The homes on Old Lenton Close have a unique style. The name of the street is unusual too; it is not derived from a person but from the house next door.

In fact, the naming of Old Lenton Close cannot be understood without some knowledge of the history of that house next door: Lenton House. It goes back a long way, but evidence of its past is all around.

I suppose you could think about the story of Lenton House as one of growth and decline. That, at least, might be how a farmer would look at it. Its residents would see it as one of continual growth, right up to the present day.

A hundred years ago, on a journey along Nottingham Road and then out of the village (in either direction), you would have passed by six or more farmhouses – most of them part of fully working farms.

Before the days of motorised transport and tractors it made sense to have a farmhouse and buildings close to the village centre where transport and labourers were based. Lenton House was part of that farming community.

There is anecdotal evidence that the original farmhouse was built around 1790 but finding hard facts to support this view has proved impossible. Nevertheless, I decided to search Census data and old maps to try and disprove the idea – or not.

The map drawn up for the Enclosure Act of 1804 shows how the land in the parish was allocated to its landowners. It also appears to show the buildings in the village at that time.

If Lenton House was supposedly built 14 years before 1804, it should be on the map – but it isn't. So, does this mean, I wonder, that the 1790 date is wrong. Not necessarily.

If you look at the small print on any map, whether it be an OS map, an ancient one, or even Google Earth, you will almost certainly find that it is based on an older version that has been updated several times over.

The buildings on the 1804 Enclosure map may well have been based on surveys conducted some time before 1790, which could explain why Lenton House does not appear on it.

What we can be certain of, is that Lenton House was built in two phases – decades apart. There is ample evidence to support this.

The rear-half and front-half of the house differ in brickwork, construction, floor levels and ceiling height: they also have their own staircase. The rear-half does appear to be older and it is where the kitchen is located.

Any new house has to have a kitchen and only the rear-half of Lenton House has a kitchen (an old one) so it must have been part of the original farmhouse.

Finding evidence for the age of the original farmhouse proved difficult, but finding the date of its enlargement and the building of many new farm buildings was easy: the builder put it on an outside wall in numbers 2m high using coloured bricks.

This was when John Smith took over the farm and the house. He is thought to have bought them in 1841 but he did not move in until 1844, together with his wife, Ann, and two children. Up until that time they were living at The Yews farmhouse further down Nottingham Road (on the corner of Barratt Close).

Although there is no date plaque on the newer, front-half of the house, there is every reason to believe that it was built at the same time as the outbuildings. John Smith was a wealthy farmer and it is hard to imagine him moving from The Yews farmhouse into a smaller one when he clearly had the money to build a better one.

A map from the 1890s shows the house with its newer front half.

John Smith was still living there but he was now an old man: it is not likely that he would have embarked on major building work at this stage of his life.

The front of the house today looks the same (more or less) as it did in 1842 – that is what all the available evidence suggests.

The outbuildings have not fared so well. When Hoe View Road (newer end) was joined up to Nottingham Road in the 1970s, much of the farmyard had to be trimmed back.

Lenton House timeline

Over the past two hundred years, several families have lived in the farmhouse and run the farm. Two farming families have been responsible for over half of those years: the Smiths and the Barlows.

Nonetheless, all the occupants have played a part in maintaining and enhancing the house and its surroundings.

Here is a summary of dates and characters in the story:

1790

It seems quite likely that the oldest part of the house was built around this time, but there is a lack of supporting evidence. The occupants are unknown.
However, there is ample evidence that the house was built in two phases, decades apart, and that the second phase began in 1841.

1841

John and Ann Smith took over the farm and farmhouse in 1841. They had been living at The Yews farmhouse since 1824.
John Smith, who was 45, invested a lot of time and money in the farm and house even before moving in. The “1842” on the end of a barn confirms the year it was built, and their still exists a water pump with the year, 1842, on it.
The earlier farmhouse was end-on to the road but the extension he added, faces the road.
This front-half has higher ceilings and other features that differ from the back-half.
John Smith was the biggest landowner in Cropwell Bishop at the time and the farm became known as ‘Smith's Farm’.

1881

John Smith died in 1881. His wife, Ann, had already died 13 years earlier.
Their daughter, Elizabeth, moved into the house with her husband, William Briggs, and for a while they lived at the farm. However, William was not a farmer, but a grocer who had lived and worked in Old Lenton in Nottingham – and he was 55 years old.
A short time later, his own daughter, Elizabeth Ann (John and Ann Smith's granddaughter), moved in with her husband, 39-year-old George Cheetham.
They had been living in the Old Lenton area of Nottingham where, most importantly, George had been a farmer.

1890s

Fifty years of ownership by the Smith family, came to an end when the farm was bought by 45-year-old farmer, Henry Alwyne Tinsley. This happened sometime in the 1890s and is confirmed by the 1891 Census. He moved in with his wife and ever-growing family.
Not only was he a farmer, but also a representative of the Home Brewery Company.

