Places close to Thoresby with a Robin Hood connection.

Persons visiting Thoresby, staying at Thoresby Hotel, or residing in the area, might like to know of locations nearby which are historically linked to the legend of Robin Hood. If so, my "Robin Hood Was Here" blog contains many videos, pictures, and information, which will be of interest. Most of these locations are within an hours drive of Thoresby. See this link: http://robin-hood-was-here.blogspot.com/

Thoresby Estate workers c.1962

Seated on the steps leading from the Blue Dining Room into the gardens at Thoresby Hall, these seven workers were mostly based in the Woodyard on Thoresby Estate. Back row left to right: Ted Williamson (son of Jack, and one of the operators in the saw mill), Les Dennison, Charlie Leepins, Bob Dickinson. Bottom row left to right: William (Bill) Craig (foreman at the Woodyard and also known as Jock), Bill Nunn (plumber), Alf Dennison.

Any errors in these names / details can be reported via leaving a comment.

Perlethorpe School c.1953 / 54

Top L - R: Mrs Storer, Carol Mendan, Pauline Johnstone, John Singleton, Richard Gill, Pamela Cooper, Stuart Johnstone, Denise ?, Mrs Bruce.

Middle: Bry?, Hazel Wood, Ronnie Pashley, Janet ?, Josephine Jackson, Christopher Deveraux, David Reddish, Philip?.

Bottom L - R: Unknown boy, Joanne Wignall, Unknown girl, Kenneth?, Ian Wigley, Virginia Crowden, Christine Craig, Cynthia Wilk, Madelaine Crowden.

Perlethorpe School children, with their two teachers, c.1953 / 54. Mrs Storer was in charge of the juniors prior to the arrival of Mrs Ward. Mrs Bruce was the Headmistress, and in charge of the seniors as they approached the all important 11-plus. (Her pass rate was very high).

Apologies to anyone whose name may be misspelt. Mistakes can always be corrected upon request. For more about Perlethorpe School, now Perlethorpe Environmental Centre, visit THIS LINK, THIS LINK, and THIS LINK.

Snow in Thoresby.

A team of workers no doubt sent down from The Woodyard to clear the snow in front of the gates at Perlethorpe Church. The only person I can recognise with any certainty is Jack Kenyon on the left, who lived in the Almshouses. I believe the picture was taken c.1960. (Credit goes to David Reddish for making this photo available).

Robin Hood supports England in the World Cup.

Robin Hood flies the flag for England on the eve of its second World Cup Game. (Thoresby Hall Courtyard, June 2010).

Thoresby Park / Thoresby Estate various photographs.

Above: Nelson's Pyramid. Charles Pierrepont, like his father before him, served in the Navy and saw active service against the French in 1798. Not surprisingly then, the Pierrepont family were ardent admirers of Lord Nelson. The south side of Thoresby Lake in particular features many tributes to the famous admiral, such as Nelson’s Grove, incorporating Nelson’s Lodge (used for many years by the game keepers), and Nelson’s Pyramid. (See aerial photograph on THIS LINK for details). Nelson’s Pyramid is approximately 12ft high (c.3.5 meters). It was built in 1799 by Charles Herbert, specifically to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile, and on each inner side of the entrance way were listed both the French and English ships involved, together with details about guns and casualties. I have not visited Nelson’s Pyramid myself, but am told that soldiers billeted in that region during the first and / or second World Wars added their own names to the walls. (My thanks to Stephen Richard Aizlewood for the use of his photograph).

Above: Proteus Camp. There are several post cards depicting troops billeted in Thoresby Park during those wars, especially in tents across the road from Perlethorpe Church. Also, there are Lady Manvers’ splendid paintings which record such times. In 1942 a more permanent military presence, Proteus Camp, was established in the woods near Ollerton roundabout. This photograph shows Proteus Camp as it was in 1965. At its peak Proteus Camp contained 1,000 personnel. In later years the camp became known as the Dukeries Training Centre before becoming “surplus to requirements” and closing down in 2004. (In 2008 plans were being discussed regarding the development of the site’s buildings as holiday homes).

Above: The Roundhouse, also known as “Summer Boxes”, stands amongst the trees a little further up the hill from Thoresby Hall itself. In the days when horses were the most common source of power throughout Thoresby Estate, for transporting timber, or working on the farm, this is where they would be kept during the Summer months. During Winter they would be moved into the stables in the courtyard opposite. These days the Roundhouse is used to sell plants to visitors. Below: Today, a feeding trough in the corner of Thoresby Gallery indicates its former use as just such a stable.

Above: William Gordon Craig (centre), father of William Craig the Woodyard’s foreman of the time, was the head gardener at Thoresby Hall during the second half of the 1950s. I don’t know the names of the two men seated each side of him. (Possibly Charlie or Edgar Leapins on the left?) When William Gordon returned to the land he was homesick for he was replaced by Mr MacSkimming, another lowland Scot, who would be replaced in turn by Mr Nettleship (1963 / 64).

