Nottinghamshire: The Southern Wolds

The industrial heritage of Beeston, with its great mills and old canals, makes a fascinating excursion. The ancient monuments of Stapleford provide a solid link to the regions distant past and give one pause for though of the bygone days. Then the pleasant environs of Bramcote and Attenborough give one the time to take it all in.

Quick Tips:

The Nottinghamshire Wolds, much like Nottingham itself, contain no major attractions; there is no one site to draw you out here, but taken as a whole the four sites listed in this journal can make a pleasant day out, or separately as side-trips on your way somewhere else.

Best Way To Get Around:

The sites mentioned in this journal are all within a couple of miles of each other and are joined by a criss-cross network of public footpaths that pass through ancient woods, verdant wetlands and golden fields making for a pleasant meander.

For those not up to the walk, Nottingham Transport runs a network of buses from the city centre all over the region which can be ridden all day with a £2.20 Daysaver ticket.

The ancient Saxon farming village of Bramcote (whose name means "cottages in the broom") sits high on a wooded sandstone ridge. A brief mention in the Domesday Book of 1086 tells that these lands were given over to William I’s porter, William Ostirus, presumably as reward for carrying the King's bags during the conquest of England. The oldest surviving building in the village is the so-called sunken church on Town Street, all that remains of which is the square tower with its 4-foot-thick, 14th-century buttressed walls and belfry lights windows. The chancel and nave were torn down after the consecration of a new church in 1861 when the parish had outgrown the confines of the building.

During much of the Middle Ages, the land around here was owned by Sempringham priory in nearby Lincolnshire. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s the land was bought by the Hanley family, who built the original Manor House here in 1564, renovated in the early 17th-century current building off of Town Street is a fine example of the English brick buildings of the time. In 1650, the Manor and its lands passed to the Sherwin family, under whom the village prospered, mainly thanks to Notts. clergyman William Lee, who, in 1589, invented a knitting machine for making stockings, turning the village into a centre for domestic industry. By 1844, the village was home to 33 of these stocking frames, housed in specially constructed three-storey cottages with extra large windows on the third floor. The last surviving examples of these buildings in the village are at 139/143 Broomhill Terrace.

The Sherwins also provided money for two schools, the church of St Michael and All Angels, and the quaint Alms Houses at the top of Cow Lane, that were homes for four poor women of the parish. The Sherwin Arms pub, on Derby Road, that housed the village post office was named after them. This pub and the White Lion on Town Street were both licensed in 1844 and still serve to this day. Bramcote’s picturesque location attracted a number of other wealthy residents, and is home to some expensive 19th century residences. The Grove, now St John’s Theological College, the Grange home to the Enfield family until 1946 when it became the research centre for the British Sugar Corporation who cultivated the fields with sugar beet in a courageously doomed endeavour, and Bramcote Hall, damaged by fire and demolished in 1964.

The area still attracts the shire’s wealthy with a row of expensive houses along Bramcote hills providing homes for football manager Brian Clough and Olympic skaters Torvill and Dean amongst others. Although it has been swallowed up by its larger neighbor and is now viewed as just another Nottingham suburb with its row upon row of Hoften & Sons built semis, the village can throw up some surprises for those that dig deeper, including nine listed buildings and a small woodland of local wildlife interest.

The Saxon village of Beeston, meaning settlement on Rye, was first settled due to the abundance of wild rye grass growing here along the edge of the River Trent. After passing through in 1068 William the conqueror granted 66 manors in this area including Beeston to his stepson William Peverill who governed them from his new castle in Nottingham.

Although the current building on Church Street dates from 1843 records of a church on this site go back to 1171 and a number of medieval remains can be seen here including the 13th-century font and the base of the 14th century market cross. The 1563 West End House on West End is the oldest surviving building in town, originally a farmhouse it has been a school and is now a private residence once again. The current Manor House on Middle Street dates from 1650 but Greasley farmer Nicholas Strey built the original in 1560. The curiously named Old Manor House also on West End is newer (1680) and never served as a manor house. No 19 Dovecote Lane on the corner of Manor Lane dates from 1790 and served for many years as The Goat Inn. The lock keeper in the nearby 1790 cottage would summon help from the Inn at times of trouble by firing his blunderbuss. The end of the 18th century saw a decline in Beeston’s fortunes as the traditional hosiery trade of the area went into decline but things would change with the dawning of the 19th century.

