About The Bestwood Lodge HotelThe Story of an Estate - Page 8
The situation of the Lodge is one of the finest in the country, so far as elevation is concerned, and though only four miles from the City of Nottingham it occupies a perfectly retired position, and its privacy is a securely maintained as though it stood twenty miles away. Standing on the broad terrace when the lights are lit in Nottingham you might almost fancy the city only a stone’s throw away.
The Duke was a great admirer of trees: firs were his special favourite and he introduced a fine variety of Corsica that mingles well with the Scottish pines. Dressed in old gardening clothes, he was frequently seen alone, stubbing thistles and tending his trees and shrubs and keeping them lopped and trimmed. Though one cannot help thinking that gardeners were at hand in case they were needed. At one time there were fifteen or so ‘boys’, gardeners that lived in a ‘bothy’ – a communal cottage for unmarried labourers.
The few gorse bushes that were left were preserved to indicate the previous existence of forestland and were left to grow alongside the laurel, bay and blackberry.
The Lodge itself was very grand – the Great Hall had an open timber roof and stone gallery with a wrought iron balustrade and during the day the light came down from the lofty glass dome and at night from the candelabra. All the other principle rooms were radiated from this Hall. The mantelpieces in the Drawing Room and Dining Room were of marble, inlaid with mosaic work executed by Italian artists. The servants’ hall was beautiful with carved oak panelled walls, timber roof and gallery.
The pictures that graced the walls were of kings and nobles, many of them from the brush of Sir Peter Lely, who painted Charles I, Charles II and Cromwell. There were two Lely pictures that were unrivalled, one of the notorious Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland and another of Elizabeth Noel, Countess of Berley. There were also, in the Drawing Room, two portraits of Charles Beauclerk, 1 st Duke of St. Albans, one painted when he was a chilled by Gascar the French artist, to whom sat James II. There was also a portrait of Charles I in armour by James I, a small portrait for the 17 th Earl of Oxford, portraits of Diana de Vere, Duchess of St Albans and of Aubrey Beauclerk who was killed at Cartagena, and also a portrait of Lord Amelius Beauclerk the distinguished naval officer, the only ancestor of the Duke who ever made Bestwood his home.
Countless visitors arrived at the little Daybrook Railway station, and a carriage to take them up Mansfield Road, through Daybrook to the new Bestwood Drive usually met them. When guests came for a wedding they drove through cheering villagers and lines of gay bunting, but if for a Bestwood funeral, village sympathy for the ducal family showed in the respectfully mourning groups and the flags at half-mast.
Edward, Prince of Wales, often liked to come incognito to spend a quiet time with his friends, and many old residents remember seeing him walking up from the station by himself. In 1878 he paid a visit with Princess Alexandra for the official opening of the Nottingham Castle Museum and to mark the visit, he and his wife both planted a tree at Bestwood. Three years later, his brother Prince Leopold drove to Bestwood from Daybrook station and also planted a tree before he opened the Nottingham University College on Sherwood Street. Many signatures were written in the visitor’s book, cherished by the Duchess, including Disraeli, Gladstone, Tennyson and almost everyone of eminence in politics, arts and science.
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Thanks to all concerned for a fabulous wedding reception for our daughter, Jennifer and her (now) husband, Paul. The staff were great, nothing was too much trouble and the food, both at the reception and the evening BBQ was fantastic.
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