1926

In 1926 Henry Tinsley was 60-years-old and he sold the farm to 23-year-old farmer, Arthur William Barlow. Arthur was the son of Thomas Barnet Barlow who was a major Cropwell Bishop landowner.
In 1928, young Arthur married Gladys May Salvin and their first child, David Barlow, was born in 1930. Son John and daughter Edith May followed in the next few years.

1974

In 1974, Arthur and Gladys Barlow had lived at Lenton House for neary 50 years, and had successfully coped with several years of disruption while their farm was trimmed to allow a new entrance to Hoe View Road to be created.
But then, at the age of 71, Arthur died following a short illness.
His wife, Gladys, went on to have a bungalow built near the centre of the village – opposite the Wheatsheaf Pub. She lived there until her death, at the age of 96, in the year 2000.

1975

Lenton House was taken over by Arthur and Glady’s daughter and her husband, Edith and Denis Smith.
Denis was a builder, and spent time modernising the house.
Edith and Denis then let the house to Peter and Margaret Cole for a number of years.

1988

Lenton House was bought by Simon and Jane Jackson.

2006

In 2006, the house was bought by present owners, Ken and Theresa Davis who, over the years, have continued to sympathetically modernise the house and outbuildings.
An ancient well has been tastefully restored and brought into working order. The water level is very low and has, no doubt, been that way since gypsum mining disrupted natural water supplies 80 years ago.
Nevertheless, with the help of electricity, water can be pumped through the original 1842 hand pump.

Family trees

Old Lenton Close: its building and its name

This story is about Old Lenton Close and yet, so far, I haven’t explained where the name comes from: time to make amends.

The naming of Old Lenton Close follows from the name of Lenton House so we must first find out where that name, "Lenton House", comes from.

For, at least, the first 100 years of its existence, the house was not called Lenton House. When it was taken over by John Smith in the 1840s, it became known as Smith's Farm, but I doubt it had a name plaque on its gate.

In those days, the main roads through the village were all referred to as 'Main Street'. The few other streets that existed, acquired their name through popular usage, most often from the name of someone living there.

Examples include Billings Lane, Thraves Lane and Starbucks Yard. If those people moved from the street or died, the name would eventually change. Names were not cast in stone.

The same was true of houses. Examples include rows of houses like Parkers Row and Etheldene Cottages. Similarly, individual houses like School House and Shelton Farm.

So, once John Smith built his farm, it wouldn't have been long before it became known as Smith's Farm. When Henry Tinsley took over in the 1890s, it would have been known as Tinsley's Farm.

When Arthur Barlow took over in 1926 you might assume that it became known as Barlow's Farm – and maybe it did, but there is good reason for it not to have been.

Arthur's father, Thomas Barnet Barlow, was also a farmer in Cropwell Bishop and having two farms being called Barlow's Farm needed to be avoided.

Whatever the timing, we know for certain that by 1939 it was called Lenton House because it is listed as such in the 1939 National Register. But you may wonder, where did this name come from.

I have not discovered a document that provides the answer, but there are clues in the family's history.

Whilst Arthur was born in Cropwell Bishop, Gladys was born on Albert Grove, Nottingham – or, to be more precise, in Lenton. She also spent her childhood there.

I believe that this is why Lenton House was so named.

This is all very well, but now we need to understand how Old Lenton Close got its name. To do that, we need to delve into the history of the land that the street occupies.

By the 1980s, Denis and Edith Smith owned Lenton House and all the land between it and the Memorial Hall Field (or, at least, up to the bridlepath beside it). In 1988 they sold Lenton House but retained much of the garden on its left.

They, no doubt, recognised the potential of the remaining land for housing but knew that before this could happen, they would have to deal with a building at the western end of the plot: a large commercial Garage with a DIY wood shop at the rear. Fortunately, they owned both.

A Garage had stood on the site for over 50 years. Photographs taken after 1929 show a smart efficient looking garage and filling station. The first filling station in the UK appeared in 1920 so to have one like this in Cropwell Bishop just 10 or so years later was quite an achievement.

This Garage was referred to as Tinsley's Garage. It was Henry Tinsley who owned Lenton House before Arthur Barlow, but Henry died in 1934. It seems to me, more likely that it was Henry's son, Harold, who ran the Garage.

He was married to Violet Barlow, sister of Arthur Barlow – an example of the many links between village families in those days, which was typical of most old English villages before the First World War.

In 1939, the Garage was being run by Francis Kent who described himself as a "motorcycle and general engineer". His wife, Edith, was a "shopkeeper" and 18-year-old, Robert, was a "motor mechanic". And according to the 1939 Register, they were living at the Garage.

