Wollaton Park and Wollaton Hall

The front elevation of Wollaton Hall

During my day out to Nottingham on the Easter weekend of 2019, I spent 4½ hours exploring the Lace Market and the churches of St. Mary and St. Peter and by the time I arrived at the entrance to Wollaton Park on the Derby Road it was 2:45 pm, with Wollaton Hall due to close at 4:00 pm. 

The entrance to Wollaton Park on Derby Road

Wollaton Park occupies the bulk of an outcrop of the Triassic Lenton Sandstone Formation, with Wollaton Hall set on the north-west end of a low but prominent ridge of the younger Chester Formation, which runs south-east to the eastern part of Nottingham University campus. 

A geological map of the area around Wollaton Park

Arriving at Wollaton Hall, I had no time to look at the exterior of this magnificent house built by Robert Smythson for Sir Francis Willoughby and finished in 1588, the year in which the Spanish Armada was defeated. 

The patina on the Ancaster limestone at Wollaton Hall

Taking only a few general photographs of the rear elevation to record the dark honey coloured patina that the Jurassic Ancaster limestone has acquired, as seen earlier in the day on Low Pavement, I then went inside to discover the wonderful three storied hall, which has a finely carved screen on one side. 

A detail of the finely carved screen in the hall

The Natural History Museum is full of wonderful old fashioned cabinets and stuffed animals, which very many museums have now sadly replaced with interactive displays that often break down and can’t be repaired due to budget cuts. 

Fossils

A large proportion of its collection of geological specimens, however, had been temporarily removed as part of the reorganisation of their collections but, nonetheless, I still think that they had some excellent specimens on display. 

Minerals

I could have done with more time to look at the contents of the museum and I was one of the last visitors to leave when it closed but there were still plenty of things to see in Wollaton Park. 

A detail of the old stable block

Although the Nottingham Industrial Museum housed in the stable block had also closed for the day, I had a very welcome cup of coffee at the Café in the Courtyard, where I particularly appreciated the photographs of specimens from the museum’s geology collection, which covered one of the halls. 

A display of photographs of geological specimens 

Up until then, I had spent 6½ hours exploring parts of the city that I had never bothered to visit when I was student there and I was glad to relax for a while in the late afternoon sunshine, before taking a quick look at the memorial to the American 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment and then heading back to the city centre, where I finished my day by looking at the geology of Castle Rock.

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment memorial