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Leaving
the Cemetery, by the upper walk, on the right, visitors will pass through
a somewhat narrow outlet, bounded on the left by the simple and unostentatious
Burial Ground of the Quakers, to Clarendon-street, opposite the
Midland Institution for the Blind. This handsome and commodious
building was opened in 1853, "for the instruction and employment
of the blind of both sexes, from the counties of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester,
Lincoln, and Rutland." This institution is accessible on weekdays
from ten to twelve, and from three to five o’clock. The sale-room
is in Chapel-bar. Adjoining the Asylum, in Chaucer-street, is the Female
House of Refuge, an establishment especially provided for the shelter,
protection, and reformation of females, who had previously been leading
a life of sin and wickedness.
Descending
Clarendon-street, and entering Waverley-street, the School of Art claims
attention. It is opposite the "bottom" gate of the Cemetery. This School
was originally established in 1843, "for the purpose of affording instruction
in designs for manufactures, and in the history, principles, and practice
of the ornamental art," and is one of the most successful Art Schools
in the country. It is open to the Public every Saturday afternoon. The
building is a specimen of the Venetian School of Italian architecture.
The corner stone was laid Oct. 22nd, 1864, by the late Duke of Newcastle,
KG., Provincial Grand Master, and the Freemasons of Nottinghamshire. A
few steps further and the gates of the Arboretum - invite visitors
to enter. Of this Lodge we give an engraving from a drawing taken inside
the Arboretum, and looking on to the General Cemetery, to which reference
has been made. From the tablet, on the Lodge visitors will learn that
it was opened to the public May 11, 1852. It comprises seventeen acres,
and presents within itself a beautiful landscape, a People's Park, and
an ornamental Garden. It is laid out with exquisite taste and skill, is
planted with innumerable and choice shrubs, and in the autumn presents
such a floral picture, as to become a "thing of beauty," and the heart
sighs that it might also be a "joy for ever."
The
large building on the north-west side of the grounds, in the Tudor style
of architecture, comprises spacious Refreshment Rooms (where the "cups
that cheer" and other of nature's requirements are provided). On the south-east
walk is a statue to Feargus O'Connor, formerly an M.P. for the borough.
The most conspicuous object, however, in the grounds, is the War Trophy,
which consists, in part, of cannon taken at the siege of Sebastopol,
and a Chinese bell, taken in a recent war with the Celestials. The edifice,
under which the bell is hung, and which is unique of its kind, was designed
by the late Mr. Tarbotton, borough engineer. It is about forty-five feet
in height. The cannon, taken in the Crimea, occupy the angles of a stone
platform. Every particular respecting it is inscribed upon the four sides
of the platform which supports the trophy. The views from the grounds
are most extensive, and give a correct idea of the rapid manner in which
the town has extended itself. Conspicuous amongst the many objects brought
under notice, is All Saints' Church and the High School, a
stately edifice of stone, opened in 1868, and well adapted for the important
objects for which it is intended. The "High School" (or, as it was formerly
called, the "Free Grammar School ") was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes
Mellors, who partly endowed it. The Girls' High School, a building
of far different design, is a little beyond this, and is residential in
appearance. The Arboretum should be left by the eastern Lodge, by a road
under a bridge, and along an avenue— immediately opposite the central
walk.
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