Watson Fothergill was an English architect who designed over 100 buildings in Nottingham. Many of the city’s most striking buildings and some of my personal favourites were designed by him, so I decided to dedicate this blog post to some of his achievements.
On one of my recent outings I had to change from a train to a bus in Rugby and found myself with roughly half an hour to spare. Taking a short walk from the bus stop I spotted St Andrew’s Church and decided to pop inside.
The Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is on the grounds of Belton House, although it is not actually maintained by the National Trust.
While visiting Newark the impressive spire of St. Mary Magdalene Church caught my eye and I decided to take a closer look. It’s apparently one of the largest parish churches in the country, and it certainly proved larger than I was expecting when I stepped inside.
I decided late last year that it was about time I paid a visit to St. Peter’s Church which is right in the centre of Nottingham, and which I’ve never set foot in before. It is one of three churches in Nottingham that dates from the Middle Ages, with St. Mary’s being another.
On one of August’s sunnier days we headed out to Tattershall Castle, a National Trust property in Lincolnshire. The Castle (really the Great Tower which is the only surviving structure of the original castle), was built around 1433 by Ralph Cromwell when he was made Lord Treasurer to Henry VI.
On what turned out to be an extremely sunny day at the end of September, we headed over to Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. The Park is a National Trust property with the only charge being £6.00 for parking (free for National Trust members) and a charge of £3.00 to visit the Walled Kitchen Garden (which we didn’t visit on this trip).
Once the country estate of the Dukes of Newcastle, the mansion was demolished in 1938 and all that remains are the grounds, the lake and the Chapel of St Mary the Virgin.
Coughton Court is the family home of the Throckmorton’s, who still reside there, and has been for over 600 years. The family suffered much persecution through the years for being Catholic, and there are many items of historical Catholic significance throughout the house. The Throckmorton’s were also notable for having involvement with the Gunpowder Plot to blow up parliament and James I and for Bess Throckmorton, who went on to marry Sir Walter Raleigh and angered Elizabeth I in the process.
Tewkesbury Abbey may look like a Cathedral but it is actually one of the largest parish churches in the country. This building is over 900 years old, although a church has been on the site for over 1,200 years.
Despite living fairly close by (well, roughly a 40 minute bus journey away) I’d never been to Southwell Minster before and decided to rectify that in January. Thankfully I had chosen a day that was cold but otherwise bright, and before the chance of snow was something to worry about.
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