Clifton Hall, Nottingham, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

An early to mid-17th-century terraced garden set on a cliff top above the River Trent associated with the seat of the Clifton of Clifton family. Remodelled and embellished in the early to mid-18th century, and in 1874 by Milner.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Clifton village lies about 6 kilometres south-west of Nottingham. The Hall stands alongside the parish church at the west end of the village on a bluff overlooking a sharp bend in the River Trent. The roughly 33 hectare site is bounded by the river and by the bottom of the river cliff to the north-west, otherwise the boundary follows the south-eastern edges of Clifton Grove, the former kitchen garden, and Clifton Wood. The setting is primarily suburban but the Trent floodplain remains undeveloped. Although partly obscured by trees there are extensive views from the site over the valley and towards Wollaton Hall to the north.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

C Deering, The History of Nottingham (1751), pp 224-5

D Defoe, A tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain III, (7th edition 1769), pp 64-5

J Throsby, Thoroton’s History of Nottinghamshire republished with large additions (1790) [facsimile edition 1972], pp 102-14

J Hodgson and F C Laird, The Beauties of England and Wales XII part I, (1813), pp 182-5

R Allen, Midland Counties’ Railway Companion (1840), p 14

F O Morris, A Series of Picturesque Views 2, (1866-80), pp 39-40

Journal of Horticulture 55, (29 June 1876), pp 510-11

L Jacks, The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire and the County Families (1881), pp 36-41

Country Life, 7 (12 May 1900), pp 592-8; 54 (25 August 1923), pp 246-54

J B Firth, Highways and Byways in Nottinghamshire (1916), pp 52-9

R Mellors, Gardens, Parks and Walks in Nottingham and District (1926), pp 86-7

A C Wood (editor), Memorials of the Holles Family, 1493-1656 (1937)

Architectural History 5, (1962), pp 50-1, 134

Clifton Hall, Clifton, Nottinghamshire, (RCHME report 1976) [NMR BF038684]

Garden History 5, no 3 (1977), pp 67-77

N Pevsner and E Williamson, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire (2nd edition 1979), pp 270-2

M Girouard, Robert Smythson and the Elizabethan Country House (1983), pp 197-8

Clifton Hall, Nottingham, Historical Report, (Woodhall Planning and Conservation 1999)

C Briden & L Hunwicks, Clifton Hall, Nottinghamshire, An Archaeological Assessment of the site of the Hall and Gardens, (2000)

Maps

George Ingham, A Map of the Manor of Clifton in the county of Nottingham the estate of Sir Gervas Clifton Bart, 1763 (Hallward Library, University of Nottingham)

Wm Eames, A Plan of the House and Gardens at Clifton, the seat of Sr Gervas Clifton, Bart with Some Alterations, 1777 Hallward Library, University of Nottingham)

Tithe map for Clifton cum Glapton parish, 1849 (Nottinghamshire Archives)

OS Surveyor’s drawing, 2" to 1 mile, 1815-16 (British Library Maps)

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1879, published 1881

Illustrations

Wenceslaus Hollar, Clifton House ye North Side (in Throsby 1790)

John Throsby, Clifton Hall, The Seat of Sir Gervase Clifton Bart (in Throsby 1790)

Clifton Hall, Nottinghamshire Seat of Sir J Clifton, view from the north-east, 1814 (King's Topographical Collection, XXXIII, 37.3, British Library)

B Dunwell, Gardens of Clifton Hall, watercolour and pencil sketch, catalogued as around 1820-1830, but probably not before 1840 (Nottingham Central Library)

F O Morris, Clifton Hall, Near Nottingham, view from the west lawn, late 19th century (in Morris 1866-80)

Archival items

The Clifton of Clifton Papers are held at the Hallward Library, University of Nottingham, and include: account books, inventories, receipts and personal items 17th-19th century

Scrapbooks compiled by W E Doubleday, photographs and illustrations (Local Studies Collection, Nottingham Central Library)
 

Description written: May 2004

Amended: November 2004; January 2005

Edited: January 2005