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Art and architecture
WITH so much of its prosperity dependent on its textile fabrics, wherein elegance and beauty of design unite with excellence of workmanship, it is natural that Nottinghamshire should be an art-loving and art-cultivating county. The metropolis of lace has long been pre-eminent for the efforts which have been made within it to develop the artistic faculties of its sons, and a lasting monument to its enterprise in this direction is the beautiful art museum with which the Castle Rock is crowned.
Within the county, notably at Clumber, Welbeck, Thoresby, Newstead, Rufford, Wollaton and Bestwood, are some choice collections, including many examples of work of the great masters. At Clumber, for instance, there are landscapes by Zuccharelli; studies by Rembrandt; four large market pieces by Snyders, representing game, fruit and fish; a large picture of dead game by Jan Weenix; rural scenes by Teniers; Joan of Arc by Gerard Dow; Venetian pictures by Canaletti; battle scene by Van der Meulen; landscapes by Claude Lorraine, and works by Vandyke, Rembrandt, Holbein, Rubens, Lely, Lawrence, Poussin, Wouvermans, Rosa di Tivohi, Hogarth, Reynolds, Dahl, Gainsborough, Van Oss, Kneller, and many more. At Welbeck there is a very fine collection of miniatures, including examples by Cooper, Hilliard, J. Oliver, P. Oliver, the Chevalier de Beaumon, Flatman, Lewis, Mingard, Largillier, Drouais, Nattier, etc., while the immense picture-galleries, all underground, contain masterpieces by D. Mytens, Tintoretto, Teniers, Snyders, Bassano, Wyck, Dc Vos, Poussin, Berghem, Zucchero, Van der Velde, Maas, Honthorst, Van der Meulen and many portraits by Vandyke, Holbein, Lely, Knehler, Shee, West and others. The state-rooms and corridors are crowded with pictures, and Welbeck is literally a palace of art. There are Titians, Claudes and Raphaels interspersed with innumerable examples of scarcely less celebrated painters. Several portraits by Sir Peter Lely are a feature of the treasures in Bestwood Lodge, and at Thoresby, in addition to a great number of family portraits, are pictures by Vicat Cole, Milbye, Creswick and Ansdell. Wohlaton Hall, the seat of Lord Middleton, also contains many gems of art. Three masterpieces of Snyders represent the various stages of the boar hunt; there are mythological subjects by Luca Giordano; examples of the genius of Philip Roos; lions attributed to Rubens, and other works by Sibrects, Zucchero, Kneller, Heemskerk and Reynolds; a Scripture piece by Rubens, and another of ‘Achilles discovered in the Court of Lycomedes,’ also by Rubens. It will readily be seen from this outline of the priceless contents of the noble houses of Nottinghamshire that the patrons of art in the county have been lavish in its support, and have shown the most cultured taste in the selections they have made.
Loans from these treasure-houses, as well as from South Kensington, enable the public who visit the galleries at the castle to become familiar with the best productions of the artist’s brush. With such facilities for the study of the beautiful, we may hope to find the county always taking an honoured place in the art world, and so maintaining the name that has been won for it by such eminent Nottinghamshire painters as Paul Sandby, Thomas Christopher Hofland, Henry Dawson, Laslett, J. Pott, W. H. Cubley and others.
That the taste for art is widely distributed may be shown in the number of students attending the art schools, in the many smaller collections of pictures in private homes, and in the munificent gifts made from time to time to the castle museum. The forest scenery of the county has lent itself specially to the artist’s fancy, and many highly valued pictures of views in the forest and along the banks of the silvery Trent have been painted by artists of great repute.
In architecture the county can point to stately homes of modern construction, such as Kelham Hall in the Italian style, Kingston and Thoresby in the Elizabethan, Clumber, Osberton, Flintham, and many others, to say nothing of the great public edifices, such as the University College, the Municipal Buildings and Grammar School at Nottingham, and the Ossington Coffee Palace, and Gilstrap Free Library at Newark.
Amongst the country seats not already mentioned, in varying styles of architecture, we may enumerate the following. The names appended are those of the present occupiers:
COUNTRY SEATS
Annesley Hall: Mr. John Patricius Chaworth Musters, J.P.
Arnot Hill, Arnold: Mr. Chas. Grey Hill
Arno Vale, Arnold: Mrs. Thackeray.
Ashley Grove, Worksop: Mr. Chas. Tylden Wright, J.P.
Aspley Hall, New Radford: Mr. Edward W. Field.
Babworth Hall: Lieut.-Col. Henry Denison, R.E., J.P.
Babworth Rectory: Rev. W. Bridgeman-Simpson, M.A., J.P.
Balderton Hall: Mr. W. Deeping Warwick.
Balderton Old Hall: Mr. John Scales Bakewell.
Barnby Manor House: Mr. Frederick Platt, J.P., D.L.