On the left is the shop, on the right a small bungalow, and off to the right, is the Garage which was probably the same as it was during Henry Tinsley's tenure.

The Garage and filling station were still fully operational in the 1970s but once the large supermarkets began selling discounted fuel, the petrol pumps disappeared. The Garage mechanics remained until the 1980s when the everything disappeared to make way for Old Lenton Close.

The homes on Old Lenton Close were all built at the same time but four of them face onto Nottingham Road. For this reason, they are classed as being on Nottingham Road and their house numbers reflect this. However, for this Street Story, I decided that it was only logical to consider all the houses as being part of Old Lenton Close. Let's now consider the choice of name.

They may have thought to call it Lenton Close but then rejected the idea because it was so similar to Lenton House next door. Assuming there was a desire to maintain the connection with Gladys Barlow's childhood district of Lenton, Parish Councillors may have been inspired by some earlier occupants of Lenton House.

John and Ann Smith had been the original long-term occupants of the house and in the 1890s the families of both of their daughters successively lived there. Both of these families had been living and working in Nottingham – in Old Lenton.

The street name, Old Lenton Close, links nicely with the Smith and Barlow families. Maybe this was how it came to be chosen.

Tony Jarrow

Note: Thanks to Anne Terzza, Pam Barlow, Ken & Theresa Davis, Ricky Snodgrass, Debbie Brookes, Lesley Shuttlewood and Tony Carter for their help with this article.

More photos of Lenton House

Old Lenton Close in 2020

Cropwell Bishop now has new Defibrillator in the telephone box on Church Street in the centre of the village.

The Defibrillator has been donated to the village by the 1st Cropwell Bishop Scout Group from their share of the proceeds from the Stilton Stumble.

There will be an official handover from the Scouts to the Village when we are able to do so.

The instructions on how to use the Defibrillator are on display inside the kiosk for anyone in an emergency to use.

Janice Towndrow – Parish Clerk

Photos by Colin Bryan

Why the Double Bend?

Almost all streets start and end at a road junction. It might be a T-junction, cross-road or roundabout for example, but there are always exceptions – even in Cropwell Bishop.

Driving round the bend at the foot of St Giles Way, feels like a continuation of the street, but no, you have entered Kendal Road.

A more heavily disguised name change occurs on Church Street. You drive happily down Church Street heading away from The Turn, then you come to a 90° left-hand bend: no worries, you are still on Church Street. Then a 90° right-hand bend – but this time the street name changes to Cropwell Butler Road.

There is a logic in this, after all, most roads leading out of a village have the name of the place they are leading to. Nevertheless, it could easily be missed by an unwary visitor or delivery driver.

I have long been mystified by the path of the road at this point, a sharp double bend for no apparent reason.

Since first reading the book, “The Making of the English Landscape” by W.G. Hoskins, I have understood that every bend, every junction of an old road, is there for reason.

It may be following the route of an ancient bridlepath, which itself followed the boundary of some field or boundary. A bend may have originally been to avoid a hill, a ditch, a big rock or a building – but there is always a reason.

So, there must be a reason for the double bend at the end of Church Street but, in spite of searching, asking and thinking, I can't unearth it.

The bend appears in the 1804 map, where no obstacle is apparent, and has been perpetuated ever since.

My best guess is that a stream or dyke was the obstruction. As recently as 60 years ago, there were several small streams flowing seasonally onto Church Street from the sloping fields on the western side.

One of them flowed down the path of Thurlby Close and then onwards to the bend (where the access road to the proposed new housing will be).

It could be that at this point on Church Street, a bridge, of sorts, was built and so became the safe place to cross this ditch. In which case, it is easy to imagine travellers coming from Cropwell Butler and, on reaching this ditch, turning sharp left down to the bridge and hence onto Church Street. This would explain the double bend.

But there are holes in this argument.

Imagine going in the opposite direction, crossing over the bridge from Church Street and heading to Cropwell Butler.

Once you had crossed the bridge, with open land ahead, the most sensible route would be a straight line: why on earth would you turn left, then right? And this would be just as true for farmers and carters as for individuals.

Remember, we are talking about a time when roads were often little more than wide tracks and there were no gas, electricity, sewage, or telephone supplies underground: rerouting a road would have been a relatively simple task.

So, it seems, the mystery of the double bend remains.

So, the naming of Crowell Butler Road is no mystery; it leads to our neighbouring village, Cropwell Butler.

As you join it from Church Street, the line of substantial, white houses on the left stand well back from the road.

These six homes were built in the 1930s for agricultural workers and are surprisingly large houses, set well back from the road, and on large plots. They were built at a similar time to the white houses on Fern Road.

At that time, they were the last buildings on this side of the road: Hoe View Road did not appear until 20 years later.

