Thoresby Estate workers c.1962
Any errors in these names / details can be reported via leaving a comment.
Above: A team of workers no doubt sent down from The Woodyard to clear the snow in front of the gates at Perlethorpe Church. The only person I can recognise with any certainty is Jack Kenyon on the left, who lived in the Almshouses. I believe the picture was taken c.1960. (Credit goes to former Perlethorpe School pupil David Reddish for making this photo available).
Labels: Thoresby Estate, Thoresby Hall, workers
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Thoresby Hall Hotel, Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park are recommended attractions for a day trip or short vacation. The
Dukeries area is of keen historic interest. NOTE: Apart from public domain postcards and brochures ALL photographs herein are copyright Ian Gordon Craig, exclusive permission granted to Thoresby Estate for their use elsewhere.
Thoresby Hall as photographed Summer 2009, now a successful Warners Hotel.
Robert Pierrepont (1584 - 1643), 1st Earl of Kingston upon Hull, bought Thoresby for his second son William.
Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont (1825 - 1900), 3rd Earl Manvers, built the present Thoresby Hall, St John's Church,
Perlethorpe School, and generally shaped Thoresby Estate as it looks today.
The 4th Earl Manvers (Died 1926).
Countess Manvers (d.1984). Examples of her paintings are always on show at Thoresby Gallery.
ABOVE: The statue of Robin Hood in the courtyard at Thoresby Hall, by Tussaud - Birt, is showing its age, but remains one of
my favourites. The Art Gallery, crafts shops, and restaurant within that courtyard are recommended.
Carved oak fireplace in the Thoresby Hall library with its depiction of the Major Oak (Robin Hood's Tree), and the screen
featuring the Cromwell family. Oliver Cromwell is known to have stayed in Thoresby Hall before the English Civil War.
The Green Bridge sited near the edge of the cricket pavilion in front of Thoresby Hall across which the Duke's carriage would take him to Perlethorpe Village.
The view along Thoresby Lake towards Budby. Are these bricks at the water's edge remnants from the original Thoresby
Hall?
The River Meden winds its way from 7 Ton Bridge near Thoresby Hall towards Perlethorpe Village.
Budby Castle, once known as William Castle, and the River Meden winding towards Thoresby Lake under the remains of
Pierrepont Bridge, once described as classical and elegant.
Children's exercise book from the school, 1958.
Perlethorpe Church graveyard, where the original chapel once stood. The covered gate was a later addition in memorium to
the men of Budby and Thoresby who fell in World War 1.
Robin Hood's Tree, the Major Oak, was once under the care and supervision of Thoresby Estate. Responsibility for its
upkeep changed to Nottingham City Council c.1969. Here it is pictured in in Spring, Autumn, and Winter.
7 Comments:
One of my relatives Abram Spooner was head gamekeeper at Thoresby. In 1911 he was listed as living with the kennelman and his family. But by 1921 Abram and his family were living at "The Renolds" at Thoresby Park. Do you know if The Renolds still exists? Or have you seen any references to Abram Spooner?
Claire
Hi Claire. I don't remember hearing that name before. But I shall have look through some material and see if I can find it.
As you mention a kennelman, it makes me wonder if The Renolds was the previous name of what I grew up knowing as The Kennels. That building still exists, and is written about on my blog. Today it has been renovated inside and rented out.
I shall see what I can find out and post back here over the weekend.
Hi Claire.
I am taking my information from the late C. Alan Bollans’ notes. As an ex-teacher on the estate, he had access to many records.
According to “Kelly’s Directory”, the “park & gamekeeper” on the estate from 1908 – 1915 was George Grass.
Abram Spooner is listed as “gamekeeper to Earl Manvers” in 1922, but is not on that list again in 1925. The “Headkeeper” from 1923 to 1943 is listed as a Mr Carey, and living in “The Kennels”.
In May 1920, “Parishioners of Perlethorpe and Budby” met to discuss a memorial for WW1. Mr & Mrs Spooner donated 10 shillings towards the plaque which is still on the entrance gate of Perlethorpe Church. This would suggest their residence was Perlethorpe or Thoresby, and not Budby where many of the estate’s workers lived. (Budby had its own memorial).
In 1932 a Mr Fred Spooner is listed as “worked in Thoresby Hall”. In May of that year, women from the estate donated articles for the “work stall” in a North Notts Missionary Exhibition in St Annes Hall, Worksop. Mrs Spooner is listed as being among them.
During the 1930s (no exact year) Fred Spooner is listed as “Office Clerk at the Woodyard”. That complex included 3 places of residence. (I know because I grew up there). All are still standing, but off limits to the public.
