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.
Above: Before the renovations of 2018. Below: The drainage from the garden into the River Meden.
The Walled Garden was designed to provide for the needs not just of the Duke’s family and guests, but for the staff and servants associated with the Hall. Indeed, such would be the hustle and bustle of this year round task, the garden was deliberately situated at a distance east of the Hall in order to minimize disturbance. Ordinance Survey maps of 1906 show it already semi-secluded by trees.
Believed to have been built c.1765, the earliest reference to the Walled Garden I have found comes from the estate’s 1860 Directory:
“A new Hall is about being erected on a commanding eminence near the rockery and in line with the Gardens, the latter of which have been newly formed and enclosed by a neat brick wall. The gardens, including the orchard and kitchen grounds, cover about 10 acres of land. There is a neat residence for the gardener on the grounds”.
The Head Gardener is listed in all the estate’s directories from 1864 – 1900 as Archibald Henderson. Directories from 1904 – 1930s list this position as being taken over by Arthur Simmons. (Simmons is also listed as making a 10 shilling contribution towards the World War 1 Memorial gated entrance to Perlethorpe Church).
A reliable description of the Walled Garden can be found in Robert White’s “Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest” (1875):
“To the East of the Hall are the gardens, which cost £4,000, covering 8.5 acres; 5.5 acres of which are enclosed by brick walls. The rest is in slips on the East, North and West sides, with an orchard on the North. The kitchen garden is intersected by two fine broad walks 550 feet long which from North to South pass out through a pair of very splendid iron gates into the park. The lofty conservatory occupies a central position in the long range of 20 well-stocked forcing houses which are about 560 feet in length”.
The World Wars of 1914/18 and 1939/45, impacted the estate in many ways. Firstly, the loss of young male workers who lost their lives in battle. Secondly, the military presence of the troops billeted here, and the physical changes made necessary for the tanks and other armoured vehicles on which they trained. The Walled Garden never really recovered from those times, being abandoned altogether upon the death of Gervas Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers, in 1955.
Above: In June 2018, the garden began a scheme to renovate and restore. Open then to the public, it was called the Echium Garden. Sadly, come August 2020, it closed down, citing the cause as the lease expiring. A sad loss to those of us who value the history of Thoresby Estate and the wish to see it preserved.
Above: September 2024. The Walled Garden has only its walls.
“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.
