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This fascinating articles originates from our Winter 1998 Heritage Newsletter:

It was the builders, early in the eighteenth century who started the charming practice of placing semi-circular fanlights over their front doors. At first these were of wrought iron, lead, or wood; Robert Adam used wrought iron with delicate enrichments in copper or brass for splendid country houses. But soon he, and his brothers James and John, were all devising fanlights intended for mass production, so that it was not long before cast iron captured this market; some of the designs were very light and dreary.

Wood was used for the glazing bars of fanlights in the early eighteenth century, but by the 1740’s the call for elaborate shapes, difficult to make in timber, gave rise to the use of leaded metal fanlights. During the 1770’s the decorative ideas of Robert Adam had spread to even quite modest houses and the use of leaded fanlights with delicate radiating tracery enabled multitudes to make a show of keeping in fashion. The years 1780 to 1810 were the high point in fanlight making, both for popularity and for elaboration in design. It was in this period that the specialist trade of Fanlight Maker started, including Underwood, Bottomley, and Hamble of High Holborn; in 1793 a partner of this firm, Joseph Bottomley published his influential book of designs.

The trade of Fanlight Maker (and repairer) has been revived in recent times by one man, John Sambrook of Northiam, East Sussex. His fanlights are careful copies of authentic designs made in the traditional way with leadwork soldered to a metal armature and glass fixed in putty. The whole essence of an elegant Regency fanlight with its ‘spider web’ pattern is delicacy, and the most frequent modern mistake in painting them is to carry the white paint over on to the glass far too much, making the fine bars look heavy and clumsy.

When you’re out and about in Nottinghamshire, keep an eye out for distinctive patterns of brickwork that can occur on historic buildings. It’s easy to spot different types of bond brickwork once you know how!

Bond brickwork was popular in Georgian architecture, but the use of these brick patterns is not restricted to this era. It often involves alternating the laying of header and stretcher bricks to form a pattern on the building’s façade. In more simple terms, some bricks are laid out lengthwise, so the long side of the brick is visible (stretchers), and others are laid out with their shorter ends exposed (headers) to produce a visible pattern in the building’s brickwork.

Sometimes treated bricks, ones that have been glazed or burnt to change the appearance/colour, are used to emphasise the pattern.

Above: Faces of a brick. By Mtpanchal - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

There are many different styles of bond brickwork but  you may notice that some styles are more common than others in the area. Sadly some buildings sporting these beautiful brickwork patterns will have been demolished or altered over time. 

Here are some of the bonds you might be able to spot on some Nottinghamshire buildings:

1. Flemish Bonds: This style uses alternating header and stretcher bricks within the same courses (rows). Despite the name, this style is not Flemish in origin and examples can be found in England from around the 17th century. This bond is difficult pattern to lay and often requires a high skill to lay it well as all the joints must be aligned perfectly.

Examples of Flemish bonds: Cotton Mill Cottage in Farnsfield, Farm Buildings at Lilac Farmhouse in Laxton, and Moors Farm in Askham.

Above: Flemish bond wall (headers are dark brown). By Jonathan Riley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

2. English Bonds: This style has alternating courses of headers and stretchers. This is one of the strongest types of bond, but to achieve this pattern, more bricks are required than for some other bond patterns.

Examples of English bonds: Bridge over the Nottingham Canal in Awsworth, Bunny School House in Bunny, and the Manor House in Walkeringham.

Above: English bond wall. By Jonathan Riley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

3. English Garden Wall Bond: This style is similar to the English bond pattern, but instead of one course of headers and one course of stretchers, the English Garden Wall bond style features multiple courses of stretcher bricks (commonly three courses) and one course of header bricks in a sequence.

Examples of English Garden Wall bond: Farm Buildings at Home Farm in Beckingham, 5-7 Main Street in Linby, and Threshing Barn at Yew Tree Farm in North Leverton.