Gargoyles on Perlethorpe Church, Thoresby.

This is just a selection of the splendid gargoyles to be found placed around Perlethorpe Church, Thoresby Estate. (Church of St John the Evangelist). There are many others, and it seems no two are the same. Surely as splendid a collection as can be found anywhere.

For more about Perlethorpe Church see THIS LINK, and THIS LINK.

Thoresby Hall's final days as a Stately Home.

Thoresby Hall the "Stately Home", as opposed to the successful hotel it is today, opened its doors to the general public on 29th March, 1957. It was an event largely organised by Major Beattie, Lady Rozelle and Countess Manvers being on holiday in the Mediterranean on that day. (Link). Chris Stanley, originally appointed as Estate Accountant, would then take over in subsequent years as the main organiser for such Open Days. Typically, the Hall would be open on weekends, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Bank Holidays.

During the late 1950s / 1960s, when visits to stately homes were a favoured pastime with the British public, Thoresby Hall was a great success. It’s charm originated from the authenticity of the place, there being a distinct lack of “novelty attractions” apart from the model railway which operated for a time. Standing inside Thoresby Hall one sensed that this was indeed a Home; an atmosphere Countess Manvers’ paintings made even more tangible. Any suggestions of noisy theme park rides were thankfully absent.

It is a sad irony that the coal mining beneath Thoresby Estate, responsible for much of its wealth, would one day help provoke the downfall of the Hall itself as the 1970s drew to a close. I remember visiting Thoresby Hall in 1979. Countess Manvers was standing by the piano in the Main Inner Hall, and spent some time chatting to my parents, especially my father with whom she’d had a lot of contact during his years on the Estate. Amidst the nearby boxes of souvenir pencils and brochures, there was a tangible sense of things coming to an end.

In 1980, whilst still permitting Thoresby Hall to remain the home of Countess Manvers, the National Coal Board purchased its actual structure. Their motivation for doing so made sound business sense: Mining was still active in the immediate surroundings, resulting in considerable damage to Thoresby Lake, and a risk of structural damage elsewhere. Lady Manvers was allowed to open the Hall to the public if and when she so desired, but I have no precise date for when Thoresby Hall, as a “stately home” closed its doors to that practice. Lady Manvers passed away in 1984.

According to the Telegraph colour supplement (27 November, 1988), the subsequent sale of Thoresby Hall to the Australian-based Roo Management, would it seem prove controversial: Roo were apparently clear about their intention to strip the five main Victorian State Rooms of their contents, converting them to part of a hotel. In opposition to their proposal was local developer Geoffrey Whittaker, who vowed to preserve intact the unique contents of these State Rooms as a part of his own plans also to convert Thoresby Hall into a luxury hotel. Not only that, but Whittaker outbid Roo in a written offer of £1.6 million as opposed to Roo’s £1.5. However, and for whatever reason, The National Coal Board seemed intent on selling to Roo, “in spite of strong opposition and protests from the heritage lobby and at least 15 Mps” *. As a consequence, in May / June 1989, Sotheby’s auctioned off much of the original and unique contents of Thoresby Hall, soon after Roo had acquired the property. Roo would then own the Hall for approximately only one year, before putting it back on the market with an estimated price of £3 - £4 million. This time Geoffrey Whittaker was successful in buying it, but only six months later the developers went bankrupt and the Official Receiver had to take over.

The 1990s was surely Thoresby Hall’s darkest decade. I remember having a conversation with retired Perlethorpe teacher C. Allan Bollans (see sidebar credits), during this time, when he was working at the Art Gallery there. The threat of looting had been a problem, and perhaps understandably, repairs such as those made by the National Coal Board to the Lake in 1992, were based on finances rather than historical restoration. But there was to be a happy ending…

In 2000 Warners successfully took over and opened Thoresby Hall as a luxury hotel. Not only that, but their policy towards an adult clientele, was surely a positive influence on the re-opening of scenic routes leading from Thoresby Hall to Perlethorpe Village, together with path ways down to the water’s edge at Thoresby Lake. Such walkways, now enjoyed by hotel guests and visitors alike, had not been accessible for considerable years. The success of Warners, combined with the quality of the Art Gallery, restaurant, and craft shops based in the Courtyard, once again make a visit to Thoresby Hall an attractive proposition.

Note: This website has no official links to Warners Holidays, nor Thoresby Estate itself. Recommendations to visit the same are 100% positive; given in independent good faith.

(*Quotes and details regarding the sale of Thoresby Hall in 1988 / 89 taken from Telegraph Magazine, November 27th., 1988. The details and machinations of this sale have no links to subsequent sales of the Hall).

Top b & w photo: A final family visit to Thoresby Hall, the stately home. 1979. Above: The Inner Hall now used by the hotel guests. 2008.

Thoresby Estate Lodges and Cottages.

