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High on the Wolds
BROUGHTON SULNEY. Also known as Upper Broughton, it is perched high on a steep slope of the border Wolds, a pretty village with a little amber-coloured church clinging to the hillside as it looks over a green valley into Leicestershire.
One of its memories is of its good fortune six centuries ago, for, standing on a grassy slope in the heart of the village, is the pillar of an old cross said to have been placed there as a thankoffering because the Black Death passed the people by. In front of a house near the cross is a fine relic of 1777 in a lead cistern ornamented with the Signs of the Zodiac. At this time Charles Wildbore, a clever mathematician, was serving his 35 years as curate here.
Upper Broughton church, c.1920.
The porch by which we come to the church was made new in 1733 and given a classical entrance, but it keeps fragments of the old work, and has in its east wall crudely carved stonework which may have belonged to a tomb of 400 years ago. The low tower with quatrefoil moulding under its battlements is 13th and 14th century, and a medieval arcade leads to the north aisle, which, like the chancel, was made new last century. The oldest part of the church (now built into the south wall) is a fragment of an arcade set up when the Norman style was passing; it led to an aisle which was pulled down probably when the porch was made new. The traceried bowl of the font is from the end of the 14th century.
The Lovely Lake
Budby village, c.1920.
BUDBY. Great stretches of forest and the parklands of ducal homes surround this beauty spot where the little River Meden runs by the road under a bank of trees, making a sharp bend at the old stone bridge under which it flows to Thoresby Park. A few hundred yards through the park it runs through the arch of another picturesque bridge to fill a lake a mile long and girt with trees, where countless swans gleam snow-white in the sun. We pass a grand old oak on the way to the lake, and catch a glimpse of Castle William on the hill, a grey house with battlements and turrets.
Bulcote church in 2005.
BULCOTE. Till the coming of the new road every traveller between Nottingham and Newark knew the sharp turn in this small place nestling under the hills. A stream wanders by the wayside facing the manor house and a row of ivied cottages, and the little church stands high on a wooded slope, catching lovely glimpses of the gleaming Trent. The church took the place of an ancient chapel.