Canal exhibition in need of objects and pictures to show

Curators of an exhibition on the Chesterfield Canal are looking for owners of objects or photographs relating to the waterway who would be happy to have them go on public display.  The display will be part of the exhibition Life in North Nottinghamshire, to be held at Thoresby Hall, near Clumber Park, from February 18 to March 20.

A spokesman for the Chesterfield Canal Trust said: "We are keen to mount as varied a display as possible and so are appealing for contributions to supplement our own collection.  "Doubtless many people will have photographs of the canal. "Old ones are often the most interesting, but there may be documents, maps, leaflets or artefacts like signs or parts of boats or locks. "If you have anything that may be of interest, please email publicity@chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk or ring 01246 434762.  "The trust will take great care anything that it receives on loan."


The Chesterfield Canal runs for 46 miles from the River Trent to the middle of Chesterfield, linking Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.  The whole length of the canal can be walked on a towpath known as The Cuckoo Way.  Since 1989, more than 11 miles of the canal has been restored, along with 36 locks and 11 bridges, owing to work by the Chesterfield Canal Trust.

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Canal-exhibition-in-need-of.6685992.jp

A Family War of the Follies Leaves a Little Reminder of Rivals

DON'T you just love a story of family rivalry – that is, so long as it doesn't concern your own kith and kin? 

 

Strolling through the hundreds of graceful acres of some of Britain's large country estates, the visitor will appreciate the planning and hard work that went into creating the sumptuous gardens and views of mansion and monuments, but we don't necessarily understand how these vast properties came about.

Take Wentworth Castle. Five minutes from junction 37 of the M1, this is the only grade one listed landscape in South Yorkshire, and it encompasses a fascinating collection of 26 listed buildings and monuments. Among them are the Rotunda, Queen Anne's Obelisk, the Duke of Argyll's Column and the majestic Stainborough Castle, a large romantic folly built by Sir Thomas Wentworth the Earl of Strafford in 1730.

Designed as an "eyecatcher", this mock castle, believed to be the second oldest Gothic garden folly in the country, is a wonderful architectural flourish with four towers named Harriet, Anne, Lucy and William after the Earl's children. The interior of each was painted a different colour.

Patrick Eyres, a landscape historian and one of the trustees of Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust, clearly enjoys telling the story of the castle and the property on which it stands.

"In 1695, when Sir Thomas's father died, he expected to inherit the estate at Wentworth Woodhouse which had been in the family for generations, six miles as the crow flies from where Wentworth Castle now stands.

"But for some reason the inheritance was passed down the female line to a cousin called Thomas Watson, who added Wentworth to his name. He was a member of the gentry, whereas Sir Thomas was an aristocrat, a renowned and respected diplomat. Finding himself disinherited, Sir Thomas bought the 500-acre Stainborough Hall Estate nearby and set about building a castle and a series of follies around his land, including the mock castle. It had a bailey wall and four turrets, a gatehouse keep with four towers and a first floor banqueting room. It was properly plastered inside, and was used regularly to entertain. The name of the estate was changed to Wentworth Castle, probably to annoy the cousin down the road.

"A lovely letter exists, written by Sir Thomas, detailing how he entertained in the folly, and even enjoyed a 'breakfast' there with Thomas Watson Wentworth, although the two men were poles apart in many ways including politically."

The disinherited Sir Thomas went about adding to his acreage by secretly buying up land from local farmers and referring to his rival in documents by the codename "the vermin". The Earl of Strafford's son continued the rivalry, and the owners vied with each other to create eye-catching follies on their land.

The pinnacle of this "folly war" really was Stainborough Castle, says Patrick Eyres. "I think we can safely say that Sir Thomas Wentworth and his family's efforts outranked, outswanked and outshone those of the cousin at Wentworth Woodhouse – although over time the family at Wentworth Woodhouse rose to become more senior within the aristocracy. The castle folly at Wentworth Castle was placed deliberately so as to be seen from the highest point of the Wentworth Woodhouse Estate. Unlike most follies, though, it was useful for entertaining and for the children to play in."

Today, Wentworth Woodhouse is still in private ownership, whereas Wentworth Castle is now the Northern College, an adult education centre. The gardens and parkland are open to the public and are looked after by the trust. In the 1960s two of the castle folly's towers collapsed after the structure was destabilised by the opening up of new coal seams beneath it. The castle fell into disrepair and became overgrown, although some thought this added to its romance.

In recent years, Stainborough Castle has been expensively restored after a campaign to raise £20m to refurbish the mansion, gardens, parkland and follies, and it can be used for picnics or to hold events, seating hundreds of visitors for theatrical and musical performances.

The folly was featured in the BBC's Restoration series and will be seen again next year in another BBC series about Britain's "hidden" houses, which will examine the famous Wentworth family rivalry.


Wentworth Castle Gardens, Low Lane, Stainborough, South Yorkshire S75 3EN. 01226 776040 or www.wentworthcastle.org

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/A-family-war-of-the.6674450.jp

Friends of Firbeck Hall - Newsletter #9 out now

Just received my Friends of Firbeck Hall Newsletter today, it's great to hear that contact with the buildings new owner, Mr Cooper, is going well.

Hopefully the hall will be restored back to its once great beauty again in the near future.

Friends of Firbeck Hall website www.firbeckhall.net

Historic Somersall Gatehouse Up For Auction

HISTORIC cottage which was used by coachmen employed by the owners of a country estate is to go under the hammer at a sale in Sheffield this week.

 

The Lodge, is a two-bedroom Grade II listed cottage dating back to the 1700s and was previously one of two gatehouses for Somersall Hall, near Chesterfield.