I have never heard of “The Renolds” (or Reynolds). Neither does it appear in the extensive notes I mentioned. Thoresby always had a tendency to locate various jobs with specific lodges and residences. As several “headkeepers” are listed as living at The Kennels, certainly from 1853 -1943, I tend to think that would be the place you mean. But one is wary of making 2 + 2 =5. The Kennels, a complex of old buildings not all visible from the road, is now rented accommodation. Sadly, Perlethorpe Village has chosen to be off limits to non-residents since the pandemic. (Thoresby has always tended to be that way).
I hope this has been of use. Good luck in your research.
Ian G.
Thank you for your prompt reply and comprehensive knowledge. I have now viewed the original 1921 census entry and concluded that it has been wrongly transcribed. I think the handwritten entry says The Kennels not The Renolds.
In 1911, Abram (gamekeeper) was boarding with William Favill (kennelman) and his family. Also there was Walter Bramall (asst. gamekeeper). Although it only says Thoresby estate on the census, it seems possible this was at The Kennels. I’m assuming George Grass was head gamekeeper then and living elsewhere on the estate? Abram also appears in Kelly’s in 1916 as gamekeeper and living at Perlethorpe. By 1921, he is listed as head gamekeeper and living with wife Frances and daughter Mary at what I now think is The Kennels. As you say, from 1923-1943, Carey James has taken on that post.
In the 1939 register Abram and Frances are living in the Southwell district and he is a builder’s clerk and special constable. Annoyingly, the redaction of an individual’s name has also covered the name of the dwelling. But Chameleon Lodge is on the previous page and Kennel Cottage on the next, so still on the estate somewhere.
I can’t find any details of a Fred Spooner listed. From the dates given, I don’t think this is a child of Abram. It appears that Mary was his only child and I have been unable to trace her.
I will be staying at Thoresby Park hotel this month; am I likely to be able to visit The Kennels from there?
Abram was the brother of my great grandfather. Their father was a Suffolk shopkeeper and had 20 children. I am tracing the path of all those children.
Regards
Claire
Chameleon Lodge is still on the estate. It's on Netherfield Lane. There's a picture of it on my post: "Thoresby Estate Lodges and Cottages". During my childhood this was where the head forester lived.
The red brick houses which form a circle around the village green were built c. 1950. As far as I can tell, none of the old lodges were pulled down in the process. The lodge at the base of Jacksons Hill was, again in my childhood, the one most associated with the head gamekeeper of the 50s / early 60s.
You could use Google maps, satellite view, and make the little google man walkaround these places. Not the same, I know.
The Kennels main building is visible if you cross over the bridge at the bottom of the road from the hall, and look over the fields to your left. Alternatively, just walk straight past the church, ignore the signs, and walk into Perlethorpe. It’ a VERY quiet place, and I doubt anyone will care.
Lastly, I did wonder about the name Fred Spooner. During those war years, and the terrible prejudice building overseas, might it have been a personal choice? Just a thought.
I am glad to have been of help.
Enjoy your stay at the hotel. Even book an afternoon tea in the hall itself.
Well, I’ve returned from Thoresby with limited success. I looked around the outside of Perlethorpe Church, but wasn’t able to find graves of any of the Spooner family. Although I couldn’t walk into the village, the barrier was open when I drove to the other side and I took the chance to drive around the village. Do you think that Kennels Cottage might be a separate building to The Kennels? When I drove over the bridge, then past the distinctive building of The Kennels, I continued as far as another house which bore the name “The Kennels”. Hence my confusion. So I know that Uncle Abram was living there over 100 years ago but I’m not sure which of the two buildings. By 1939 Abram is listed as a builder’s clerk so it does seem likely he was the Harry Spooner you identified in other records. Perhaps he did use Harry occasionally. Abram and many of his siblings did have biblical names (their parents were Methodist preachers).
If the second house you encountered was on the left, slightly further up the hill than The Kennels, then that is Century House, still named as such on the official adverts the estate circulate to attract potential holiday makers. You can see Century House on the internet. I suppose it is possible they are contemplating a name change.
Your uncle would have been in one of the buildings / lodges, near the main Kennels building. They are difficult to see. As a child, attending Confirmation classes, I would visit the village vicar in one of them. How many are still standing is hard to asses unless one manages to get closer.
Sadly, Thoresby Estate is far less interested in the history of the region than they were back in 2006 when I started this blog. These days it’s more about raising money via weddings, rentals, etc. I suppose that’s understandable.
I am glad you managed to have a look around.
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