GARDENS 

 OLD-&NEW 



WOLLATON HALL, 

 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, 



THE SEAT OP ... 



LORD MIDDLETON. 



s 



'tis house of Francis Willwi-.:hby, built with rare 

 and left for tin- Willouuhbys. Bej-un in 1580. 

 ' -ipleted in 1588." Siuh is tin- dedication, in 

 Latin. here done into English, of what a local historian 

 .lie Jay justly called "a wonderful house t be 

 built by a commoner." It stands two miles west ot Nottingham, 

 mi .1 nentle rise, amonji line trees which do n<>t shut it in. 

 It IN e\en now one of the most marked features in tin- 

 landscape round the "fair citv " <>f Sluru....! Forest and the 

 Trent. The builder was Sir Francis Wil'.ou^hby. Knight. 

 i in those days line houses could not be built without 



< r>, 



A SUIKWAY TO THE LAWNS. 



heavy expenditure, and the sources of his wealth at th.it 

 ea-Iy perii>.l were uncommon. Highly di->,, n li-.l though he 

 \\.i-, lie appears to have been one of the eaihest v ,,.i| kinjs. 

 " Wollaton." savs Camden. " is rich in seam-- oi coil, \\li.-ie 

 Sir Francis Willou^hbv. knight, noblv descended Horn the 

 . Marquises ut |)orset. m our days built out ot the 

 ground with treat . ha-^es (\ ( -t tor the most part le\ied out ! 

 the coal-pits) a st.it. -!\ h u>e \\ith artificial workmanship, 

 standing ble.ikly, but offering a UIKK! pios;-,-it to Ix- beholden 

 t.ii and \vide." Another ace > in! says; "The ston- c une 

 from Aiu-aster in e.\<.haiue toi pit c >al." The dedication ot the 



place to future Willou^hbys 

 A. is b.isi-vl on a just beliet in 

 the merits and hi^h char.uter 

 ot that ^ri-at and -j'-od family, 

 of which the pn-M-nt Lord 

 S\id lleton. owner ot Wollaton. 

 i- the head. Sir I I.I;KIS left 

 only a daughter. BiuLet. who 

 married Sir IYruv.il Wil- 

 lou^hby. who lived .it Wollaton 

 an I had five sons. < >ne, Sir 

 I i.incis, \\ .is lather ot the 

 Francis Willoti^hhy \\howrote 

 the liist ^o ,d and lehabk* 

 history of birds, which is still 

 quoted, and from which many 

 ot the Latin names tor scien- 

 tific purposes \\ere l>rj usi-d 

 to denote particular species. 

 He- wiote tliis splendid work- 

 in Latin, but it was not pub- 

 lished until after his death in 

 1676. He als i wrote a 

 "History of Fishes," in four 

 volumes and thus ha- a 

 double claim to th.- ie-at.1 

 ot Invels ot <.' untlV lite. 

 Another, perhaps the 

 known it tne race, was Sir 

 Hugh Willou^hby, who 

 perished in the search for a 

 North- Wert I'a- 

 America to InJia and Cathay. 

 There is a fine p t .ut of the 

 lost captain at Woll.it m, 

 whose- death and that ot Ins 

 crew was due to \\an; 

 provisions lor lasting out the 

 Arctic winter. It is strange 

 that the adventurers who had 

 the experience of the Icel ind 

 cod fishers for at It-ast a hun- 

 dred years to draw upon, had 

 not realised the ch.rui - 

 having to winter in the region 

 of ice. The first of the family 

 to be ennobled was Sir Th<*mas 

 Willoujhby, who was created 

 Baron Middleton of M:ddlrton 

 in Warwickshire, and w ! 

 descendant, the ninth Baron, 

 , ( . now holds it. Tlk' appearance 

 of the house h.i> b ruriticised, 