Thoresby Estate has what may be an almost unique collection of lodges and cottages dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, all originally intended to house key workers on the Estate. Many are under private, well maintained ownership today. Above: Home Farm Lodge.
White Lodge (above) stands on the Southern side of Thoresby Estate, approximately a mile along the A614 from Ollerton Roundabout. It was once called Proteus Lodge, and is referred to as such on late 19th and early 20th century maps, even though local records of 1904 / 08o at that time refer to it as White Lodge.
A building known as White Lodge stood in this area in 1683 when the 3rd Earl Kingston purchased 1270 acres of Bilhaugh woodland for £7,000, thus making it a part of Thoresby Estate. It is not known just how much of the present building (if any) is that original house, but records indicate that the private road alongside the property and leading into Thoresby Estate, was the one originally laid by Evelyn Pierrepont the 4th Earl. However, the arches that stand there today are the ones which originally stood at Buck Gates until the 1950s.
In 1832 White Lodge was occupied by Chas Paschoud the park keeper, and the Estate's fox hounds are believed to have been kept in the vicinity. In 1851, subsequent park keeper Richard Kemshall shared the lodge with Reverend Augustus C Masters, followed in 1862 by Joseph Cross, in 1864 by head game keeper Thomas R Kemshall, and in 1922 by Thoresby's Estate Agent Hubert Davys Argles. When Lady Sibyl Pierrepont (daughter of the 4th Earl) married Argles in 1923, alterations were carried out on the lodge which became their marital home. Lady Sibyl Pierrepont was superintendent of the Perlethorpe Sunday School.
Rose Cottage (above), which stands a little further up the A614 from White Lodge, was originally built as two homes. Curiously absent from most maps, some 19th century Thoresby Estate records refer to the property as Rosedale Cottages. In 1851 it was the home of Perlethorpe Village miller, J. Chamberlain. In 1862 the estate's milkman Thos Day lived in one cottage, whilst Henry Dodd occupied the other. By 1864, Dodd had moved on and been replaced by miller Robert Budd. It is known that in the very early 1950s Rose Cottage was still divided into two properties, one of which was occupied by carpenter & joiner William Craig.
Shepherd's Lodge (above) stands near the mini roundabout, approximately another two mile up the A614 from Rose Cottage. At various times in the 20th century it has also been referred to as Clarke's Lodge. It was built c.1800 by John Carr, at a time when he was engaged in modifications to Thoresby Hall itself. Records indicate that in 1862 John Carnall lived there, and in 1864, Joseph Ellis. One can only assume from the Lodge's title what their occupations were. However, in the 1930s George Hind, who worked the boilers at Thoresby Hall, was the resident.
Cameleon Lodge (above) stands approximately two miles South West of Shepherd's Lodge, alongside the road which cuts through Thoresby Estate and by passes the Hall and the Lake.
Cameleon Lodge was known as Red Lodge in the 18th century because of its red tiles. However, Repton had the lodge washed with stone colouring, painted, and thatched. The name Cameleon was taken from the Roman Goddess. This property has been most associated with the head woodsmen who have worked on Thoresby Estate over the decades, examples including David Jamieson in 1864, and John Smith in the 1930s. Dennis Turnbull took on the role of Head Forester at Thoresby directly after his demobbing from National Service, and lived there in the 1950s / 60s. (Note: Cameleon Lodge is spelt as such on Ordnance Survey maps from at least 1906 to the present day. Some sources, such as THIS LINK, do spell it as Chameleon lodge. I have chosen the former.)
The Almshouses, Perlethorpe, (above) stand opposite Home Farm, on route to Perlethorpe Church (St Mary's), and were built in 1894 by the 3rd Earl "for the benefit of the old labourers on Thoresby Estate". This implies such elegant properties were perhaps intended for those retiring from their labour? Certainly by the 1950s they were occupied by still active workers from the farm and the Woodyard, such as the Kenyon family.

Buck Gates Cottage (above & below), has already been written of extensively here and here. But I would like to thank Craig Mosley for locating these postcards for me, and which are different to the ones already on site. Buck Gates was a notably beautiful and important exit for the Duke of Newark in the days of horse and carriage.

All these places are marked and illustrated on my aerial photo of Thoresby Park. (See side bar on right for the link.)

Perlethorpe Churchyard and the Pierrepont mystery.

Above: The memorial tomb of the mysterious Charles Alphonso Pierrepont.

There were at least two churches in Perlethorpe before the present one. In 1744 Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston, laid the foundation stone from a previous church to commemorate its rebuilding. That stone (long since gone), used to lay in the right east end of the current graveyard and read: "The Church of Peverelthorpe, The Noble and Generous Prince Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, Knight of the Garter, Rebuilt in the year 1744".
Perlethorpe did not have its own vicar. A shrewd agreement was reached in which the vicar of Edwinstowe would receive a small fee from the Duke to hold a service in Perlethorpe once a fortnight, but not be able to lay claim to the kind of tythe he received from other villages. (A tythe barn was a place where 10% of a farm's produce was given to the church and stored). The site of the building was apparently called Pinfold Close. It was described as being of elegant stone, with some stained glass, and carved figures of "Hope" and "Meekness" in the western end. At the east end, inside the buiding and near to the High Altar, stood the memorial tomb of the mysterious Charles Alphonso Pierrepont. His monument stands there to this day, but sadly open to the elements.
In 1836 an Act of Parliament allowed Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2rd Earl Manvers, to combine Perlethorpe and Thoresby as one parish, supported by his Estate independantly of others, and granting him and his heirs the right to select their own vicar. In 1837 an endowment was made by Charles Herbert of £100 a year. This would be the only source of income for the Vicar of Perlethorpe, and would be charged to Whitemoor Farm.

