Area 202 ha Operator Nottingham City Council | Nearest city Nottingham Other information Postcode: NG8 2AE | |
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Operated by Nottingham City Council Website Wollaton Hall and Deer Park Location Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, England Similar Wollaton, Wollaton Hall, Nottingham Natural History M, Nottingham Industrial Museum, Nottingham Castle | ||
Deer and wildlife at wollaton park march 2015
Wollaton Park is a deer park and home of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham Natural History Museum and Nottingham Industrial Museum in the heart of Nottingham.
Contents
Wollaton park deer
History
The enclosure of Wollaton Park required the destruction of the village of Sutton Passeys. It was enclosed by Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton with a 7-mile (11 km) red brick wall at the start of the nineteenth century. Originally 790 acres (3.2 km2), land sales have reduced the park to 500 acres (2.0 km2).
In this park, during World War II American troops of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, were billeted here, waiting to be parachuted into Europe, which they did in June 1944. A small plaque commemorates this event. Subsequently German prisoners of war were billeted here for employment in the locality between 1945 and 1947.
Other buildings
In addition to Wollaton Hall the park hosts the following historic buildings:
Lenton Lodge
Lenton Lodge is one of the Gatehouses built around the boundary of Wollaton Park. It was commissioned by Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton. It was designed by the architect Jeffry Wyatville and completed in 1825. It is built in the Elizabethan Revival style.
With the sale of part of the park for residential building, Lenton Lodge is now separated from the rest of the park, and stands isolated but prominent on Derby Road in Lenton. It was sold by Nottingham City Council in the early 1980s .
A 99-year revolving lease was acquired by Moiz Saigara in 1996. Planning permission to convert Lenton Lodge to a single dwelling was obtained and major restoration work was undertaken by Moiz Saigara, using Julian Owen Associates as the architect. The main part of this work -apart from restoration and installation of services – was filling in the middle archway in such a way as to be able to connect the two wings without detracting from the appearance which identifies the building as a gatehouse. The Lodge was used by Moiz Saigara as his residence from 1996 to 2006, when the lease was sold to Chek Whyte.
In 2006-8 Lenton Lodge was restored by Chek Whyte Industries and sold as a 3,324 sq ft (308.8 m2) office in 2009. It was occupied by Global Fire and Security for six years, and sold to the University of Nottingham in 2016
Beeston Lodge
It was designed by the architect Jeffry Wyatville around 1832. It is built of coursed Gritstone ashlar in a heavy Gothic style with "martello-type" round outer towers with battlements. The square central gatehouse is connected to the towers at the second floor level. It has an arched carriage entrance with an oriel window above. It was built following the Nottingham Reform riots in October 1831, and is now a Grade II listed building.
Nature
The park is home to a herd of red deer and fallow deer. Other wildlife of note at the park include a large corvid roost made up of rook, jackdaw, and carrion crow. Other notable species present at the site are populations of jay, nuthatch and sparrowhawk. Migrating wildfowl grace the lake in the winter and species of note include gadwall, northern shoveller, Eurasian wigeon and tufted duck. There is a good diversity of fungi present, especially in the winter months, mainly found near the wooded areas and the lake.
Events
Wollaton Park is often used for major events, including: