Thoresby Park video.

 

A very brief view of Thoresby Park, scanning from Thoresby Hall to Perlethorpe School / Environment Educational Centre. March 2021.

Thoresby Hall Gardens.

 

Above: A rare view from a window in Thoresby Hall, looking down the road leading away.

Above: 2024. The entrance courtyard. The plynth in the middle is where once stood the statue of Robin Hood.

Below: Photographs taken summer 2024 around Thoresby Hall's gardens. 

Thoresby pavillions and picnics, entertainment and events.

 

Above: In the 19th and early 20th century, it became increasingly commonplace for UK villages, towns, estates and even factories, to have their own amateur cricket teams. They competed against each other, compiling their own league tables, whilst also providing an entertaining spectacle for a family day-out, and continued to thrive throughout the 1960s

Thoresby Park Cricket Club started c 1870. In the decades before the population of Perlethorpe Village expanded, with the building of  houses around the village green, and its own Social Club, Thoresby cricket pavilion was the centre of frequent social gatherings for whist-drives, dances, school concerts, and annual entertainment from something called the “Girl’s Friendly Society”. Looking at it today, it does seem a very small venue for some of that. It has no doubt been renovated at some point, but I am unsure how much of the current pavilion, if any, is the original.

Above: 2021. Thoresby Park provides two free permanent areas for family entertainment, A picnic ground by the River Meden and a woodland play area.

Today (2024) Thoresby Park gives host to everything from nature trails, theatrical events, food fayres, arts & crafts, carriage driving, simulated game shooting, pop concerts, classic car shows, - it’s a very long list!

Above: The Historic Bazaar, 2018.

Above: Fairground rides in 2021

Above: 2024. The Back 2 pop festival moves on.

Lady Rozelle Raynes 1925 – 2015.

 

Above: Lady Manvers' portrait drawing of her only daughter Lady Rozelle, looking rather proud in her Wren's uniform, 1944.

Lady Frederica Rozelle Ridgway Pierrepont would have been 15 years old when, in 1940, her father became the 6th Earl Manvers (succeeding his cousin) and took up residence in Thoresby Hall. She was the youngest of three children but the only one to survive to adulthood.

Soon after the family moved into the Hall it was requisitioned by the military. It was World War 2, and troops were billeted on the estate whilst training both here and at Rufford Abbey. As a small child she had been fascinated by the sea, and the Second World War presented an opportunity to join the WRNS as a tugboat stoker. (Much preferable in her eyes to a finishing school in Switzerland.) She would recall those times as being a “peak of happiness”, and burst into tears upon being demobbed when the war was over. But her sailing days had really only just begun, and subsequent adventures on her 25ft yacht the Martha McGilda, provided ample material to fill a series of self-penned books. In 1953 she married Major Alexander Beattie of the Coldstream Guards.

Whilst her mother continued to reside at Thoresby Hall, Lady Rozelle inherited the estate in 1955 when her father died. As was the case with many post-war stately homes in need of finances, Thoresby Hall was opened up to the public in 1957, and first husband Major Beattie was much involved in it becoming a popular attraction during a decade when visiting such places became a favourite national pastime.  However, the marriage ended in 1961.

In 1965 Lady Rozelle married Dr Richard Raynes. In the mid-1970s, with the support of husband Dr Raynes, she embarked on a scheme to help rehabilitate East End boys in care. This involved taking them out on the Thames in the Martha McGilda, half a day every fortnight, and teaching them to sail and navigate. These “Tuesday Boys” became the subject of a subsequent book, and in 1980 she established the Martha McGilda charitable trust so as this successful scheme of support for such boys might continue.

After Thoresby Hall was sold to the National Coal Board in 1984, the estate would be managed mostly by agents, but Lady Rozelle retained lifelong friends with many of the people living and working there, in particular, the Courtyard Gallery where her mother’s paintings enjoy a regular presence. In the 1980s she and her husband had a house built on the estate. She moved there in 2010 after suffering a fall, and less able to reside in London. Lady Rozelle died June 22nd 2015, a year after her husband. They left no descendants. According to internet sources "she is buried in the family plot at Thoresby".

Thoresby Hall, final days as a Stately Home.

 

Above: A final family visit to Thoresby Hall, as a stately home open to the public".1979.

Thoresby Hall the "Stately Home", as opposed to the successful hotel complex it is today, had opened its doors to the general public on 29th March, 1957. It was an event largely organised by Major Beattie, then husband of Lady Rozelle. It may have been a difficult time for Lady Manvers, and it is noted that she and her daughter Lady Rozelle, were on holiday in the Mediterranean on that day. Chris Stanley, originally appointed as Estate Accountant, would take over in subsequent years as the main organiser for such Open Days. Typically, the Hall would be open on weekends, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Bank Holidays.

