Sunday, April 15, 2007

The Buck Gates bucks, Thoresby Park


Contrary to popular belief it was not always the job of the lodge keeper to open the gates for everyone. The carriages and coaches of the Earls and Ladies would originally 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. As countless postcards show, Buck Gates was once  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 in that moment 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. Doubtless melted down. EDIT 2020: I have been informed that the bucks still exist, and are in safe secure storage. Great news!

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

Below: Buck Gates seems to have been an endless source of fascination for postcard makers.


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2 Comments:

Blogger robin hood said...

Perlethorpe Village, Thoresby Park, Sherwood Forest, the Dukeries, Thoresby Hall, history.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Pierrepont, Manvers, Dukeries, Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Hotel, Thoresby Park, Perlethorpe, Perlethorpe Village, Ollerton, Budby, Sherwood Forest.

Woodyard, Perlethorpe School, Perlethope Church, Budby.

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