Above left and below: The grave of the 3rd Earl Manvers (1825 - 1900) who was responsible for so many of the fine buildings we see on Thoresby Estate today. Above centre: The grave of the 6th and final Earl Manvers (1881 - 1955)

The church of 1744 was still standing when in 1876 the 3rd Earl Manvers built the present one, designed by Anthony Salvin, just a year after building the present Thoresby Hall. It was not until 1877 that permision was granted to demolish the old church, and one can only imagine what they must have looked like side by side!
The present graveyard naturally contains the graves of Dukes and Earls, whilst others are situated at Holme Pierrepont. But who was Major Charles Alphonso Pierrepont? His imposing tomb is dated 1812, and tells us he was "A Major in the British Service who lost his life so gallantly while storming an outwork near Burgo". It goes on to describe him as "Of an ancient and respectable family on whom, by his excellent conduct, he conferred honour. He was interred on the field where he fought and fell, September 19th 1812." But although his military records are quite detailed, no-one has established exactly who his parents were, nor where he was born...

Beech Avenue, Thoresby

Above: Birklands Wood.
In the 19th Century the wooded areas of Birklands, around the Major Oak, and Bilhaugh, next to Ollerton Corner, were popular tourist attractions, both a part of Thoresby Estate. Birklands was landscaped and maintained with a mixture of Oak and Birch, and there is an interesting record of how a 1902 scheme to seed the area with new birch trees was thwarted by pre-myxomatosis levels of rabbit population, before which up to 10,000 rabbits had been shot annually on the estate. The 20th Century naturally took its toll on both the Bilhaugh and Ollerton Corner areas in particular. Timber was needed for two wars, not to mention the opening of a Colliery (the name of which was at first objected to by Thoresby Estate). In 1942 Proteus Camp (eventually re-named the Dukeries Training Area) was established, and both Birklands and the woods at Bilhaugh and Ollerton Corner, were used as ammunition dumps. During these decades the emphasis was clearly not on landscaping for leisure pursuits, but on hard core profitable production and National needs.

Above: Two paintings of Beech Avenue. For a video of Beech Avenue click here.

Beech Avenue.

These four rows of trees apparently rivalled Robin Hood's Major Oak as a place of both local and national interest. When in 1925 a railway track was planned to run from Thoresby Colliery, through Cockglode, and into Ollerton Corner, letters of protest appeared in The Times. Thanks to public support of Earl Manvers' petition the scheme was dropped. But the woods of Ollerton Corner were cleared for timber needed by the mine.
It is known that the war time entertainer Gracie Fields once visited Beech Avenue whilst staying at the Coaching House, now known as the Hop Pole. Beech Avenue aquired the nickname "the Cathedral" because of the way it branches met over the roadway like the arches over a cathedral's aisle. Alledgedly, at the height of summer, the only light which penetrated was from each end of the Avenue.
Beech Avenue was finally cleared in 1976 / 78, following decades of neglect, overgrowth, old age, the storm damage of 1976, and of course the military presence of Proteus Camp. But it is still clearly labelled on certain maps, and marked by an aging gate at the side of the A614 near Ollerton roundabout (although I believe it was situated a few yards to the right of that gate).

Above: The gate near Ollerton roundabout where Beech Avenue was once situated.

Chestnut Avenue.

From the north western end of Beech Avenue one could continue to Buck Gates and Chestnut Avenue. Chestnut Avenue was a straight carriage ride to the original Thoresby Hall, and it is said that in the 18th Century one could view the original Hall beside Thoresby Lake from the area of Buck Gates lodge.
Chestnut Avenue suffered like every other landscaped area of Thoresby as trends in forestry changed. However, there is a story that the Estate Manager Mr Holder was dismissed in the early 1950's when Lady Manvers discovered he had started felling trees there. Holder was replaced by Mr Tapper, who's foresight started a vigorous planting scheme in Thoresby. Apparently Chestnut Avenue was restored in 2000 by clearing it of the silver birches which had taken root along its length over the decades.

Beech Avenue video, Thoresby Park

This film was taken at the gate where the entrance to Beech Avenue once stood. Just inside that gate no signs nor barriers indicating the Private Property of Thoresby Estate were transgressed. Please note and respect that this is private property. The woodlands of Bilhaugh have long since been replanted with quick growing firs, which combine with the brambles to make no reliable allingment of the original Beeches visible.