During the late 1950s / 1960s, when visits to stately homes were a favoured pastime with the British public, Thoresby Hall was a great success. It’s charm originated from the authenticity of the place, combined with such “novelty attractions” as a the model steam railway, and even a 1960s attempt at a small "zoo" on the courtyard  inside the gates, and supervised by Perlethorpe resident Mr Dewhurst. Standing inside Thoresby Hall one sensed that this was indeed a Home, an atmosphere Countess Manvers’ paintings made even more tangible.

It is a sad irony that the coal mining beneath Thoresby Estate, responsible for much of its wealth, would one day help provoke the downfall of the Hall itself when subsidence became an issue as the 1970s drew to a close. I remember visiting Thoresby Hall in its final days of 1979. Lady Manvers was standing by the piano in the main inner hall, and spent some time chatting to my parents, especially my father with whom she’d had a good relationship during his years on the Estate. Amidst the nearby boxes of souvenir pencils and brochures. Things coming to an end.

In 1980, whilst still permitting Thoresby Hall remain the home of Countess Manvers, the National Coal Board purchased the building. Their motivation for doing so made sound business sense: The coal mining which had already caused damage to Thoresby Lake, was still active in the region and a risk of further structural damage could not be ignored. Lady Manvers was still allowed to open the Hall to the public if and when she so desired. Therefore a precise date for when Thoresby Hall finally closed its doors to that practice is hard to define. Lady Manvers passed away in 1984.

According to the Telegraph colour supplement (27 November, 1988), the subsequent sale of Thoresby Hall to the Australian-based Roo Management, would it seem prove controversial: Roo were apparently clear about their intention to strip the five main Victorian State Rooms of their contents, converting them to part of a hotel. In opposition to their proposal was local developer Geoffrey Whittaker, who vowed to preserve intact the unique contents of these State Rooms as part of his own plans also to convert Thoresby Hall into a luxury hotel. Not only that, but Whittaker is said to have outbid Roo in a written offer of £1.6 million as opposed to Roo’s £1.5. However, and for whatever reason, the National Coal Board seemed intent on selling to Roo, “in spite of strong opposition and protests from the heritage lobby and at least 15 MPs”. As a consequence, in May / June 1989, Sotheby’s auctioned off much of the original and unique contents of Thoresby Hall soon after Roo had acquired the property. Roo would then own the Hall for approximately only one year, before putting it back on the market with an estimated price of £3 - £4 million. This time Geoffrey Whittaker was successful in buying it, but only six months later the developers went bankrupt and the Official Receiver had to take over.

Above: A picture from the Sotheby's auction catalogue.

In the 1990s the building fell into such a state of disrepair it was deemed a perfect location for the filming of "Great Expectations" by the BBC. So for a moment in time Thoresby Hall became Miss Haversham's "Satis House"! The 1990s were surely the Hall’s darkest decade. I remember having a conversation with retired Perlethorpe teacher C. Allan Bollans, during this time, when he was working at the Art Gallery in the courtyard there. The threat of looting had been a problem and, perhaps understandably, repairs such as those made by the National Coal Board to the Lake in 1992, were based on finances rather than historical restoration. But there was to be a happy ending.

In 2000 Warners took over Thoresby Hall and opened a luxury hotel on the site. Not only that, but their policy towards an adult clientele was surely a positive influence on the re-opening of scenic walkways by the lake, some pathways of which had not been accessible for decades. Sadly, within a few years, such routes were deemed out of bounds once more.

 The success of Warners Hotel, combined with the broad range of entertainment the Estate now presents, once again makes a visit to Thoresby Hall an attractive proposition. Those staying at the hotel can access certain historic rooms.

Note: Quotes and details regarding the sale of Thoresby Hall in 1988 / 89 taken from Telegraph Magazine, November 27th, 1988. The details and machinations of this sale have no links to subsequent sales of the Hall).

Thoresby Park Pleasure Grounds.

 

The Pleasure Grounds, Thoresby Park, are situated across the lake from Thoresby Hall next to the Woodyard. In the middle of the 18th century, when the 2nd Duke of Kingston was extending the lake for his boats, he also landscaped the surrounding area, and the Pleasure Grounds originate from that time. This was a place where the Duke and subsequent Earls could stroll in private with invited house guests, possibly accessing the grounds via a boat trip across the lake, or via Stone Bridge (Green Bridge), at the point where the River Meden leaves the lake to continue on its way to Perlethorpe.

Simply referred to on maps today as "Park", the Pleasure Grounds remained a private, secluded area into the 1960's. However, on one occasion as a child in 1964, I took a camera inside the grounds and took these photographs. They may well be unique.

