea at her Lace Market shop at the end of the tours. Dates are:
Afternoon tea at Debbie Bryan available after these walks.
Tickets for these walks are £15 for tour + tea and £32 for tour + traditional cream tea (vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options available on request). All the details of this special package can be found on Debbie Bryan’s website.
Finally, there’s a chance to visit Clawson Lodge at the end of The Carrington Crawl... The Ukrainian Centre has reopened and they are offering a small group a chance to have a look around inside and to enjoy tea and biscuits at the end of the walk.
This walk will take place on Saturday 19 September, starting at 1pm. Tickets are £12 each and there will be small charge for refreshements at the Ukrainian Centre. Again, all walks are subject to social distancing with reduced numbers.
Tour Guide Lucy is also available to lead private walks for small groups – please get in touch to explore Nottingham’s great Victorian architecture.
Trying out my tours with smaller groups has worked well so far. Here are some photos from The Carrington Crawl this weekend.
The Carrington Crawl: Social Distancing version Photo: @theparkestate
This was a private booking for 5 people, and as you can see there is room to spread out and see some beautiful examples of Fothergill and Summers’ domestic architecture.
The Norris Homes on The Carrington Crawl. Photo: @theparkestate
At last! The walks are returning with added social distancing! Having completed the preparation for Visit England’s We’re Good To Go mark, I am now delighted to invite groups of up to 5 people (maximum groups are 6 so that includes your guide!) to accompany me on The Watson Fothergill Walk, tour of Nottingham city centre.
As groups have to remain small for now, I am offering private tours for groups of up to 5 people. Please contact me if you can make up a group of 5 or are happy to join another small group to make up a tour. The walk takes 2 hours and is best at quiet times of day.
I am also scheduling Sunday morning walks… the first will start at 10am, on 2 August 2020. Tickets are £12 each.
The next will be on 16 August 2020, 10am. Again tickets are £12.
NEWS FLASH! These have filled up very quickly so I have added more and will add more as demand dictates. If you can do weekdays please let me know as with small groups it might be possible to conduct tours at quieter times. TICKETS for all forthcoming dates (August 2, 16, 23, 30) are on Eventbrite.
If you would like to organise a walk for up to five people, please contact Lucy to select a suitable date and time.
At the moment I am only able to take groups of up to 6 (including me!) so there are just 5 tickets for The Carrington Crawl on 15 August 2020.
NEWS FLASH! The first walk is already full! But I have added more dates (Aug 20, 11am & Aug 22, 2pm): Tickets for all forthcoming walks are available on Eventbrite.
If you have a group of 5 people or less and would like to arrange a time to do the walk then please get in touch. (I can also do walks on weekdays.)
We successfully tried out the walk with social distancing in place and so I’d like to try more dates.
Thanks to the Promenaders for trying out The Carrington Crawl!
The Carrington Crawl looks at the domestic architecture of Watson Fothergill and his assistant LG Summers at Mapperley Road, Sherwood Rise and Carrington.
Following consultation with fellow guides, detailed examination of the Government’s Coronavirus Guidelines for England and completion of a new risk assesment, I’m pleased to say that Watson Fothergill Walk can now display Visit England‘s We’re Good To Go mark.
For now this means tours will be limited to groups of up to 6 people (including myself) and to private tours for up to 5 people. I am hoping that this will be able to be increased as guidelines are relaxed.
For the time being tours will not include refreshments – however I will be able to direct you to venues that are open and bookings can be made on request (subject to availabilty).
You can see the We’re Good To Go certificate and WFW’s C-19 risk assessment here.
In support of Primary taking their talk series Tell Me Something I Don’t Know online for a special event, some of their past talks are now available to listen to on Soundcloud.
I talked about my research into Watson Fothergill’s assistant, Lawrence George Summers and some of the paths that led me to explore.
I’ve written about being on the trail of Summers before here and here.
Design for a Town Hall by Lawrence G Summers. Lithograph from The Buildings News, 1974.
The Fothergill book I refer to in the talk is Fothergill: A Catalogue of the Works of Watson Fothergill by Darren Turner, which is available from the author.
The door to L.G. Summers office, inside 15 George Street, Nottingham. Photo: Lucy Brouwer.Douglas Byng. Half-Brother of Louise, L.G. Summers’ wife, and one of “The Queens of England”
You won’t be surprised to learn that I enjoy watching programmes about architecture on television. A great series that presents an accessible introduction to the history of architecture is currently running on Yesterday – Architecture The Railways Built, with the wonderfully enthusiastic Tim Dunn.
This week’s episode looks at St Pancras Station, one of my favourite London buildings. The station was built by the Midland Railway and the adjoining hotel’s architect was Sir George Gilbert Scott.