Barton Lodge: Mr. Thos. Hill, J.P.
Beauvale Hall, Greasley: The Right Hon. Earl Cowper, K.G., P.C., D.L.,
J.P.
Beesthorpe Hall: Col. C. B. Vickers.
Beeston Fields: Mr. Geo. Fellows, J.P.
Beeston House: Mr. Edmund Percy, J.P.
Berry Hill Hall, Mansfield: Mrs. Hollins.
Bleasby Hall: Mr. Robert Kelbam, J.P.
Blidworth Dale: Col. Edmund Bacon Hutton.
Blyth Hall: Capt. F. Willey.
Brackenhurst, Southwell: Mr. Geo. S. Foljambe, D.L., J.P.
Bramcote Hall: Mr. F. C. Smith, D.L., J.P.
Bramcote Hills: Mrs. Sherwin Gregory.
Bridgeford Old Hall: Mr. Leonard M. Milward, J.P.
Bulwell Hall: Mr. Thomas Hardy.
Bunny Park: Miss Hawksley.
Burgage Manor House, Southwell: Mr. R. Huskinson Warwick.
Car Colston Hall: Capt. F. Henniker.
Carlton Hall, Carlton-in-Lindrick: Mr. G. Huntsman Shaw.
Carlton House, Carlton.on-Trent: Col. Jas. Craig, J.P.; and the Hon. Mrs.
Skeffington Craig.
Carlton-on-Trent: Mr. W. E. Tallents, J.P.
Caunton Manor: Mr. J. R. Annibal.
Chilwell Hall: Mr. E. Cope, J.P.
Clarborough Hall: Mr. John H. Hutchinson.
Clayworth Hall: Mrs. Collingwood.
Clifton Hall: Mr. Henry Robt. Clifton, D.L., J.P.
Clifton (North) Hall: Mrs. Freeth.
Coddington Hall: Col. James Thorpe, J.P.
Coddington House: Mr. Godfrey Tallents.
Collingham Old Hall (North): Mr. Frank Broadhent.
Collingham (South) Manor: Mr. John Wigram.
Collingham (South): Mr. C. Constable Curtis, J.P.
Collingham (South): Mr. T. C. Smith-Woolley.
Colston Hall: Mr. R. Millington Knowles, J.P.
Colwick Hall: Mr. J. T. Forman, J.P.
Costock Manor House: Mr. R. B. Bagnall Wild, M.A.
Cotgrave Place: Mr. Albert Armitage.
Debdale Hall, Mansfield Woodhouse: Cot Edward Thomas Coke, D.L., J.P.
Eastwood Hall: Mr. Edward Lionel Walker-Munro.
Edwinstowe Hall: Capt. James F. Alexander, J.P.
Edwinstowe House: Mr. Launcelot Rolleston, J.P.
Elms (The), Sutton Bonnington: Lady King-Hall.
Elton Manor House: Count Wm. E. de Pully.
Epperstone: Mr. C. F. Richardson.
Epperstone Manor House: Mr. William Lambe Huskinson.
Felley Abbey, Annesley: Mr. Albert Cantrell Hubbersty, J.P.
Finningley Park: Mr. George S. Lister, M.A., D.L, J.P.
Flintham Hall: Mr. Edward Elsey.
Fountain Dale, Blidworth: Mr. James Arthur Need.
Gamston Manor: Mr. Chas. Arthur Sykes.
Gateford Hill, Worksop: Mr. Henry Vessey Macbin, J.P.
Gedling House: Mr. John E. Burnside, D.L., J.P.
Gedling Lodge: Mr. Nathan Pratt.
Gonaiston Hall: Mr. J. Liell Francklin, J.P.
Grove Hall: Mr. Edward Evelyn Harcourt-Vernon, J.P., D.L.
Grove (The), Cropwell Butler: Mr. Henry Smith.
Grove (The), Winthorpe: Mr. John Starkey.
Hayton Castle: The Misses Barber.
Hermiston Hall, Blyth: Mr. John Gerard Riddell.
Hesley Hall, Harworth: Mr. Benjamin I. Whittaker, J.P.
Hexgrave Park, Farnsfleld: Mr. Geo. Sugden.
Highfield House, Newark: Mr. W. Oliver Quibell, J.P.
Hill House, Southwell: Mr. J. H. Becher, J.P.
Hill Side, Newark: Lieut.-Col. W. Newton.
Hodsock Priory, Blyth: Mrs. Mellish.
Holme Hall: Mr. Chas. Cane.
Holme Pierrepont Hall: Viscount Newark, M.P., D.L., J.P.
Hoveringham Hall: Mrs. Nail.
Kirklington Hall: Mr. Frank H. Pollock.
Lamb Close House, Greasley: Mr. Thos. Barber.
Lamcote House, Ratcliffe-on-Trent: Miss Burnside.
Langford Hall: Mr. William Henry Coape Oates, J.P.
