CARRINGTON.
The whole district was a part of the general forest, or waste, and therefore uncultivated until under the Act of 1792 it was allotted to various persons in accordance with their holdings in the old parish, and then enclosed, the gorse and brushwood stubbed up, and the ground cleared, fenced and cultivated.
The six acres at the junction of the Mansfield and Hucknall Roads was allotted to Robert Smith, Esquire, who was a member of the great banking house, and the principal partner in its London branch. He was elected M.P. for Nottingham in 1790, after an election which lasted seven days, attended by a riot. On five successive occasions he was at the head of the poll. His position as one of the leading bankers of the day, and wielding considerable power in the money market, led to his elevation to the peerage in 1796, as Lord Carrington. He was Mr. Pitt's chief financial adviser and agent in the money market, and was his intimate friend, and Mr. Pitt presented him with his portrait. "The choice of Carrington as a title," says Mr. Easton, the author of "The History of a Banking House" (Smith, Paynes & Smith's), "may have suggested itself by reason that the ancient family of Smith's, alias Carrington, of Ashby Folville, Leicestershire, albeit in nowise connected with the family, had been enrolled as Carrington, 1643." Lord Carrington died in 1838, his wife having predeceased him in 1827, and her remains were deposited in a vault in St. Peter's Church. (D.B. 382).
The six acres referred to appears to have been sold to Ichabod Wright, who divided it into building lots and streets, including the triangular market place, which was probably intended for both market purposes and as a playground for the children. Crossing the Forest with its gorse bushes and great caves was in those days, on dark nights, dangerous. Gallows Hill (then called Mars Hill) was always disagreeable, so that it would be a convenience to have open stalls in the little suburb. After the annexation the Corporation paved the Market place with granite sets, so rendering it unfit for a playground. But it was thought that once paved it would stand for ever.
Of the early houses built in Carrington nearly 100 years ago, after the French war was settled, and there being no room for building in Nottingham because of the land being commonable, probably some of the suburban villas on Mansfield Road were the earliest The house in which Mr. Simkins lived, No. 333, with a small factory behind it, as well as the one he previously occupied at the bottom of Bulwell Lane (No. 4A Hucknall Road) with the cottages in the rear are early. "Club Row," higher up the road, with the warp machine windows on the second floor up, point to the lace development 1820-80. The word "Club" suggests that they were built by a combined arrangement similar to those at Hyson Green (See "Radford," p. 36).
Samuel and Jonathan Burton—Mr. Felkin's History tells us—were originally frame-work knitters, and later point net hands, who in 1828 worked in narrow frames in Broad Marsh. About 1881 they built a factory and premises north of Carrington Market place. In 1837 they dissolved partnership, and Samuel went and built the factory in Cavendish Vale, now called Sherwood. Jonathan Burton, probably about 1839, built a second or larger factory behind the first. He lived in the house at the corner of Wesley Street, and Mr. Sewell (see page 170) at the corner of Oak Street, with the business premises between them. The gas required for lighting is said to have been made on the premises, and both gas and water were supplied to the neighbourhood.
When steam power was applied, and the lace makers were relieved of having to turn their machines hour by hour by a hand bar, there was great rejoicing in Carrington, and more beer was consumed than was desirable, but it was a great boon to the men to be relieved of everlastingly turning. There is a date painted on the inner side of the parapet of the second factory "1844," but it is uncertain what it means, and one of the old boilers has the date 1856.
St John's church, Carrington.
St. John's Church. The parish Church of Basford being a mile and a half from Carrington, and there being no schools for the children to attend, Mr. Ichabod Wright in 1833 gave land for the building of the National Schools at the corner of King Street, now Selkirk Street, and he, and other members of the Wright family gave £320 towards the cost of £700, all of which was contributed. The brickwork in front of this building is worth noting, the bond, the close joints, the quality of the work shows that they gave God their best. The modern porch is not equal in quality. The building is now used as a Church Institute.
In 1886 the Archbishop of York authorised church services to be held in this room, which continued to be so used 7 years. St. John's Church was commenced in 1841, Mr. Wright giving the site, and the Wright family contributing nearly £2000 towards the building and its endowment. Mr. James Severn gave anonymously £500, the Diocesan Society £400, so that including £159 collected at the opening, £2500 was raised. In laying the memorial stone Mr. Wright said "The prayers which have now been offered to the Throne of Grace and which will be further addressed to the Almighty, will I trust receive a blessing in the undertaking. The building is designed to serve as a place of public worship for the spiritual improvement of the population around it, and in which they may be instructed in the several duties of our holy religion."
The Revd. T. Bleaymire, A.B.. Chaplain to the House of Correction at Southwell, became in 1843, Perpetual Curate, and on leaving in 1849 a testimonial was presented to him "for his universal charity, benevolence, and quiet performance of every Christian duty."
Among subsequent Incumbents or Vicars may be named: The Revs. David Whalley, 1849; J. G. Wright, M.A., 1866; T. J. Rider, M.A., 1877; W. E. Sparks, B.A. (author of "Our Village Mission") 1883; H. L. Wild, M A., (now Archdeacon of Notts") 1905, and the present Vicar, Rev. A. W. P. Blunt, M.A., 1909.