The Buck Gates bucks, Thoresby Park

Contrary to popular belief it was not the job of the lodge keeper to open the gates for everyone. The carriages and coaches of the Earls and Ladies would carry a boy whose job it was to leap off as they approached the gate, open them, close it behind, and leap back on again. He had to be fast as the pony was not meant to stop.
Buck Gates had once been a favoured and picturesque entrance to the Estate, especially prior to World War 2. But that region of the woods between Ollerton and Thoresby would change dramatically due to the timber demands of a Colliery, (not to mention its tip), the war itself, and the establishment of the military training area originally called Proteus Camp. The lodge at Buck Gates was already a thing of the past before the fire which destroyed it in 1956. But the bucks survived.
These magnificent statues were first taken to the Woodyard, where plumber Jack Kenyon attended to some repairs with molten lead and a hot blade, as small boy William Craig Jnr. looked on fascinated, deciding even then what he wanted to do when he grew up. Such was the skill of the workers on Thoresby Estate. It seemed like no task was beyond them when duty called. The stone arches were then moved approximately 2 miles north east of their original site to White Lodge, and the bucks placed on top. In 1980 they were still there but, no doubt a temptation to a growing culture of thieves and vandals, I know not of their present whereabouts.

Above: The stone arches that once stood outside Buck Gates, now on the A614 beside White Lodge.

Home Farm, Perlethorpe Village

Above: Home Farm (2007) looks almost identical to the way it did sixty years ago. The post box is a later addition, made necessary when the village post office closed down.
Home Farm was one of the three main employers on Thoresby Estate, especially during the post war years of the 1950s. School leavers deciding to stay on the Estate might work on the farm, the Woodyard, or for the Forestry Commission. A growing number were tempted by the wages of Thoresby Colliery at Ollerton, whilst few vacancies now existed in service at Thoresby Hall. I remember the sights, smells and sounds of a wide range of farm produce, from the tall sugar beet which grew where the car park is now situated behind the houses at perlethorpe, to the hay bails stacked high in the central Dutch barn, (burnt down in the early 1960s), to the pig sties which were once located opposite the Village Hall, and from which we would tease the pigs until they jumped over the wall. The pig stye was removed in 1964.
During the 1920s the villagers would take their own milk cans to the farm for their morning and afternoon milk. The dairy maid worked from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. milking the cows and making the cheese and butter. Thoresby Hall was sent daily fresh supplies. In 1936 Frank Cooper was in charge of the farm, and for long after it was sometimes referred to as Cooper's Farm.
On the outer wall to the right of the Home Farm arch was the communal box from which the villagers in the 1950s would collect their bundle of newspapers and comics. This was a typical pocket money duty for many Perlethorpe children, who would eagerly await that day in the week when the family bundle contained their favourites such as "T.V. Comic" with Muffin the Mule (replaced by Sooty), or Dan Dare in "Eagle". The box is still there today (2007), but the railings we had to climb on to reach it are not.
In the early 1960's Maldwyn Fisher was in charge of Home Farm, succeeded in 1963 by John Roberson who died in 1975, after which John Orr took over.

Three Gables, the Woodyard

Above: Three Gables, Thoresby Park, 1964. The kitchen extension is on the left.

Three Gables, built in 1876, is the main house by the road side at the Woodyard, and was the customary residence of the Clerk of Works, such as Noel Whitworth in the late 1940s / early 1950s. A three bedroom house, one to each gable, the original kitchen was situated beneath the left gable, an area now central to the house. It had a cast iron range for cooking, from which a small circular platform would swing across over an open log fire to heat the kettle. A drying wrack hung from the ceiling for laundry which would be boiled in the copper stove in the shed across the yard to the left of the building. This copper stove was fundamental to the making of family Christmas puddings in the 1950's. Three Gables was joined onto the Woodyard complex by the downstairs bathroom / toilet leading off the former kitchen. (In the very narrow, dark and dusty store next door were kept the shiny brass fittings for coffins, whilst a hand operated fire bell hung on the wall outside.)
A corrugated roof with plastic skylight was eventually extended out from the left side of the house and a more modern kitchen installed. But the original stone framed outside window was retained between the former and new kitchen, making a fascinating feature to find inside a property. The extensive garden was laid out according to Victorian tradition; decorative flowers and lawns in front of the house, with vegetable patches and fruit bushes all formally arranged to the right alongside the Woodyard buildings.
Following the departure of Noel Whitworth the house was occuppied for much of the 1950's and early 1960's by William "Jock" Craig, the Woodyard foreman.

Above: Three Gables, 1985.

Lady Manvers, artist.

