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
Take the opportunity to join a 5-star rated guided tour of Nottingham’s Victorian Architecture. There are currently a limited number of tickets remaining for The Watson Fothergill Walk on
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:
There are very limited numbers of each book at the moment and there are also some copies of Ken Brand’s Watson Fothergill book available. Postage is at the flat rate of £2.70 which allows you to purchase multiple books.
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.
Nottingham Civic Society have found a number of books on Nottingham architects and architecture that they have asked me to sell. I have now added some of these to my shop.
