Here are the Watson Fothergill Walk dates for September 2023
Join a guided tour of Nottingham with 5-star TripAdvisor reviews! The next dates for Watson Fothergill Walk – looking at the Nottingham City Centre architecture of Watson Fothergill a.k.a. Fothergill Watson are
*Buy before 6 August and don’t pay Eventbrite fees.
You can also book group tours with tour guide Lucy Brouwer – prices start at £100 for groups of up to 6 people. Email for more information.
A few tickets are still available for the evening Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine walk on Thursday 24 August, 6 pm Tickets £15 plus booking fee.
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.”
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.
Join tour guide Lucy Brouwer for some Fothergill-spotting in Nottingham. Tickets are now on sale for Watson Fothergill Walks in June. In addition to previously announced dates, tickets for some weekday walks are now available.
Learn about the buildings where Fothergill left his mark on Nottingham. Forthcoming dates for Watson Fothergill Walk – a guided tour exploring the life and work of architect Watson Fothergill aka Fothergill Watson – more details on the ticket pages, links:
Book early and save on Eventbrite fees. Tickets are £15 each (plus Eventbrite fees where applicable.)
There are still some spaces on the guided tours in May – the city centre Watson Fothergill Walk, an introduction to the buildings of architect Thomas Chambers Hine on The Hine Hike and houses by Fothergill and his chief assistant LG Summers on the edge of the city on The Carrington Crawl.
Explore what The Daily Telegraph called “Nottingham’s Fantastical Architecture” and learn about the life and work of architect Watson Fothergill, a.k.a Fothergill Watson…
Ticketsare £15 each – book before 1 April and you won’t have to pay Eventbrite’s fees!
Tour guides Lucy Brouwer is also available for private bookings for groups of between 6 and 20 people, please send a message with numbers and preferred dates for more details.
Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review for Watson Fothergill Walk – I’m so glad that people are finding the tours entertaining and enlightening!
Thanks to Roger for the review!
You can read more reviews over on Tripadvisor or even leave one yourself if you’ve joined me for a tour.
The walk on 12 March sold out very quickly so I have added another Watson Fothergill Walk on Sunday 26 March, 10 am. Tickets are £15 each and if you buy before 1 February there are no Eventbrite fees to pay.
NEWS FLASH…. I am running a private Watson Fothergill Walk on Monday 16 January at 2 pm – The group have generously offered to let me open this up to anyone who can join us. £15 each – pay cash on the day. Meet outside Visit Nottingham Tourism Office by The Council House at 2 pm – the walk takes approx 2 hours and finishes at Fothergill’s Pub. Email Watsonfothergillwalk@gmail.com to secure a place.