Lady Manvers, born Marie-Louise Roosevelt Butterfield (1889 -1984), was a talented and prolific artist. Noting her obvious passion for the subject, her father Sir Frederick Butterfield of Cliffe Castle, Yorkshire, enrolled her in the Julienne School of Art when the family moved to Paris in her early teens. This School concentrated on studious drawing from observation, the benefits of which are apparent in the strong draughtsmanship underpinning all her work.
Her drawings of the many places she visited must be of keen historical interest today. For example, I remember a small water colour of a sunny street in Europe painted in the 1930's. A very pleasant scene, but one which upon closer inspection revealed the chilling small detail of the then rising National Socialist Party's flag hanging from just one window. Her studies of life on Thoresby Estate during the subsequent war years must be an invaluable and unique record of Thoresby at that time.
When Lady Manvers moved to Thoresby Park as wife to Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers, she would take for her subject many of the people on the Estate. One such example was Verna Langstaff, a beautiful black girl attending Perlethorpe School, who posed for her in the 1950s, seated on the lower branch of a tree outside Perlethorpe Church. The water colour sketch above, dated 1962, depicts the interior of the main joiner's workshop situated on the left of the Woodyard entrance. The subjects are Gran Gilliver (left), and Works Foreman William "Jock" Craig (right), the latter of whom had run back nervously into his home the Three Gables to get a clean shirt!
After Lady Manvers died in 1984 her daughter Lady Rozelle allowed a small number of such sketches to be given to the sitters involved, and I still have the two letters from Lady Rozelle authorising this particular one to be given over to me.
In 1991 Lady Rozelle organised the conversion of the Stable Block to the right of Thoresby Hall into an Art Gallery which could celebrate her mother's work as well as display paintings by new artists. Thoresby Gallery became a notable success.

Budby Castle, Budby

In the graveyard of St John's Church, Perlethorpe, is the grave of William Scott, "Captain of the Mary", who died in 1756. Captain William had no doubt sailed a boat called Mary upon Thoresby Lake for Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of kingston. He must have been a popular and respected member of the Duke's workforce because in 1756 the "castle" which was built in Budby to house the boat crews was named Castle William. This was the same year Charles (Medows) Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers, came to Thoresby.
Castle William was designed by John Carr and records show that in 1816 Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2nd Earl Manvers, still had a crew stationed there. This practise continued through to 1851 when Captain Percy was living there in charge of the boats. However, by that time it is likely that Evelyn's lavish collection had subsided into a practical "fleet" engaged more with fishing and maintenance than public display.
From the late 19th Century to the 1920's Castle William became increasingly referred to as Budby Castle, the ivy covered home to successive Clerke of Works for Thoresby Estate. Names include Thomas Wickford Potter in 1895, William C Orkney in 1900, Henry Hill in 1904, and William Arundel Bonner in 1922.
It is not known exactly when such links to Thoresby Hall came to and end, but please note and respect that Budby Castle is now a private residence, standing on private property. This photograph, taken for historic purposes, avoided all invasion into the residential aspect of the property.

Thoresby Hall, the second building.

Above: This print from a painting by John Preston Neale, dated 1838, depicts the second Thoresby Hall, built in the Palladian style between 1767 and 1772 on the site where the first Hall had stood. This second building, designed by John Carr, was more modest than the first and described by its critics as a "plain square building, without any pretence to architectural adornment". It had a rustic stone basement, and two storeys of bricks. Note how uncomfortably close the Lake is situated to the side of the building, a distance of just 100 yards, and a factor which eventually caused the third Hall to be constructed further away on higher ground. On the other side of the Lake were formal gardens in the "German" style.
Evelyn the 2nd Duke of Kingston died in 1773, also without heir. In September 1778 his nephew Charles Meadows (1737 - 1816) inherited the Pierrepont surname by Royal Licence, becoming the 1st Earl Manvers in 1806. He moved into the above Hall in 1789, soon expressing his displeasure with its landscaping and cold damp location close the Lake. So in 1791 Charles consulted landscape gardener Humphrey Repton's advice on how to improve the grounds around Thoresby Hall. Their concerns involved the ground floor being level with the nearby Lake, the formal straight lines of the canal running 200 yards from the front entrance of the House to a corn mill 600 yards away, the location of Stone Bridge (now Green Bridge) which presented an unfavourable straight-on view of the building, and the grassy area leading to the entrance lacking a gravel road. Repton's designs would helped give the grounds around this Thoresby Hall a much less formal appearance. When Charles died in 1816 he was succeeded by his son Charles Herbert, 2nd Earl Manvers, Lord Newark, who kept the tradition of having large boats on Thoresby Lake.
This second Hall was demolished in 1864 by Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont (1825 - 1900), the 3rd Earl Manvers.
For a labelled aerial photograph of Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Lake, and the surrounding Estate, see link on the sidebar. (More details in the comments box).

Thoresby Lake film

This film was taken on the north side of Thoresby Lake, an area which had been a well used public footpath as late as the 1940's. The people from Perlethorpe would walk along here to Budby (and visa verca), able to purchase sweets from vendors along the way, or take a seat on a bench and admire the view. In the 18th Century this is probably where the general public were invited to stand and view Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston upon Hull, as his boats manouvered about the lake.

In 1928 Perlethorpe School had to introduce a new rule to prevent pupils from Budby taking this route when the lake became frozen over and was considered dangerous. They were instructed instead to walk via Nelson's Lodge and the Woodyard.

