Like Enid Blyton 3

Long before Colston Bassett (see Blytons 1 and 2), I was involved with another old country house. My parents were friends with the licensees at Colwick Hall, at this time being used as an hotel for jockeys and staff during race meetings. We would visit most Saturdays and spent the occasional weekend there. It had a large bar with a beautiful Adams fireplace, far away from anyone wishing to enforce the 10 o'clock closing time law then in force. I am of course sure that this had nothing to do with our visits.

There were two rainwater heads with dates on them. One said 1775, the other, 1776. At age eight I struggled with the maths, but eventually was slightly disappointed to work out the place didn't yet qualify for being 200 years old.

The Hall, designed by John Carr of York, began as the home of John and Sophia Musters. Shortly after their marriage they had their portraits done by George Stubbs, in front of their new house. Stubbs was famous for his paintings of horses, which may explain why he was chosen - Musters was passionate about hunting and racing. He rode a winner at Nottingham in 1775. Confusingly, that would not have been right outside his door, where Nottingham racecourse is now: in those days it was on the north side of the city.

John and Sophia Musters at Colwick Hall, by George Stubbs, 1777

In 1831 the Hall was looted and torched by rioters protesting at the defeat of the electoral reform bill in the House of Lords. Mary Chaworth Musters, erstwhile love interest of Lord Byron, had married John and Sophia's son in 1805, and was at the Hall at the time. She escaped the rioters by hiding all night in the bushes outside in the pouring rain, and died a few weeks later, it is said from the shock.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century it was acquired by the Nottingham Racecourse Company and the Hall and park  became what we would now call a visitor attraction, enjoyed by trippers from Nottingham for many years.  

Colwick Hall in its Leisure Heyday, the 1890's
Photo:  Picture the Past 

By the time we knew it, the Hall was in a pretty run down state. I and my brother and the licensees' son Bob had the run of the place, rattling round the (I think) eighty-odd rooms. Parts of the building, no longer used, were just abandoned. Our dad, an amateur artist, loved this aspect, and did a series of paintings.

The Old Kitchen, Colwick Hall, by John Whysall 1953 

I remember we were forbidden to go onto the uppermost storey because the floors were unsafe. (We did though). We ventured down into creepy old cellars with only a hurricane lamp to light our way and we found our way out onto the rooftops. Once we found a low brick-lined tunnel going from a yard by the kitchen. We crouched down and scuttled along it, popping out at the other end right down by the edge of the lake. 

photo: Picture the Past  

This nineteenth century picture of the Hall is taken from across the lake. I have been back since to see if I can find the end of the tunnel. The only thing I can find is what looks like some concrete infill which may be where it has been sealed. 

Despite the ramshackleness and abandonment of parts of the house, those parts remaining in use were homely and even gracious. The hub of the place was a big kitchen where someone referred to as 'the maid,' but who seemed to be more like a housekeeper, worked and cooked. As well as the family and the maid, we and various others would hang out in there. Included in the 'various others' were a couple of Polish guys who would sometime cook for us what seemed me delicious and exotic food. 

There was a huge (to my eight year old eyes) black iron fireplace. It was the same design as the one at home in our little terrace house: fire grate in the middle, black hobs with ovens either side - but on a vast scale. (There's a similar one in the picture of the old kitchen above.) We would sit in front of it with our backs against the big kitchen table, grilling in its mighty radiance.

There was a sitting room, spacious and light, comfortably furnished with (I think) period furniture, which looked out towards the lake. We would spend afternoons in here, sometimes playing Newmarket. I was obsessed with the game for two or three afternoons, then it dawned on me that it mostly involved losing money so the fascination waned.

Electric power was provided by a treacherous generator out in the grounds. From time to time it would fail, much to my delight. When this happened victorian paraffin lamps were brought out and lit. I moved happily about in the flickering light of the lamps and the glow of the fire, transported back to the olden days . 

Attic, Colwick Hall, by John Whysall 1953 

The Round Oven, Colwick Hall, by John Whysall 1953

Still Room, Colwick Hall, by John Whysall 1953

Saturday Night, Colwick Hall, by John Whysall 1953

This phase of our lives went on for perhaps a couple of years. We moved out of the area, other licensees came and went, and I guess life just moved on. In the sixties the Hall went into a decline; Nottingham Corporation  bought it and it fell into disrepair. I seem to remember that some of the beautiful fireplaces were looted. There's a happy ending though. Tim Jones and Chek White won a competition to carry out its restoration in 2003, it was sold to Pearl Hotels and Restaurants and is now beautiful and thriving once more.

Here's its website:

http://www.colwickhallhotel.com/

There's a very entertaining piece about Sophia Musters here:

http://georgianaduchessofdevonshire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/tart-of-week-sophia-musters.html

And there's a very interesting story about one of those looting and torching rioters and what subsequently happened to him here:

http://www.nottinghampost.com/trail-Australia-s-convicts/story-12242574-detail/story.html

Photographs in this post are from Picture the Past , the excellent photo archive service run by our local authorities.

You can read about the Musters family here:

http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/colwick/colwick7.htm

And there's an article about the famous architect John Carr, designer of Colwick Hall, here:

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/art-and-antiques/fine-art/great-british-architects-john-carr-of-york-1723-1807-23967

And of course, here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carr_(architect)