6 bedroom detached house for sale

Tenure: Freehold

A comment from the current owner…..

“When we bought Holme Lodge in 1998 we knew that our mission was to restore a lovely old house to its former glory. The full structural survey by restoration expert David Morris of Smith Wolley had already identified all the problems we needed to address. In the 12 months which followed we watched in trepidation as all the welsh roof slates on the main house were carefully removed, replaced where necessary and refixed, and a complete new roof structure was constructed for the barn. Once the buildings were watertight, all the old electric cable, plumbing pipes and heating system could be stripped out to be replaced with new, and the damp proof course installed. Throughout the whole process the work was supervised by David Morris who also liaised with the Council to ensure that there were no problems in connection with the property’s Grade 2 listing. What we ended up with was a stunningly large 19th Century house and two story barn set in a lovely walled garden incorporating all the comforts of 21st Century living.

One day, in the middle of the redecorating phase of our renovation, we were interrupted by a knock on the front door and when we opened it were met by an old lady. An amazing story unfolded as Jessie Brumby revealed that working and living in Holme Lodge as a servant in 1934 she had celebrated her 19th birthday with Gerti the cook and the Gardener in the old servants kitchen which has since been converted to a kitchen/diner. We took her round the house and Jessie showed us the rooms where the servants slept and told us stories about the high life led by the lady of the house who entertained at Holme Lodge and at another property near Ascot. Other records show that the house was once owned by the fourth Lord of Carnarvon, who was a cabinet minister in 1866 and that the Earl’s agent William Henry Pain was living in Holme Lodge in 1901. By the time of the 1911 census he was married to Elsie, had a year old son and shared the building with his sister in law and servants Hilda Mollinson and Mary Taylor.

Now that we have retired and the kids have moved on it is time to pass on this historic old building to new owners. They will, we hope, love living in this house which is so full of character and has such an amazing range of versatile accommodation options that it is, quite simply, unique”.

HOW TO FIND HOLME LODGE: From our Bingham Office the property may be approached via Market Street. At the T junction turn left into Long Acre. As the road bends to the right, bear left into Long Acre East. Holme Lodge will then be found on the right hand side clearly denoted by the HAMMOND HARWOOD for sale sign.


The History of Holme Lodge…..

Holme Lodge was owned by the Shelford Estate of the Earls of Chesterfield and later, through marriage, the Earls of Carnarvon. In 1925 the estate passed to the Crown in lieu of estate duty following the death of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon in 1923. However, recent research work with the maps of 1841, 1776 and 1586 reveal that at least until 1841 the property was owned by John Crooke a butcher. Whether the present house was built by then or afterwards is unknown. The size suggests it was built after the Chesterfield Estate acquired the property.

The lodge was supposedly built as a hunting lodge and is said to have been used by the Earl's agent. Certainly there are photographs from the time of large hunting parties and the Earls are known to have hunted here. In his memoirs the sixth Earl writes of hunting in Bingham in about 1925 and staying at the Station Hotel, Nottingham, with friends. A private chapel was built in the grounds and used by the estate workers.

It was actually built for the Earl's estate manager. C Kenrick Jones was the manager in 1896 and 1900 but tantalisingly the directories do not say where he or the estate office could be found. Later directories do record two agents in residence - William Henry Pain in 1908 and John Seymour Rutherford in 1922.
The deeds, as with all former estate properties, are silent as to the history of the house before the Crown sold it. The house is listed Grade II and the description for this suggests a build date of 1831.
The deed papers only go back to the sale of the house by the Crown Commissioners in 1951. Normally there would be no record of occupiers before this, but the deeds to Donkey Green Cottage, opposite offer some clues. In 1944 a Miss Violet Catherine Pratt-Barlow, of Holme Lodge, bought Donkey Green's Cottage, but for what purpose it is not clear. A lady resident of Bingham remembers the cottage being derelict, but is not sure when. Miss Pratt-Barlow continued to live at Holme Lodge until her death in 1951. We have no knowledge of who she was or how long she had lived at Holme Lodge before 1944.

After she died the Crown sold Holme Lodge for £1100 to Sir Douglas McCraith, a Nottingham solicitor who lived at Normanton Grange, Plumtree. This fits the pattern we have observed, that the Crown sold only after the death of a tenant and never to the tenant (who would have had the right to a lower price). The plans show the road as Long Acre, the East must have been added later. Parcel 247 seems to have been an orchard, which were common in Bingham at the time. Interestingly, Sir Douglas' wife, Lady Phyllis, had bought Donkey Green's Cottage two months earlier, but never seemed to have lived there. This purchase is recorded in the supplemental abstract of title, 1955, but is not recorded in the bundle of deeds for the cottage. She did live at Holme Lodge, and local folklore has it that Sir Douglas remained at Normanton Grange. She was said to have been keen on horse racing and her jockey is thought to have lived over the stables in the barn on the corner of Dark Lane. Maybe he used Donkey Green's Cottage.

Sir Douglas died on 16 September 1952. In August 1955 his executors, one of whom was Lady Phyllis, sold Holme Lodge and Donkey Green's Cottage to Henry Perry Griffin of Old Mill House, Lowdham, company director. He was a director of the Nottingham department store Griffin and Spalding, later to become Debenhams. He paid £7500 for a total of 2.73 acres.

Reproduced with the kind permission of The Bingham Heritage Trails Association www.binghamheritage.org.uk