According to auctioneers, it still retains some of the original features which would have been used by the estate's staff, although it has been partly modernised.

The present Somersall Hall was built in 1763 on the site of an earlier 17th century house owned by Godfrey Clarke and his son Gilbert who served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1652 and 1676 respectively.  Estate agents said the property, which has a minimum guide price of £130,000, "requires updating but offers much potential".

Lucy Crapper, of Sheffield-based Blundells said: "The cottage retains immense charm and character and now requires a scheme of cosmetic improvement and refurbishment.

"The existing gatehouse, which was extended in the 1950s and again in the 80s, now offers very spacious accommodation and offers a unique opportunity to purchase a period building."

Ms Crapper said the property is within easy of Chesterfield town centre and a short distance from Chatsworth House.

The cottage will be auctioned at Sheffield Park Hotel, Chesterfield Road South, at 2pm on Wednesday along with a number of other lots.

More information is available from Blundells on 0114 223 0777 or at the www.auctionhouse.uk.net  website.

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Historic-cottage-used-by-coachmen.6650721.jp

Beautiful Blyth (Village Auction 1929)

From the Worksop Guardian Friday, November 29, 1929 Page 3:

Not without reason has Blyth, near Worksop, been termed "Beautiful Blyth."  There are other villages in North Notts., and just over the South Yorkshire border, which are picturesque and unspoilt; but Blyth, with its spacious green shaded by noble trees, its houses with garden fronts joining up to the very road itself, has that indescribable charm which the storied past alone confers.

Stand where you will in Blyth, the old grey tower of the great Church is a visible reminder of the days that are no more.  Blyth is described as a village, and a village it is, one of the old-fashioned ones which are the glory of the English countryside; yet in days past it ranked as a town, and had its half-yearly fares for live-stock and other forms of merchandise.  Pens and stands were set out on the green, and likewise on the greensward near the Church, now neatly railed off, as shown on the photograph, and dealers  and itinerant vendors, with a whole company of musicians and other folk who thrived by ministering to the amusement or the folly of their fellows, foregathered at the fair.

In still older days, when the prior of Blyth was a person to be reckoned with-for he had the privilege of hanging those worthy in his judgement of condemnation on the gibbet - the fares of Blyth must have presented a brave and picturesque spectacle.  Strangers would make the fair the occasion of piety and pleasure. They would enter the church of the Benedictine brethren and kneel and pray, and would, perchance, be shown the treasures the monks had been able to amass for the glory of their convent.  Yet we may be quite wrong, inasmuch as the monks and the townspeople did not get on well together; and disputes were frequent and prolonged.

In still earlier days, many a gallant cavalcade of knights and squires, such as that which met the eyes of Gurth and Wamba in "Ivanhoe" must have passed through Blyth on the way to the tourney field at Styrrup.  Blyth was the nearest "town" to the tourney, and no doubt many a noble guest was entertained by the Prior in the Guest House of the monastery, and many a gallant soldier found hospitality at the "Angel", the foundations of which suggest that it was inn existence in the Middle Ages.  Tradition has it that a subterranean passage led from the "Angel" under the Priory and came out at some point near Styrrup.  There are others who cherish the belief that Roger de Busli, the first Norman Lord of Blyth, as he was of Worksop and Tickhill, had a castle here, but inasmuch as the valiant Roger had his place of strength at Tickhill, it is hardly likely he would build a castle near the monastery he founded at Blyth.

Much could be written concerning Blyth and the many notables associated with it.  The late Rev. John Raine wrote quite a large book on the subject, and though changes in the social life of England were beginning to manifest themselves in his time, the erudite vicar could never have contemplated the idea that the village as a whole would one day be offered for sale by auction.  This momentous change in the long history of Blyth has now come about, and on Thursday next the Blyth Hall Estate, comprising 3,216 acres, including the Hall, will be offered by Messrs. John D. Wood and Co., London, in conjunction with Messrs. Henry Spencer and Sons, Retford and Worksop.  This has come about by the death of the late owner, the first lord Barnby.  When he purchased the estate 40 years ago, Blyth did not present the neat and attractive apperance it does to-day.  Most of the houses were in a bad state of repair; farm buildings were in a similar condition; and the entire aspect of the village was one of neglect and decay.  How all this was changed is well-known, and the one regret the inhabitants have is that the present Lord Barnby has decided to sever his connection with the place.

The Sale catalogue comprises 130 lots, including the mansion, Wilto Lodge, Blyth; The Friary, Tickhill; four other residences, 15 mixed and dairying farms, two fully-licensed hotels, over 100 cottages, shops and business premises, and 250 acres of woodlands, etc.  The sale takes place next Thursday, at 11 a.m. The solicitors are Messrs. Holditch, Anstey and thompson, Southernhay. Exeter.

From the Worksop Guardian Friday, November 29, 1929 Page 9:

_________________________________

____________Sales by Auction________

__By Messrs.HY, SPENCER & SONS.__

BLYTH, NOTTS.

To be SOLD BY AUCTION, by

MESSRS HENRY D. Wood & Co., and

MESSRS. HENRY SPENCER & SONS

(in conjunction), on 

THURSDAY NEXT, DEC. 5th,

in the

MEMORIAL HALL, BLYTH.

AT ELEVEN A.M., THE

BLYTH HALL ESTATE,

3,323 ACRES.

For Illustrated Particulars and Plans apply

to-

Auctioneers:-

JOHN D. WOOD & CO.

6, Mount Street, London. W.1.;

HENRY SPENCER & SONS,

20, The Square, Retford, and 12, Potter

Street, Worksop.

Solictitos;

Messrs. HOULDITCH, ANSLEY & THOMSON.

Southernhay, Exeter