In the early days before there was a harmonium the singing was assisted by a violin, violoncello, and a flute.
The Chancel and Organ Chamber were added when the Rev. J. G. Wright was Incumbent. At that time there was a singing gallery at the west end where the choir, consisting of both sexes, all of excellent character and conduct, were led by a harmonium. The brothers Thomas C. Tatham (ordained in 1877) John C. Tatham, and Henry (since deceased) were in the choir, and were Sunday school teachers.
In the sixties the Sunday schools were well filled, and teachers from the families attending the church took an active part in the work. One family sent every Sunday three teachers to the girls school, and three to the boys school, the mother acting as superintendent in the afternoon. Whole families then attended the church services, and large families were not uncommon.
In 1897 the Rev. W. R. Sparks urged that the church should be free and open to all comers, and that pew rents should be abolished. This course the congregation approved, and agreed to substitute a sustentation fund, which was well maintained. It was an adventure of faith quite justified by the result, but involved a financial loss to the vicar.
The church-yard had been enlarged by the addition of about an acre of the land given by the Wright family. In it there are no fine yews, but there is to the west of the church a beautiful white hawthorn.
There is a Church Mission Room in Mansfield Street, built in 1888. and since enlarged.
The population of the ecclesiastical parish which is stated to have been in 1911 over 11,000, has outgrown its church accommodation, and a site for a new church on the Loscoe Mount, with a charming view, was in 1909 purchased at a cost of £660, on which an outlay of £10,000 is contemplated.
Co-Workers. There was a Wesleyan chapel which after the disruption of 1849 was used by the Baptists, and was partly rebuilt in 1856. It is now used as a Bethany Mission. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1828. and is now used as a reading room. The present Sherbrooke Road Baptist Chapel was built in 1882 (see p. 178). The Redcliffe Road United Methodist Church, a gothic building, having extensive school accommodation underneath, was built 1883-4, at a cost of £9960, the principal promoters being Messrs. Geo. Goodall, J.P., Ald. Lindley, Messrs. Inger, Sharpe & Cooper, the Rev. T. M Rees being an early and the present minister. The work had been previously carried on in an iron building on Woodborough Road, and for many years previously in a workshop in Sherwood Street. The Congregational Chapel was built in 1893, and on the memorial stones are the names of three worthy workers—the Rev. Dr Paton,and Messrs. J. B. Wild and Win. Goddard (see p. 54). A United Methodist Chapel in Osborne Street was built in 1884. The Wesleyan Church on Sherwood Hill was built in 1887, at a cost of £6000. Mr. John Grundy (Lewis & Grundy) was closely associated with the building, being its first Treasurer.
National School. It may be of interest to note that in 1846 the Rev. Hy. Moseley, M.A., F.R.S.. H. M. Inspector, records that he examined this school, which he says was principally supported by I. Wright, Esq. He reports highly of the discipline, and of the master, "who was introduced to that office directly from a laborious calling." There were 101 children attended, with six pupil teachers or monitors; 75 boys could write on paper, 31 could read with ease, etc. The population was then 2100.
This school room was typical of nearly all the schools built at that period. The promoters did their best according to then prevalent ideas, but it required two generations of experience to learn the necessity for large tall windows for light, with moveable hopper provisions for fresh air without draughts, divided class rooms, a separate department for infants, cloak rooms, playgrounds, with proper sanitary conveniences, etc.
Before 1870 the Rev. J. G. Wright, who was then Incumbent, moved his parishioners to build a girls and infants school at the bottom of Hucknall Road. Mr. I. C. Wright gave the land, and among the contributors were Mr. Elliott, of Daybrook Vale, Mrs. Cartledge, and Mr. T. Keely, of Woodthorpe, Messrs. Richard, John, and James Hardy, three brothers who had residences in the district, and Mr. Arthur Wells.
Sherwood. It is singular that the name of the great forest which was over twenty miles long, by five to eight miles wide, and embraced a fourth of the whole County, should have, since the Inclosure 120 years ago, been appropriated to an area that was a wood, but has now become an important residential district. The name "Sherwood" or "Shirewood," may have been given to the forest because it occupied so large a part of the shire, or because part of it was the boundary of Notts, and Derbyshire. Dr. Cox, in his article on "The Forest of Sherwood," in "Memorials of Old Notts.," suggests that not a few of the places which were afterwards within the forest limits were members of the King's great manor of Mansfield, and it therefore became easy for the early Norman Kings to extend what had been used as a forest in Saxon days. "The first precise historic notice of the forest occurs in the year 1154, when William Peverel the younger had it in his control, and held the profits under the crown." King John largely extended the forest, and was compelled by the barons to undo what he had done, and several of the clauses and covenants in the great Magna Charta have reference to Nottingham, and to Sherwood Forest. Here we might give the reins to imagination and desire, and dilate on the beauties of those grand old oaks, and those graceful silver birches, the bounding deer, the warbling birds, the fierce forest laws, bold Robin Hood (of course we have a public house in his honour), Maid Marian, and Friar Tuck; of the wicked waste of wood, and gradual appropriation of land by adjoining owners, etc., but a strong curb must be put on, and we must come down to the fact that Sherwood, our little corner so named, was at the time of the Basford Inclosure Act a part of a moor on which ling and gorse grew.
