Events during Spring 2025
Report on the Spring Meeting and AGM, 26 April 2025
The formal minutes of the AGM will be printed in the next Annual Report. This report describes the social side of the event, and includes an account of the President’s Address to the meeting, and the talk on Two Picture of Newstead Abbey which was given by Pete Smith.
The Spring Meeting and AGM took place on Saturday 26th April at the Thomas Cranmer Centre in Aslockton. The Centre is attached to the church of St Thomas. Aslockton was the birthplace of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who was executed by Queen Mary in 1556 by being burned at the stake. The Cranmer Centre was a delightful venue for the meeting, made even more attractive because the weather was sunny and warm and we were able to eat our tea outside where there were picnic tables in a very well kept garden which adjoined the graveyard.
Fifty-one people attended, which was two more than last year; this, at a time when our membership is declining, can be marked as a success.
President’s Address
John Beckett chose to talk about a notable incumbent of the Church in Aslockton, the Reverend John Standish. Standish was the vicar of Aslockton and neighbouring Scarrington from 1885-1918 and was also a founder member of the Thoroton Society. He was born in Lancashire, where his father was a draper. Standish obtained a scholarship to Cambridge to study mathematics and music. He was a notable organist, and after leaving Cambridge taught maths for a while before being ordained in 1872. In 1879 he married Mary Norton, and they subsequently had twelve children. The two churches in Scarrington and Aslockton were in dire need of repair, and when in 1891 the vicar of nearby Whatton drowned in Australia [whilst trying to save himself and his two nieces in a shipwreck] his mother endowed a new church to be built at Aslockton, with contributions from parishoners and others as well. The new church of St Thomas at Aslockton was opened by the Bishop of Southwell in 1892.
Standish was an active historian and in 1897 he and W P W Phillimore and Lord Hawkesbury convened a meeting in Nottingham which resulted in the foundation of the Thoroton Society. Standish was a key figure in the production of Thoroton Transactions. At that time this was a record of the activities of the Society, such as excursions and talks. So from these records we can see that in 1897 excursions began with a visit to Car Colston organised by Standish, his wife and one of his daughters. Participants got a train to Bingham and there embarked in a brake. The Thoroton Society was quite well known by 1914, with regular excursions and lectures which were recorded in Transactions. John Standish died in a nursing home in The Park in his 70th year.
John showed a group picture of a Thoroton excursion to Rufford in 1898, pointing out various figures including the Rev Standish. There is also a plaque in his memory in the church.
Two pictures of Newstead Abbey
After the completion of the formal part of the meeting, Pete Smith gave a talk on two pictures of Newstead Abbey. One was the previously unknown oil painting, which only came to light after the publication of Newstead Abbey, A Nottinghamshire Country House, edited by Rosalys Coope and Pete Smith in the Thoroton Record Series in 2014. The other was a drawing of Newstead Abbey attributed to Peter Tillemans.
The existence of the oil painting is well known to Thoroton members. When originally obtained it was in a poor condition with a rip in it, several small holes and smoke damage. After it was purchased by Nottingham Castle Museums and Art Galleries, only possible with an appeal which received contributions from Rosalys’s family and her former colleagues and the wider Architectural History Community, Nottingham Museums was able to apply for grants to assist in the restoration. This all took time and the restoration was only completed in 2024. The painting is now on display at Newstead. Looking at the painting, represented in the before and after state, was inhibited by the light conditions in the venue which meant that the audience could not see the pictures projected onto the screen at all clearly, and we had to rely on Pete pointing out features which he knew were there even if we could not see them. This was a pity and we can hope that there may be another opportunity for Pete to give the talk and show the illustrations in more favourable conditions at a future date.
The painting is signed N T Dall, 1770. Dall was a Danish painter who did many landscape paintings of English country houses, six of which are at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire.
Amongst the interesting features of the painting are that whilst it shows the popular view of the west front from across the lake, it is taken from further back and shows two Gothick Arches (sic) between which can be seen a low battlemented wall with four canons pointing across the lake. This is the only known image showing a gun battery in this position, and might be artistic license to enable the 5th Lord and his wife Elizabeth to be shown – he in the blue coat of a naval officer and she in pink. Pete explained that the accuracy of the painting can be questioned as Dall has regularised the façade of the house by giving it a central porch with a double staircase – which was not how it was in reality.
The second picture was the watercolour and pencil drawing attributed to Tillemans, who is known to have worked at Newstead in the 1720s. The drawing shows much larger trees than the painting, and a different position of a prominent external chimney stack. It would appear that the drawing must have been made at least five or ten years later than the painting. The projection and lighting conditions allowed the audience to see the drawing more clearly than had been possible for the painting and these points could be appreciated, as could the charm of the work itself.
We are grateful to Pete for persevering in less than ideal conditions, and providing a taste of what the painting is like in its new restored glory. It can be fully appreciated by anyone visiting Newstead Abbey where it now hangs.
After Pete’s talk members partook of the usual generous afternoon tea ably served by Sarah James and Jill Oakland, enjoyed the garden, and looked round the church. Rob James had arranged with the vicar for several architectural drawings of the church, made at the time of its building in 1871/2, to be available for members to look at. The stained glass windows interested many members including one which commemorated a ‘Baker of this parish’, and one depicting the shipwreck at which the vicar of Whatton lost his life.
The afternoon had also been the opportunity to say thank you, if not goodbye, to three members who have performed valuable duties and work for the Society over a period of many years. Chris King has retired as Archaeology Editor of Transactions having done the job for ten years. Barbara Cast has finally resigned as Honorary Secretary, having devolved some of the work to Rosemary Muge five years ago. Barbara has done an immense amount of work for the Society, some it unseen, over a long period of time. She has said that she is willing to continue to head up the Thoroton Response Group for the next few years for which we are very grateful. Penny Messenger has been a Council member for thirty-five years, and in that time has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Society. Penny has now decided not to seek re-election to Council, though she has said that she will continue to do the bookstall for a long time to come. Richard Gaunt, the Chair of Council, paid tribute to these three members in his address to the meeting, and made presentations to them on our behalf. Chris King received book tokens, Barbara received garden tokens, and Penny received a bouquet of flowers. All three received a personalised A4 card signed by all those present, which featured on the front a collage of photographs of Thoroton events created by Andy Nicholson. Each card differed in that the central photograph was of the recipient. By trawling through the vast collection of pictures available to him, Andy had managed to find a photograph of all three members.
Thanks are due to all who participated in the afternoon, especially to Rob James who made arrangements with the venue, and to all others who contributed to making it another successful Spring Meeting.
Rosemary Muge