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NOTTINGHAM PAST & PRESENT: NOTED BUILDINGS
MARSHAL TALLARDS HOUSE, Castle Gate, 1885
This house is officially known as 'Newdigate House' but it is so associated with the great French general who lived here after his defeat by Marlborough at Blenheim in 1704 that it is generally spoken of as 'Marshal Tallard's House'. The dispatch in which Marlborough announced to the government the news of his victory read 'Tallard and the other generals are in my coach', which is a marvel of brevity. To Marshal Tallard we owe much : he introduced something of French courtesy into our rough behaviour, he taught our housewives how to make salads and rolls and, above all, he cultivated celery (a hitherto unknown luxury) in his garden behind the high wall shown in Mr. Hammond's picture.
The house was erected in the middle of the seventeenth century almost at the same time as the Castle, and it is a joy to the student of architecture. Its interior and fittings are as beautiful as its exterior, while its front is guarded by the venerable remains of a beautiful wrought iron paling which is one of the best left to us.