On the right-hand side of the road (after the house that belongs to Hardy’s Close) is a pair of semi-detached cottages that have been much enlarged and modernised during the 2010s. They are numbers 2 and 4 Cropwell Butler Road and ever since the original house was built in the 1900s, they have been known as Rose Cottages.

Looking ahead towards the open countryside, there appear to be quite a number of additional houses lining the road. However, most of the ones in view belong to the side roads: only three have a Cropwell Butler Road address. There are also some new ones that are out of view.

On the right is number 8. It is a bungalow on the corner of Hardy's Close. At first glance, it appears to belong to Hardy's Close but, the giveaway is its entrance which is onto Cropwell Butler Road.

In fact, it was built before the other houses on Hardy's Close and a 1982 aerial photo shows it standing alone. It looks like it then had a long back garden which, now, is occupied by two newer bungalows, 12 and 13 Hardy's Close.

The next is a fine-looking Victorian house, number 12, which goes by the name, Rose Villa, as it has done for over a century. It was built in around 1900 and first occupied by the Clarke family for many years. Its front garden blends perfectly with the house.

In addition to its back garden, Rose Villa originally had an orchard that went down to the stream that flows north – as shown in the earlier the map.

It was in the 1990s that the long garden and orchard were gradually turned into building plots. There are now two houses standing there, the first is 14 Cropwell Butler Road and the further one is 16.

Up to 2010, Rose Villa and these new houses, were the last houses in the village along this stretch of road and the 30mph speed sign was close by. Then, in the 2010s, Barlows Close and then Shelton Gardens were built.

This effectively extended the village building boundary and the 30mph sign was moved further up the hill and lamposts were erected up to them.

The building of Shelton Gardens left a gap between it and Rose Villa – enough for a small house: this is where 18 Cropwell Butler Road was built in 2019.

The private road, largely unsurfaced, which has its entrance between 18 and Rose Villa has no name, but the house numbers indicate that they all belong to Cropwell Butler Road.

Cropwell Butler Road is one of the shorter ones leading into Cropwell Bishop but what it lacks in size it seems to make up for in variety.

There are no mines to talk of, or mills to imagine, but the houses do have character. One that has stood for 120 years is next to one that has stood for just 2.

Even the agricultural houses look grander than others in the village that were also built during the 1930s. All the other homes are "one-offs".

Driving down the hill from Cropwell Butler may force you to apply the brakes earlier than in the past, but that isn't such a bad thing. It leaves you with more time to look aside and appreciate the continually changing scene.

Tony Jarrow

Note: Thanks to Anne Terzza, David Talbot and Pat Onions for their help with this article.

This morning, workmen were felling this tree on Church Street.

This is the first step in preparing for the building of new homes on the adjacent land. There will be a roundabout at this corner and a road onto the new estate.

Photo by Colin Bryan

Rushcliffe Borough Council is appealing for information from members of the public after fly-tipping was found blighting a rural walking spot.

Three tonnes of bricks, rubble and other waste was found by the authority on February 14 at a car park adjacent to the Grantham Canal near Cropwell Butler at a location popular for walkers.

The news follows the Council partnering with Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) earlier this year that has seen a significant rise in the number of fines issued for those fly-tipping, dog fouling and littering across the Borough.

Incidents have been investigated, leading to over 300 fines being issued.

However, the authority is still keen to receive information on anyone who witnessed the fly-tip or saw vehicles in the area on February 13 or 14 and would encourage reporting of any other fly-tipping in the Borough at:

https://bit.ly/3rUE4rt

The webpage includes a facility to pinpoint the location of the fly-tip on a map which can help the Council locate items and aid their swift removal.

The Council’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods Cllr Rob Inglis said: "Incidents like this generate much anger in our Community. I find it utterly deplorable that a small minority of people consider it is acceptable to dump rubbish and waste in our wonderful countryside.

“Offenders show a total disregard to our environment, our residents and to those having to clear it up, especially not knowing what hazards may lie within.

“It either falls upon us all, or just an innocent landowner to foot the bill for each occurrence. “I appeal for anyone who recognises the source of the waste in this incident to please let us know by calling:

0115 981 9911

or via our website:

www.rushcliffe.gov.uk

“Rushcliffe's partnership with WISE highlights the increased commitment to tackle this anti-social crime. Investigations have already and will continue to identify the culprits.”

WISE’s environmental enforcement service operates across the Borough clamping down on dumped domestic and commercial waste seven days a week.

They target those who don’t dispose of their waste in a responsible way, or hand it over to non-registered waste carriers or create eyesores through dropping litter or failing to pick up after their dog’s waste.

Anyone caught fly-tipping can be issued with a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice or if they are observed littering or failing to pick up after their dog’s waste, will be issued with an on the spot £100 fine.

Failure to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice may result in prosecution being brought and a much higher fine being imposed by the Court as well as a potential criminal record.

Rushcliffe Borough Council