Most of the little piers along the lake's edge are crude, relatively modern, concrete and tarmac constructions. But at the start of the film you will see stones which were clearly once a part of something more significant. Did Evelyn launch his boats from here? This area is situated half way down the lake's edge, behind Chameleon lodge.

The footpath is once again a popular walk for those staying at Thoresby Hotel, although one can no longer proceed any further than this halfway point towards William Castle (Budby Castle), and Budby itself, nor get a clear view of Kingston Island, the latter of which seems to have lost all definition to its boundaries.

Pleasure Grounds, Thoresby Park

The Pleasure Grounds, Thoresby Park, are situated across the lake from Thoresby Hall next to the Woodyard. In the middle of the 18th century, when the 2nd Duke of Kingston was extending the lake for his boats, there are references to formal gardens in the area, and the Pleasure Grounds originate from that time. This was a place where the Duke and subsequent Earls could stroll in private with invited house guests, possibly accessing the grounds via a boat trip across the lake, or via Thoresby Bridge at the point where the River Meden leaves the lake to continue on its way to Perlethorpe. (Arial photographs reveal that the Woodyard itself was once enclosed within this perfectly rectangular, cultivated area).
Simply referred to on maps today as "Park", the Pleasure Grounds remained a private, secluded area into the 1960's. However, "Keep Out" signs did not deter the frequent stealthy adventures of local boys who, on one occasion, took a camera inside the grounds. These photographs of Thoresby Park's Pleasure Grounds from 1964 may well be unique.
Above: This passage way through the centre of the Pleasure Grounds is part of a three mile route which once linked Thoresby Bridge with Buck Gates in a perfectly straight line still clearly visible on aerial photographs. The Duke's carriages would pass this way en route to Edwinstowe or Ollerton, and Newark beyond. The Woodyard is situated at the side of this route, enabling efficient deliveries of gas and wood fuels to the Hall. In the centre of the frame one can see deer feeding, whilst the mist beyond obscures the view of Thoresby Hall itself.
Above: The same area but viewed from the top of the landscaped embankment, over the rhododendrons. These embankments also harboured what was referred to in the war years as a bomb shelter, but which in all probability was originally dug deep into the embankment to store ice before the days of refrigeration.
Top and above: The River Meden leaves the landscaped Pleasure Grounds at the weir end of Thoresby Lake, before continuing on to Perlethorpe Village. To see an aerial photograph of this are click here. (More details in the comments box).

River Meden, Perlethorpe, Thoresby Estate

The River Meden, called the River Medin as late as the 16th century, winds a picturesque course from where once stood the stone Mills and cottages of Warsop, through Budby, before being dammed to form Thoresby Lake, and then continuing its journey through Thoresby Estate to Perlethorpe, soon after which it merges with the rivers Maun and Poulter. It was this reliable source of water which attracted the Vikings who settled in the area.
Meden's winding journey through Thoresby made several small bridges necessary and researchers need to take care when they name what may or may not be Thoresby Bridge. These photographs from 1984 depict the River Meden as it passes through Perlethorpe Village. Top: A small bridge links the village with Perlethorpe Post Office. This would be the view walking away from the post office with the early 1950's red brick bungalows on the left and the white game keeper's lodge often referred to as White House coming into sight. There was once a mill on the side of this river, just north of Home farm, and powered by a water wheel. In 1875 one George Mawson started work there.

the Woodyard, Thoresby Park, Nr Ollerton

Above: The Woodyard, Thoresby Park, photographed in 1964 from a tree top near the start of Chestnut Avenue. The remnants of the Duke's carriage way, leading from Thoresby Hall to Buck gates, are visible from mid left to bottom right.

The Woodyard is situated at the other side of Thoresby Lake from Thoresby Hall, outside the region known as the Pleasure Grounds. It was built in 1876, during the time of Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl Manvers, at a cost of £64,000. This is where the timber grown by Thoresby Forestry Department became the Estate fences, telephone poles, window frames, doors, and much, much more.
Selected trees would be felled after the leaves had fallen, and the sap was no longer rising. These would be taken to the Woodyard where the 40 H.P. gas engine of the large central saw mill cut them into their desired formats. This saw mill, the large central building on the picture below, was run by Jack Williamson and his staff of about six men. It was also the location of the band saw, lathe, and various other powered woodworking machines, the floor to the saw mill concealing a maze of pulleys, shafts and drive belts. I well remember waking to the sound of Jack's early morning saw, and the smell of the fresh cut timber which would then be stacked in the central drying shed for to years before being used in the joiners' shop at the Woodyard entrance. At the rear of the Woodyard, next sand pits, was the "shavings shed" in which younger, slimmer, timbers were manually stripped of their bark.
Beside the saw mill was a huge, black, metal creosote tank, 20 foot long and 5 foot diameter. This is where fence posts and poles would be left to soak after the tank was flooded with creosote, a banned substance today. It resembled noth less than a submarine, and young boy was able to stand upright inside.
As the nation's oil lamps gave way to gas a gas works was installed behind the Woodyard cottages on the northern side of the yard at a cost of £2,251. This supplied Thoresby Hall, Perlethorpe Church, the path to the Hall and its gates, Perlethorpe School, and Buck Gates. Two large circles where the gas works stood are still visible in the dry weather. During the 1930's Johnny Mellors lived in the Woodyard cottages and three times a week took a horse drawn cart to Ollerton Station to get coal for Thoresby hall's boilers.
In August 1940 a number of incendary bombs fell on Thoresby, and Walesby. During the night of 29th August the Woodyard caught fire as a result of this but no extensive damage was done.
On the right of the Woodyard entrance was the office of the Clerk of Works this being Johnny Mellors in the 1930's, Noel Whitworth from 1940 - 50, and Jack Bramley between 1950 - 1963. Opposite his office was the main joiner's shop in which worked such personnel as William “Jock” Craig, foreman of the Woodyard during the 1950's, and Gran Gilliver. Others in the workforce included Bill Nunn and Jack Kenyon, the latter of whom was also the church boiler stoker in 1959. All these men took great pride in their skills and versatility.

