Research, TC Hine

Traces of TC Hine at Nottingham Castle

During my visit to the newly reopened Nottingham Castle I spotted a few clues that point to the architect who originally transformed the ruined Ducal Palace into the first municipal art gallery outside London.

But does anything remain of “The Midland Counties Art Museum at Nottingham”?

Nottingham’s not really a castle.. it’s a Renaissance Ducal Palace you know! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Nottingham Castle’s new Rebellion Gallery does a dynamic job of telling the story of how Nottingham Castle as we know it has survived a turbulent history – from the demolition of the Norman fortress by Oliver Cromwell after the Civil War to the damage caused by protesters against the 1831 Reform Bill, when the Riot Act was read and the Duke of Newcastle’s Palace was torched – but what happened next?

Thomas Chambers Hine, prominent architect of Victorian Nottingham and the 5th Duke of Newcastle’s Surveyor of Estates, took it upon himself (along with his son George Thomas Hine) to transform the gutted shell of the building into a Public Museum and Gallery of Art and Science. All the woodwork – floors and staircases – had been destroyed in the fire so Hine added new stone staircases with cast-iron balustrades and the three floors of the palace were replaced with two, cutting through the old staterooms.

TC Hine’s staircase inside Nottingham Castle. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The top lit picture gallery was modelled on the Grand Gallery of The Louvre.

Picture (by Hine?) of the Gallery space now on display at Nottingham Castle. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
The gallery as it is today, with the skylight still performing its function. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The Midland Counties Art Museum At Nottingham was opened by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Later King Edward VII)and his wife, Princess Alexandra on 3rd July 1878 and the occasion was marked with a royal procession through The Park Estate.

Stained glass window (now part of the Visiting Exhibition Space – currently hosting ‘Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith’) commemorating the Royal Visit and the Castle’s Civil War associations. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

TC Hine had a fondness for local history and published a book to mark the occasion, it detailed each phase of the building’s history and was entitled: ‘Nottingham Its Castle, A Millitary Fortress, A Royal Palace, A Ducal Mansion, A Blackened Ruin, A Museum and Gallery of Art’. It was published in two editions, the first in 1876 and a second in 1879 with a supplement covering the Royal Visit.

TC Hine’s history of the Castle, now on display in the Castle! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Thanks to Google Books you can browse the pages of the book and look at some of the illustrations. (A copy is also available at Bromley House Library). In the book, “a labour of love”, Hine recounts the history of the Castle through the reign of each successive English monarch, notes significant incidents in the history of Nottingham and even lays claim to be the person who found the spiral stairs leading to the cave known as Mortimer’s Hole. As he goes through a timeline of the years, he notes important events, population figures and makes note of the buildings being built in the town. The book is almost a scrapbook (which is how it is described in the exhibition) although it actually contains printed pictures that have been stuck into each copy rather than the plates being directly printed onto the pages.


Nottingham Castle as a ruin, 1876 from Nottingham, Its Castle…” by TC Hine. Source: Google Books.

The deaths of notable personages are recorded and Hine describes buildings including the Nottingham Exchange, “standing as it does on the finest site in all England”, expressing the opinion that the building looked more like a “large retail establishment” than a public building fit to host the “Midland Counties Art Exhibition in connection with the South Kensington Museum”. He also describes the colonnades which distinguish Nottingham’s Market Place, even suggesting that they be developed as a feature, like the covered walkways of Bologna!

All in all, Hine’s book is a treasure trove of historical incidents and as he reaches years covered by his own lifetime, he notes the activities of other Nottingham architects as well as his own.

In summing up he compares the Castle, standing as it does upon a rock, to “the Acropolis at Athens or the Capitol of Rome”, and expresses the hope that ‘beauty and refinement “sweetness and light”‘ will arise from use of the Castle as a gallery and museum.

And so, we too must hope that in its latest incarnation, Nottingham Castle will continue to be such a beacon of “higher and nobler aspirations of the human mind.”

Closing paragraph of TC Hine’s ‘Nottingham, It’s Castle…” (source: Google Books)

To learn more about Thomas Chambers Hine and his buildings in Nottingham, join Lucy for her guided tour, The Hine Hike. The next date is 29 August 2021.

Tickets for this and all over events available on Eventbrite.

Events

August Walks

Here we go with some more walk dates for August 2021! Tickets for the following dates are now on sale, all tickets are £15 each.

Come and explore the architecture of Victorian Nottingham with tour guide Lucy Brouwer.