Above: This passage way through the centre of the Pleasure Grounds is part of a three mile route which once linked Thoresby Bridge with Buck Gates in a perfectly straight line. The Duke's carriages would pass this way on route to Ollerton, and Newark beyond. In the centre of the frame one can see deer feeding, whilst the mist beyond obscures the view of Thoresby Hall itself.

Above: The same area but viewed from the top of the landscaped embankment, over the rhododendrons. These embankments also harbored what was sometimes thought to be a bomb shelter, but which was in fact a storage place for ice before the days of refrigeration. Hence this area is referred to as Ice House Wood on some old maps.

Top photo and above: The River Meden leaves the landscaped Pleasure Grounds at the weir end of Thoresby Lake, before continuing on to Perlethorpe Village.

Steam Train at Thoresby Park.

 

Above: This steam train was called Sir Nigel Gresley, and took William Kirkland of Ollerton, twelve years to build. It was based on a real life locomotive. It became a popular attraction at Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Estate, in 1966 and continued to be so for several years before moving to Stapleford Park in Leicestershire. The steam train was situated on the lawns between the Hall and the river, no doubt avoiding the carefully attended cricket pitch. One can see Stone Bridge (a.k.a. Green Bridge) in the background.

Above: Still visible today are the sleepers from the train's rail track in the area where it ran parallel to the River Meden.

Below: The winter of 2020 saw the welcome return to Thoresby Park of a new steam railway ride for children, with Steve Purves at the wheel. Positioned opposite the entrance to the courtyard, it was able to operate over three weekends, proving a most welcome and popular attraction during an ongoing corona-virus pandemic, and the constant threat of lockdown.

 Operated by the 'There and Back Light Railway' company it is the largest portable steam railway in the Midlands, authentically powered by real steam, along a track over 450ft long, with rides costing just £2.

Thoresby Hall and Charles Dickens.

 

In 1999, Thoresby Hall was chosen as a suitable location for a BBC production of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations". In that excellent version of the classic novel, Thoresby Hall became Satis House. Miss Havisham's room was the former Ante Room (also known as the Small bar), whilst her famous deserted wedding banquet was set up in the Blue Drawing Room (also known as the A La Carte Restaurant). Much use was made of the echoing corridors, and the library doors are also clearly visible on.

Above & below: Stills from the film.

Thoresby Hall and Robin Hood.

 

  “In the heart of Sherwood Forest” was a phrase once used to promote Thoresby Hall and attract visitors. As the area on which stands Robin Hood’s Tree, the Major Oak, was then owned and cared for by Thoresby Estate, it made for a successful advertising campaign. Hence the statue of Robin Hood in the grounds, carvings of him by the library fireplace, and the Robin Hood theme to the gifts and toys on offer when open to the public. However, it has to be said, any suggested links between a Pierrepont family who came to England via the Norman Conquest, and a Saxon outlaw, can be dismissed as rather fanciful.

The above postcard shows the Tussaud-Birt statue of Robin Hood situated in its original location outside the main entrance to Thoresby Hall. The statue was sculpted and sited here in 1948. In the 1950s Robin Hood's bow was stolen on at least one occasion for its lead value. Security issues became much more of an issue later on in the 1980s / 90s as ownership of the Hall changed hands, making a relocation of the statue necessary. Today the statue is situated in the courtyard outside Thoresby Art Gallery, just 200 yards from its original site.

Above: At different times of the year the staff of the Thoresby Courtyard are known to decorate Robin Hood according to events. Here he supported the English World Cup Squad. At other times he has been known to dress as Santa Claus.

Below: Robin Hood's Tree, the Major Oak, had already been a popular attraction for many decades before 1969 when Thoresby Estate leased the land to Nottingham County Council for the purpose of a more organised approach to the lucrative tourist trade. These Robin Hood statues stand in the nearby Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre, Edwinstowe, and are only included here because of that connection. The area is now owned by the RSPB.

The Dukeries cigarette / trading cards.

 

Starting in 1880s America, trading cards, given free inside a variety of products, were a very successful promotional device. Indeed, so successful when included in packets of cigarettes that they became known as Cigarette Cards. These card featuring the Dukeries, are selected from a larger series depicting stately homes across the UK. Cigarette cards were discontinued during World War 2 to save paper, and never fully recovered their popularity after that.

 Above card: Not named on the card, this is Worksop Manor.

Thoresby Park Art.

 

After the water colours of my Great Great Grandfather, William Catto of Aberdeen, Lady Manvers' art was the first I'd ever seen as a child. I remember on one occasion she even came into the school to select a model. I am in no doubt that seeing art as an adult "job" when I was so young, had an influence. Thoresby Park has continued to be an occasional muse. Pictured here are Thoresby Hall, The Woodyard, and various sketches of the River Meden. All are copyright Ian Gordon Craig.