Langton Hall: Capt Henry Salmond.
Langwith Lodge: Mrs. Welfitt.
Lenton Firs: Mr. William Lambert.
Lenton Hall: Mr. Frederick Wright
Markham Hall: Col J. H. Kirk; D.L., J.P.
Mattersey Hail: Mr. Jas. Thompson.
Middleton House, Elston: Mrs. Middleton.
Morton Hall: Mrs. Mason.
Nettleworth Hall, Sookholme: Miss Alleyne.
Normanton Manor House: Mrs. Rowland.
Norwood Park, Southweli: Mr. Lewis Randle Starkey, J.P.
Nuttall Temple: Mr. John Holden, J.P.
Oldcotes Manor: Mr. Herbert C. Wells.
Ollerton Hall: Mr. Martin Skin.
Orston Hail: Mr. John Henry Fisher.
Osberton Hall: Mr. Francis J. Savile Foljambe, M.A., D.L., J.P.
Ossington Hall: Capt. William Evelyn Denison, D.L., J.P.
Oxton Hall: Mrs. Sherbrooke.
Park Cottage, Worksop; Sir Henry Edmund Watson.
Park Hall, Warsop: Mr. William Weifltt Hall, J.P.
Rainworth Lodge, Biidworth; Mr. Joseph Whitaker, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.
Rampton Manor: Lieut.-Col. H. Eyre, M.P., C.B., J.P.
Ranby House: Mr. Matthew Dawson.
Rempstone Hall: Mrs. Martin.
Ruddington Grange: Mr. T. I. Birkin, J.P., D.L.
Ruddington Hall: Mr. Phiio Laos Mills.
Ruddington Manor: Mr. Henry V. Story, J.P.
Royston House, Clayworth: ML H. C. Otter, J.P.
St. Ann’s Manor, Sutton Bonington: Major Charles Richard Tennant.
Scarle Hall: Mrs. Colton.
Scaftworth Hall: Capt Fred. H. Blacker.
Serlby Hall: Viscount Galway, M.A., D.L., J.P.
Shelton Hall: Col. Francis Vere Wright, J.P.
Sherwood Lodge, Arnold: Col. Chas. Seely, D.L., J.P.
Shireoaks Hall: Mr. Geo. Eddison.
Skegby Hall; Mr. Robt. Marsh E. W. Dodsley, J.P.
Stanford Park: ML Richard Ratcliffe, J.P.
Stapleford Hall: Col. Chas. Ichabod Wright.
Staunton Hall: Mr. Chas. J. Phillips.
Stoke Hall: Sir Henry Bromley, J.P., D.L.
Strelley Hall: Mr. Jas. Thomas Edge, D.L., J.P.
Sturton High House: Mr. W. Wilkinson.
Sutton Bonington Hall: Lieut.-Col. George Ernest Paget, J.P.
Sutton Fields: Mrs. Tidmas.
Syerston Hall: Mr. Geo. H. Fillingham, J.P.
Teversall Manor House: Mn E. Wilson Barnes, J. P.
Thorney Hall: Col G. H. Hutton, J.P.
Thoroton Hall: Mr. Thomas Marsh.
Thrumpton Hail: Lady Byron.
Thurgarton Priory: Right Rev. George Ridding, D.D., Bishop of Southwell.
Tollerton Hall: Mr. Alfred Brodhurst.
Tuxford Hall: Mr. Robt. Stretton Wilson.
Upton Hall: Miss Falkner.
Wallingwells: Mr. William Jessop.
Watnall Hall: Mr. R. G. Hanson.
Welham Hall: Mr. William Birks.
West Bridgford Hall: Mr. Albert Heymann, J.P.
Westfield House, Farndon: Mr. Jas. Hole.
Westhorpe Hail: Major-Gen. William E. Warrand, R.E., J.P.
West Retford Hail: Mr. B. Huntsman, D.L., J.P.
West Retford House: Mrs. Overend.
Wharton Manor House: Mrs. D. Hall
Woodlands, Shireoaks: Mr. R. Eddison, J.P.
Worksop Manor: Mr. John Robinson.
Widmerpool Hall: Major George Coke Robertson, J.P.
Wigthorpe House, Carlton-in.Lindrick: Mr. Robert J. Ramsden, M.A., J.P.
Winkburn Hall: Col. E. Strelley Pegge-Burnell, J.P.
Winthorpe Grange: Mr. J. G. Branston, J.P.
Winthorpe Hall: Major Geo. Thomas Pierse Duncombe.
Winthorpe House: Mrs. W. Gilstrap.
Wiverton Hall: Mrs. Chaworth Musters.
Woodborough Hall: Mr. Mansfield Parkyns.
Woodborough Manor House: Mr. Roby Liddington Thorpe.
Woodhouse Castle, Mansfield Woodhouse: Capt. Walter Need, R.N., J.P.