Above: The Woodyard in 1984. Three Gables can be seen on the distant right. The large central building was the saw mill, whilst the works van parked inside the building on the left.
A link to a detailed aerial photograph of Thoresby can be found in the sidebar.

Perlethorpe Post Office

Perlethorpe Post Office also served as the only shop in Perlethorpe Village, and was situated in Meadow Cottage, at the end of a road which crosses the narrow River Meden. In 1940 Mrs Dawson ran the post office, to be succeeded by Mrs Blanshard by 1955. Mrs Blanshard had been an infant teacher at Perlethorpe between 1910 - 1919, but retired to look after her husband who had been demobilised in World War 1. Children's sweets would be weighed out from the large glass bottles behind the counter, whilst a "Fry's Five Boys" advert on the wall above heralded the post war arrival of pre-packaged confectionaries. "Sugar Pigs" (literally a large block of sugar shaped like a pig) were very popular, as were the new Lucky Bags which concealed a secret toy. It seems the children of the 50's would keep the dental profession in business for decades to come!
Mrs Blanshard would collect the letters from Perlethorpe Village's only post box on the wall to the right of the door. (Still visible in the picture). She would then use sealing wax to secure the large brown post sack, this procedure being a veritable treat for the children who would stand transfixed at the sight and smells of her ritual. My sister and I were regular visitors to the post office, apportioning our pocket money as much towards note books as sweets; dull brown exercise books were threepence, whilst the glossy red one accounted for the full sixpence, and nothing left over for sweetie cigarettes.
In May 1999 Perlethorpe Post Office closed down when the final postmistress to work there, Sue Rose, resigned.
Jack Williamson, author of the booklet "My Life on a Nottinghamshire Country Estate", was born in the cottage next door; just visible at the edge of the frame.

Perlethorpe Village near Ollerton, Newark.

Above: 2 White Cottages at the end of Radley's Lane, Perlethorpe, were occupied in 1862 by John Radley and Joseph Sills Batten. In the 1960's the properties merged to become the Chaplain's House.

Perlethorpe Village, near Newark, is situated within Thoresby Park where the A614 (Blythe Road) crosses the River Meden. It started life as a Viking settlement, "Thorpe" meaning "new village". In old English perle means "rush of water" (most appropriate considering that the River Meden runs through the village) and before printing established a common spelling of words the village was commonly referred to as Palethorpe, ("pale" being an area enclosed by a boundary). However, the original name for the area was Peverel Thorpe, after William Peverel the younger who had control of this part of the country during the reign of Henry 3rd.
In 1831 Perlethorpe (then called Palethorpe) had a population of 89 people living in 14 houses. That's an average of 6 to a house! The oldest buildings in the village today date from the mid 19th century, and were often originally in pairs. Each had their own underground brick built soft water tank to contain the rain which was then drawn up via a hand pump. Starting in 1860 the 3rd Earl Manvers ensured all the houses in Perlethorpe underwent any necessary repairs, and had all their thatched roofs replaced with slate. At the turn of that century a water mains was laid through the village from Boughton water works, and in the 1920s / 30s a steam roller kept the pre-tarmac roads in order. In 1947 Perlethorpe Village was supplied with electricity, and the building of the red brick houses around the green soon followed.

Above: This schoolboy drawing from 1964 was made from the bedroom window of number 3 the Village Green, Perlethorpe, and shows some features such as the street lamp and railings around the smaller green which have long since disappeared. The arch of Home Farm is clearly visible, and the white building in the centre is White House, home to successive gamekeepers. In the late 1930's Head Keeper Frank Bebbington lived there; in 1940 the game keeper Mr Carey; and in the late 1950's / early 1960's Mr Carter. The small green on the bottom right of the drawing stands in front of the red brick bungalows built c.1950 (not shown), and this green was the location for the village flag pole. The road leaving the picture on the left is Jackson's Hill.