Those readers who desire to know more of Sherwood Forest may refer to "The Dukery Records" by Robert White, or "Sherwood Forest" by Joseph Rogers, and the article by Dr. Cox referred to.
On the Mansfield Road, No. 476, a little south of Private Road is an old cottage called "Mapperley Place," supposed to have been built about 1825. Mr. Samuel Cartledge owned the Mapperley Place Estate, now called Private Road, up to and including at the top Mapperley Mount, and the Brickyard and its cottages. He at one time worked the brickyard, and he imposed on the Private Road land a condition that the houses should be stone coloured, and slated, and should not be used as a brickyard. This last condition led to a famous law suit, and the rescinding of a contract The plastering or stuccoing of the houses was a badge of gentility, when front bricks could not be had, and pantiles for the roofs were undesirable.
On the Private Road there were according to the Poll Book of 1832 9 voters, and 3 in the "Plains" or Brickyard Cottages. The old Mapperley cricket field was off the Private Road, and the members played in top hats. The date on the factory chimney built in the Vale by Mr. Samuel Burton is "1838." Small houses at the junction of Mansfield and Lloyd Streets, have their warp machine windows on the second floor up, and Marshall Terrace indicates a transition The houses opposite to the Tram Car Depot were probably built for the use of the factory workpeople.
Cavendish Hill School was in the eighteen-fifties kept by the Rev. Thos. Gascoigne in the most westerly house in Edwards Lane, afterwards owned by Mr. Arthur Wells, and now by Mr. Woolley. This was a boarding school for gentlemen's sons, and some prominent local men were educated there. There was in the forties a school kept by Mr. Wilson, at No. 700 Mansfield Road, to which Sherwood boys resorted. There was no post office, except at Carrington, and letters were delivered once a day, but the receiver must pay Id. for delivery, and 2d. for a book or small parcel. There were no lamps on Mansfield Road, or telegraph poles, and no water except from wells.
Factories. The tall factory is becoming a thing of the past, and new factories have been, and are being built, having only one, or at most two, storeys, thereby promoting an economy in mounting, and in supervision, as well as lessening the risk of loss by fire. Of this class of building Messrs. Cooper's, the Automatic Embroideries, and J.B.Lewis & Sons Ld. may be named. The last factory referred to will contain 100,000 feet of floor space, with special attention not only to health, light, safety, convenience, but also to recreation, the site occupying between six and seven acres. The firm will celebrate its centenary in 1915.
The trades now carried on in the district are the making of Hosiery, Lace, Embroidery, Towels, Cabinets and Upholstery, Cigar Boxes, Packing cases, Perfector Windows, Portable Furnaces, Cycles, Paper, Bleaching, Dyeing, Dressing, Laundry.
A great industrial and residential population has sprung up, and busy trams ply every few minutes on Mansfield Road, and Sherwood Rise, and Woodborough Road. The latter first ran May 13th, 1902.
Woodthorpe. There is a tradition, vouched for by Mr. Arthur Wells (see p. 171) that Messrs. Whitlock and Reynolds, the ministers during the commonwealth of St. Mary's Church, after their ejection under the Act of Uniformity (1662), and during their residence at Mansfield, used to meet their Nottingham friends surreptitiously for worship at this part of the forest, where Mr. Whitlock had a house.
In 1832 Woodthorpe House was described as the property of Mr. Richard Hooton. In 1844 Mr. John Fox, a prominent solicitor, lived there. Here Mr. Wm. Cartledge died 1859, and afterwards his widow and daughter, the latter of whom married Mr. H. Smith Wright, M.P.,and died in 1865. The land that belonged to Mr. Cartledge was afterwards sold to Sir Charles Seely. The house is now the residence of Captain Tomasson. Woodthorpe Cottage was the residence of Mr. T. Keely, and it with Mr. R. Hardy's house is now called "The Cedars." Woodthorpe Grange was built by Mr. H. Ashwell in 1874, and is now the residence of Mr. J. G. Small. Woodthorpe now includes the south-west corner of Arnold parish, and Scout Lane has been dignified into Woodthorpe Drive.
Bagthorpe. According to Dr. Mutschmann this would mean the village or hamlet of Beagga. The manor of Algarthorpe is said to have extended to and included Bagthorpe. Bagthorpe House was built shortly after the Inclosure, probably about 1800, and was well surrounded by a belt of trees—oak, ash, beech, chestunt, poplar, etc., and at each corner of some of the fields was a small copse. The farm extended to Hucknall Road and the Day brook. The first occupier is said to have been Mr. Deakin, a local agent of the Duke of Newcastle, and there followed Adjutant Wright (Notts. Yeomanry), Mr. Morrison and Mr. Houghton (1855-84). The area of the name Bagthorpe was gradually extended. Mr. Wm. Taylor built Bagthorpe Cottage in the gardens, and now the Prison, the Workhouse and the Hospital are all called Bagthorpe.