Wollaton Hall

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Coordinates: 52°56′53″N 1°12′35″W / 52.94806, -1.20972

Wollaton Hall in the late 18th century. Engraving by M A Rooker after a drawing by Thomas Sandby
Wollaton Hall in the late 18th century. Engraving by M A Rooker after a drawing by Thomas Sandby
Wollaton Hall in 1880
Wollaton Hall in 1880
Wollaton Hall 2005, summer evening
Wollaton Hall 2005, summer evening
Wollaton Park and outbuilding
Wollaton Park and outbuilding

Wollaton Hall is a country house standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton, Nottingham, England. It was started in 1580 and completed in 1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby (1547-1596) and is believed to be by the Elizabethan architect, Robert Smythson (also the architect of Hardwick Hall). The building is of Ancaster stone from Lincolnshire, and is said to have been paid for with coal from the Wollaton pits owned by Sir Francis. Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos recorded in 1702 that the master workmen, and some of the statuary, were brought from Italy. The decorative but ludicrous stone gondola mooring rings carved on the exterior walls offer some evidence of this, as do other architectural features. There are also obvious French and Netherlands influences.

The building consists of a high central hall, surrounded by four towers. Unfortunately, a fire caused damage to Smythson's interior decoration of some of the ground floor rooms, however little structural damage occurred. Remodelling was carried out by Sir Jeffry Wyattville in 1801 and continued on and off until the 1830s.

The gallery of the main hall contains Nottinghamshire's oldest pipe organ, thought to date from the end of the seventeenth century, possibly by the builder Gerard Smith. It is still blown by hand. Paintings on the ceilings and one wall are attributed to Verrio or his assisteant Laguerre. Directly over the main hall is a 'prospect room' from which there are extensive views of the Park. Beneath the hall are many cellars and passages, and a well and associated reservoir tank, in which an admiral of the family apparently took a daily bath.

The Willoughbys were noted for the number of explorers produced by the family, most famously Sir Hugh Willoughby who died in the Arctic in 1554 attempting a North East route to Cathay. According to a correspondence in the Nottingham Evening Post,as late as the 1920s family member Commander J.S.Draw, together with Professor E.J.Velassi, brought back a number of penguins from an Antarctic expedition, which lived happily by the park lake for a number of years.

Now owned by the Nottingham City Council, the Hall houses Nottingham City Museum & Galleries Natural History Collections whilst the stable block contains the Industrial Collections.

In 1855 Joseph Paxton designed a near replica of Wollaton Hall in Buckinghamshire, now known as Mentmore Towers.

The grounds, Wollaton Park, are the home to the Intercounties Cross Country trials in March of each year, as well as many other events. In this park, during World War II members of the U.S. 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment were billeted waiting to be parachuted into Europe. A small plaque commemorates this event. Subsequently German prisoners of war were billeted here for employment in the locality between 1945 and 1947.

The enclosure of Wollaton Park required the destruction of the village of Sutton Passeys.

The hall reopened on Saturday 8th April 2007 after being closed for refurbishment. The prospect room at the top of the house, and the kitchens in the basement, were opened up for the public to visit.

Contents

[edit] Owners of Wollaton Hall

[edit] Industrial Museum

The Courtyard range contains the City's Industrial Museum, with a display of Textile, Transport and Technology from Nottingham's past, including the Basford Beam Engine, a fully operational analogue telephone network, a display of cycles, motor cycles and motor cars linked to the city and examples of significant lace making machinery - which put Nottingham on the textile map.

The Steam Engine House has a fully operational Steaming Day run by the Nottingham Arkwright Society [1] on the last Sunday of every month.

The Industrial Museum is accessed through the Courtyard Stables shop and via the Wollaton Visitor Centre.

  • Vintage Tractor Collection

The Museum has a collection of vintage tractors.

    • Field Marshall series II built in the 1940's. Operational and used regularly for Steam Up events.
    • Standard Fordson Tractor. Undergoing a repaint and some mechanical work.
    • Little Grey Fergi T20. In a workable condition but currently receiving attention to its front wheels.
    • Fordson Major built in 1950's. Operational and used regularly for the Steam up events.
    • Little Grey Fergi the second. At the start of a major restoration.
  • Fowler Ploughing Engines

The museum has two 1929 John Fowler & Co. Ploughing Engines which where the last two to be built by Fowler and they also have a canopy on them which is very unusual for a ploughing engine. One (VO 8987) is operational and is used regularly on steaming days, the other (VO 8988) is not operational and is awaiting a major overhaul which will include the fitting of a new boiler.

  • Portable Engines

The museum has two Portable Engines on site. One was built in 1886 by Marshall and is in a steamable condition, the other has built by Crosskill and is disguised as Trevor the Traction Engine

  • Other things

As well as the tractors and traction engines the museum has a Living van, a saw bench, a threshing machine and 2 ploughs originally used with ploughing engines like the two that the museums got.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Marshall, P (1999), Wollaton Hall and the Willoughby Family, Nottingham Civic Society.
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