Watson Fothergill Walk, 1 August 2021, 10 am, £15

The Carrington Crawl, 15 August 2021, 1 pm, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk (Evening), 19 August 2021, 6 pm, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk, 22 August 2021, 2pm, £15 (now moved to 2pm start).

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, 29 August 2021, 2pm, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk, 1 August 2021, 10 am, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk

The original city centre walk, looking at the flamboyant Victorian architecture of Watson Fothergill, also known as Fothergill Watson! 2hrs/ 2km.

Watson Fothergill Walk, 1 August 2021, 10 am, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk (Evening), 19 August 2021, 6 pm, £15

Watson Fothergill Walk, 22 August 2021, 2 pm, £15

The Carrington Crawl, 15 August 2021, 1 pm, £15

The Carrington Crawl

A look at the domestic architecture of Watson Fothergill and his chief assistant L.G. Summers in Mapperley Park, Sherwood Rise and Carrington (with tea and coffee available at Clawson Lodge and a chance to look around inside) 2 hours/ 3km.

The Carrington Crawl, 15 August 2021, 1 pm, £15

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, 29 August 2021, 2pm, £15

Hine Hike

A look at some of the work of another architect who made a big impact on Victorian Nottingham – Thomas Chambers Hine. 2hrs/3km.

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, 29 August 2021, 2pm, £15

Lucy is also available to conduct private tours for your group. Please email for more details.

Events, Thomas Chambers Hine, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

New dates! June & July 2021

Tickets have just been released for a raft of new dates in June and July!

Tickets for the following walks are now on sale:

The Carrington Crawl, 26 June 2021, 1 pm – 2 returns now available!

(with added access to Clawson Lodge thanks to The Ukrainian Cultural Centre).

A look at the domestic architecture of Watson Fothergill and his chief assistant L.G. Summers in Mapperley Park, Sherwood Rise and Carrington (with tea and coffee available at Clawson Lodge and a chance to look around inside) 2 hours/ 3km.

The Carrington Crawl, 26 June, 1 pm tickets £15

Watson Fothergill Walk – 27 June 2021, 10 am The original city centre walk, looking at the flamboyant Victorian architecture of Watson Fothergill, also known as Fothergill Watson! 2hrs/ 2km.

Watson Fothergill Walk, 27 June, 10 am, tickets £15

An evening Watson Fothergill Walk – 1 July 2021, 6 pm

An evening version of the city centre walk, with a chance to stop off at Fothergill’s pub at the end. 2hrs/2km.

An evening walk, 1 July 6pm, tickets £15

Watson Fothergill Walk – 18 July 2021, 10 am

The original city centre walk with a look at the architecture of Watson Fothergill. 2hrs/2km.

Watson Fothergill Walk, 18 July, 10 am, tickets £15

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine – 25 July 2021, 10 am

A look at some of the work of another architect who made a big impact on Victorian Nottingham – Thomas Chambers Hine. 2hrs/3km

Hine Hike, 25 July, 10 am, tickets £15

Tickets for all walks are £15 each and numbers are limited to 12 people per tour (for now!)

Lucy is also available during the week for private tours for small groups so please email if you have a group of friends or family who would enjoy discovering Nottingham from a new angle!

Events, Lace Market, TC Hine, Thomas Chambers Hine

The Hine Hike: Evening Walk

I’m running another chance to join me for The Hine Hike: The buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine on Wednesday 5th June 2019, starting at 6pm. Tickets here.

The Hine Hike 5 June 2019

Thomas Chambers Hine, 1813-1899, was possbly Nottingham’s most prolific architect of the Victorian Age. His work across the 19th Century ranges from overseeing the development of The Park Estate, to building the biggest lace warehouses in the Lace Market, and includes the conversion of Nottingham Castle to England’s first provincial art gallery outside London.

The Adams Building, Lace Market, Nottingham (photo: Lucy Brouwer).
The Birkin Building, Lace Market, Nottingham (photo: Lucy Brouwer).

Explore the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine “the father of the Midlands Architects” and his impact on the built environment of Nottingham city centre. This evening walk will take in a overview of the Park Estate, progress via Hine’s home and office on Regent Street towards Nottingham Castle. The walk will continue across the city centre to investigate some of Thomas Chambers Hine’s lesser known buildings and finish up with some of his large scale projects in the Lace Market.

This is a walk of 3km (1.9 miles) approximately 2 hours. The walk starts at Nottingham Playhouse and finishes in the Lace Market.

Next Hine Hike is 5 June, 2019, 6pm Tickets here.