In the 19th-century Beeston was revitalised with the construction of the first lace mill here on Middle Street by Henry Kirkland in 1819, the building, now empty, still stands. Other mills quickly followed including the 1826 Silk Mill on High Street, the 1886 Swiss Mills that burnt down in 1984 but the factory bell can still be seen outside of Sainsbury’s and the 1893 Anglo-Scotian Mills on Wollaton Road with its curious Victorian Gothic façade based on Thrumpton Hall. The population grew and the town prospered Mill owner F.B. Gill built the Georgian style Grange on Chillwell Road, the Crown Inn on Church Street, was opened to brew the church ale and later served as a coach house, and the St John the Baptist Church on Church Street was rebuilt by Sir John Gilbert Scott in 1843 with its magnificent square tower dominating the town. In the grounds stands the curious Crimean War memorial that seems to commemorate the fighting men of Beeston’s heroic battle against diarrhea.

Beeston is now a thriving town of 22,000 that owes much of its current prosperity to local lad Jesse Boot whose 1933 factory, designed by Sir Owen Williams, on the edge of town is the heart of the Boots Pharmaceuticals empire.

On the A52 between Nottingham and Derby is Stapleford, an old Saxon Village, whose name means "River Crossing to the Market Cross".

The cross itself still stands, erected in the late 7th or early 8th century by St Wilfred, Archbishop of York, who travelled through this area with an army of stone cutters erecting crosses at the places he blessed. This 10-foot tall stone pillar, with its badly warn carving of St. Luke standing upon a serpent, was doubtless a powerful symbol for the small Christian community that was sandwiched here between the great Viking strongholds of the Danelaw. The cross may have lost its arms and original cap but it is still a revered symbol of faith, standing in the churchyard of St. Helen’s Parish Church, it is the oldest man-made structure in the county.

St Helen’s Church itself dates back to 1220, when it was consecrated, with a spire added in the 15th century and major renovations carried out in the 16th and 19th centuries. The 1300 East Window is considered a fine example of the German workmanship of the age, and inside there are examples of the fine alabaster carvings for which the region was once renowned. The centre of town where the A52 crosses the high street is curiously named The Roach. This is a corruption of the French roche, meaning rock, for it was here that prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars were put to work cutting stone for the road to Toton. Other sites to look out for include the Arthur Mee Centre, named after a famous local journalist, which has regular showing of it students art works and the old Methodist Chapel on Wesley Place, which John Wesley himself laid the foundation stone for in 1782.

On the edge of town is Stapleford Hill, which rises to an awe-inspiring 110 feet and is still pockmarked from hand-grenade practice carried out here by the Home Guard during WWII. The hill’s main attraction is the Hemlock Stone, a sandstone monolith weathered down to a curious and sinister shape. Local legend tells of a demon living at Stoney Clouds who was kept awake at night by the incessant praying of the friars of the nearby Lenton Abbey. Unable to issue a social disorder notice against these nuisance neighbour he took matters into his own hands throwing a lump of rock intended to crush the abbey that fell someway short and has stood here ever since. It is believed that the rock played an important part in the rituals of fire carried out by the ancient druids on the eve of Beltane (May 1st). More recent celebrations include a barbecue held here in 1810 to celebrate the golden jubilee of King George III and a beacon was lit on top in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the current Queen Betty.

Stapleford with its twin ancient monuments is well worth a visit if you are passing through the area.

Just off of the A6005 on the fringes of Beeston lies Attenborough and old Saxon Village whose name means "Adda’s Settlement".

The first prayer hall here was built of wattle and daub by Adda himself and the 12th century St. Mary’s Church is built on the same spot, lookout for the original oak door which is over 800 years old. In the churchyard you will find the 1918 memorial to the 134 people killed in a munitions explosion at the nearby Chilwell Ordnance Depot when the government’s revolutionary technique for compressing explosives directly into the shell casings went awry.

The 16th century farmhouse adjoining the church is the oldest residence in the village. It is named Ireton house after Henry Ireton who was born here in 1611. He married Oliver Cromwell’s daughter Bridget in 1646 and was on of the Roundheads finest commanders. He secured his place in history in 1649 when he became one of the signatories of King Charles’ death warrant. Across the tracks is Barratt Lane, which was cut off from the village in 1839 when the Nottingham to Derby railway was laid down only to become a focus for development when the station was opened here in 1864. The lane is now home to a number of large Victorian houses constructed by the wealthy wool and lace merchants of the area.

Attenborough’s main attractions are its gravel pits, excavated between 1929 & 1967 these were flooded in 1966 and opened as a conservation reserve by famous naturalist David Attenborough (no relation). The artificial flood plains are an important spot for migratory birds such as grebes and sea ducks and have been registered as a site of special scientific interest. On the far corner of the reserve is Beeston Marina with its picturesque 19th-century lock and lockkeeper’s cottage. There is a small community of prefab houses here, constructed as a temporary solution to the housing crisis that followed WWII and still going strong. There is also a café and bar for those that need refreshments.

The area is ideal for twitchers and makes a pleasant side-trip for anyone trying to escape the hustle and bustle of Nottingham.