Nottingham presents: Wollaton Hall
Can't believe it's taken us this bloody long to go and see the nearest hall/mansion/castle/thingy! Have lived in Nottingham for 6½ years now, pretty much, and the Saturday just gone saw our first ever visit to Wollaton Hall. Which is pretty inexcusable, considering the move we did about a year ago brought us closer to it than we were before, and yet ... nothing. Not until Relatives came to our side of town for a stroll in the park with Baby Nephew. Here's our chance! Let's go!
We did just go for a stroll around the park, and the wind was rather on the cold side and it wasn't a terribly pleasant day for a walk, but at least it didn't rain. It also gave us the impetus to go back when the weather's warmer.
Wollaton Hall was built in the 1580s for Sir Francis Willoughby and should not be confused with Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, which is a replica of this one, apparently. The replica has been used as a filming location for a number of different films, but I can't find any info about any filming done at our local Hall here in Nottingham. Surely the current owners, Nottingham City Council, could make a bob or two with it? Councils tend to be stuck for cash at the moment, and it's such a nice location, after all.
The park surrounding the Hall is surprisingly big, considering this is a park nicely tucked away between Wollaton and Beeston. In fact, when the Relatives said over the phone that they were going down by the lake, the Squeeze and I looked at each another and said "there's a lake?"
In this big-ish park, there are also inhabitants. Not just aquatic birds on the lake, but also deer. Red deer and fallow deer, says Wikipedia. Saw a group of them as we were driving out of the park, but also, I spotted some near the golf course, which is also hiding in there for no good reason. (Then again, I find there are rarely good reasons for there being golf courses. Or, "moderatbandy" [Tory hockey] courses as we call 'em back home.)
The park is also home to the Splendour Festival in July, but we've never been. (Obviously, or this wouldn't be our first visit to the park.) We were thinking about it a couple of years back, but my parents were over from Sweden, and music festivals is not quite their cuppa tea, so it'll have to wait. Would love to go inside the house and have a look, but again, that's for another time. Now it's time to go, so to finish off, here's a slideshow:
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| Nottingham's Downton Abbey |
We did just go for a stroll around the park, and the wind was rather on the cold side and it wasn't a terribly pleasant day for a walk, but at least it didn't rain. It also gave us the impetus to go back when the weather's warmer.
Wollaton Hall was built in the 1580s for Sir Francis Willoughby and should not be confused with Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, which is a replica of this one, apparently. The replica has been used as a filming location for a number of different films, but I can't find any info about any filming done at our local Hall here in Nottingham. Surely the current owners, Nottingham City Council, could make a bob or two with it? Councils tend to be stuck for cash at the moment, and it's such a nice location, after all.
The park surrounding the Hall is surprisingly big, considering this is a park nicely tucked away between Wollaton and Beeston. In fact, when the Relatives said over the phone that they were going down by the lake, the Squeeze and I looked at each another and said "there's a lake?"
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| Yes. Yes, there is. |
In this big-ish park, there are also inhabitants. Not just aquatic birds on the lake, but also deer. Red deer and fallow deer, says Wikipedia. Saw a group of them as we were driving out of the park, but also, I spotted some near the golf course, which is also hiding in there for no good reason. (Then again, I find there are rarely good reasons for there being golf courses. Or, "moderatbandy" [Tory hockey] courses as we call 'em back home.)
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| Deer oh deer, right amongst the golfers. |
The park is also home to the Splendour Festival in July, but we've never been. (Obviously, or this wouldn't be our first visit to the park.) We were thinking about it a couple of years back, but my parents were over from Sweden, and music festivals is not quite their cuppa tea, so it'll have to wait. Would love to go inside the house and have a look, but again, that's for another time. Now it's time to go, so to finish off, here's a slideshow:
Wow! That really does look like Downton Abbey. Are you sure they didn't film there? Why would someone make a replica?
ReplyDeleteGreat slide show!
Downton Abbey was filmed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, so it definitely wasn't in Nottingham. :) It says Mentmore Towers (built in the 1850s) was built to "imitate" Wollaton Hall or to be a "near replica". According to the pictures on Wikipedia, there are some differences. Glad you liked the slideshow. :)
ReplyDelete