St Pancras Station, 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
As the programme discussed, the station was built using materials brought to London from the Midlands – Butterley Iron from Derbyshire, Mansfield red sandstone, Minton tiles from Stoke on Trent and Nottingham bricks.
St Pancras Station, 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
These bricks share their distinctive orange colour with many of Watson Fothergill’s Nottingham buildings, and G G Scott is one of the architects celebrated by Fothergill on the facade of his George Street Office.
Detail from the front of the George Street Watson Fothergill Office. Photo: K.F. Onion Watson Fothergill’s Office, George Street, Nottingham. April 2020. Photo: Dan Simpkin
Looking at the details of the hotel at St Pancras, which was completed in the 1870s, it seems very probable that it was an influence on Fothergill, who would likely have travelled through it on his regular trips to London (to visit art galleries and to see cricket matches at Lords).
St Pancras Booking Office, now a bar. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
I took some photos last time I was in London. I also went for a drink in the hotel and got to explore the interior, which is fantastic. I think there it’s very likely that Fothergill would have admired the materials used and also the quality of the work, the flamboyant details and the overall beauty of the building. The carved stones, red bricks, sculpture and gothic flare are all recognisable features that Fothergill uses in his Nottingham buildings.
Half way up the cantilevered staircase of the Renaissance St Pancras Hotel. 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Architecture The Railways Built continues on Tuesdays and Saturdays on the Yesterday channel, or on demand on UKTV player. Other episodes look at Kings Cross Station, the “Derby Gothic” style of the Midland Railway on the Settle to Carlisle line and much more.
For more on the building of St Pancras, I’d recommend architectural historian Simon Bradley’s short but thorough book, St Pancras Station.
The Watson Fothergill Walk is currently on hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions, but you can purchase gift vouchers to redeem against bookings for future walks.
The last walk I took to look at architecture in Nottingham, before Lockdown, was around The Park Estate.
For this installment of my series of interviews with people I’ve met through doing The Watson Fothergill Walk, I talked to Dan Simpkin, who lives in The Park and is responsible for maintaining the @theparkestate Instagram account, a great source of photos and information on the history and architecture of this unique part of Nottingham.
Lucy Brouwer: You take photos and maintain the Instagram account @theparkestate, can you briefly tell me how that came about and what you hope to achieve through sharing your knowledge of Park houses?
Dan Simpkin: I’ve lived in The Park for over fifteen years and love the architecture, atmosphere and community. I’ve recently become a committee member of the Nottingham Park Residents’ Association (NPRA) who organise events aimed at encouraging community within the estate with the remit to look after their social media. I’ve got an interest in architecture, photography and history, and like to walk, so as I’m walking around The Park I naturally take a lot of photographs. I had the idea that Instagram might be a good addition to the NPRA communications as a way to bring attention to their underused website looking at all the pre-1918 houses in The Park.
Screen shot ofthe NPRA’s Nottingham Park Houses website. A fantastic resource for home owners and anyone interested in the architecture and history of Nottingham’s Park Estate.
I hope that the Instagram profile highlights how rich in history and architecture The Park is. In short, I’d like people to be more engaged and knowledgable about the built environment we have so close to Nottingham City Centre, and treasure it as much as I do.
LB: Do you have a favourite house in The Park? Which one and why?
DS: I’d say I have a few favourite houses. Not one favourite. In no particular order:
LB:What do you enjoy about living in The Park Estate?
DS: The feeling that you’re in a calm place when you’re less than half a mile away from Nottingham City Centre. The great architecture, landscape and light. The sense of community is also great, which you might not expect in a large city.
LB: You’ve recently been sharing stories about notable people who have lived in The Park over the years. Do you have one of these you’d like to share?
DS: When I was lookinh into past residents’ lives, I think the stories of adversity spoke to me most: Albert Ball’s nationally mourned death, Dame Laura Knight‘s recognition in the male-dominated art world, and Justin Fashanu’s tragic life, were all stories I’d heard but not read about in detail before. To hear about these people’s lives, when they have lived within metres of where I live, really bought it home to me.
LB: Anything else you’d like to add about things you’re working on?
DS: Although the Instagram profile @theparkestate is predominantly my photography, I’m very much an amateur. I’m keen to feature proper photographers that see and create different types of images. I like the seasons being well represented, The Park is as nice a place in Autumn and Winter as in the Spring and Summer months, maybe more atmospheric. I’ve also got feature series in the pipeline of Park stained glass and modern Park architecture as well as a look at nature. Suggestions and contributions are always welcome though. I love hearing what people want to see and their experience of this very special area.
Many thanks to Dan for his contribution, in his “day job” Dan is Creative Director of Brand Design Agency Simpkin Burley, based in West Bridgford.