Above: A raking English Garden Wall bond wall. By Jonathan Riley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

4. Header Bond: One of the simpler types of brickwork, this style consists entirely of headers across all courses. Due to its simple structure, it’s an easy pattern to lay that doesn’t always require a skilled brick layer.

Example of Header bond: Farndon Mill in Farndon.

Above: Header wall. By Jonathan Riley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

5. Stretcher bond: Similarly, stretcher bonds are courses made up of entirely stretcher side bricks. This style is generally considered relatively weak and often requires structural support to retain the integrity of the wall.

Example of Stretcher bond: Rose Cottage in Farnsfield and Beech Cottage in Barnby in the Willow. 

Above: Stretcher wall. By Jonathan Riley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

This wonderful article was first published in our Summer 1998 Heritage Newsletter:

We owe much to the Ancient Greeks and the Romans, even in Nottinghamshire (the Greeks they didn’t get a far as Britain in their conquering days – too cold for their sunny dispositions). But did you know, for example, that we owe them for the columns that adorn many buildings around us?

The Greeks originally used columns to make their public buildings more majestic such as their temples and government offices. How many of us have seen pictures of the glamorous Parthenon in Athens? It can be said that the Ancient Greeks refined the systems of the orders originally begun by the Egyptians and arrived at works of architecture of rare beauty.

What constitutes an order? It’s the entire column, consisting of the base, the shaft, and the capital, plus the entablature above, meaning the areas above the column including the frieze. Each order is slightly different. Please remember, these are Greek orders, and are different again from the Roman orders, as the Romans later copied the Greek ideas.

The simplest of columns is the Doric order. This order has no base and the column shaft as placed immediately on the top step of the building. It has a fluted shaft, tapering towards the top, with a simply curved capital under a square block. The frieze has divisions, known as triglyphs and metopes, one often decorated with sculpture.

The Ionic order is further enriched with sculpture. The capitals are the most recognisable features, ornamented with four spiral projections (known as volutes or ears), arranged to exhibit a flat face on the two opposite sides of the capital. The entablature is either left plain or decorated with a continuous sculptured frieze.

The Corinthian order was the most decorated, the capital being ornamented in a variety of ways, usually with figures or foliage plus similar volutes to the Ionic order.

And why are these so important to English architecture? In the late eighteenth century, travel to Greece and Rome became fashionable and a deep interest in the ancient forms of architecture arose. This was also influenced by archaeological discoveries at this time, such as at Pompeii, and by the removal of the Elgin Marbles from Athens to London, where the noble simplicity and serene grandeur was admired and therefore copied. The resulting form of architecture is known as the neo-classical style.

Above: Doric orders on the Roman style seat alcove at the Roman Temple Garden, Clumber Park, Worksop

Look out in the towns of Nottinghamshire, for examples of the Classical orders, both Greek and Roman, the difference mainly being that Roman orders tend not to have fluted columns. What is the most popular order that you can see?

Could you help the HER team?

Recently the team came across some photographs of ten buildings in Nottinghamshire which have unfortunately lost their context. We would love to know more about these buildings, especially their locations. They may be from the district of Arnold but this is not certain!

We also do not know when these photographs were taken so it is possible that these buildings have been altered or even are no longer standing. 

Please take a look at the photos below and let us know if you recognise any of these buildings. Comment below or email us at heritage@nottscc.gov.uk .

Building 1:

Building 2:

Building 3:

Building 4:

Building 5:

Building 6:

This educational article comes from our Spring 2002 newsletter:

In the late 1950’s, local authorities around the country were faced with the task of providing large numbers of new public buildings to cater for the growing local populations. There was a greater demand for primary schools at this date than at any other time in the 20th century and in Nottinghamshire, many areas experienced rapid urban growth as a result of the coal mining industry.

‘CLASP’ buildings were the result, it stands for 'Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme' and was in essence a collaboration between the architects of county authorities. Nottinghamshire County Council’s architects took a lead role from the outset, and in particular, Henry Swain led the way with new and innovative designs that answered the many demands they faced. These buildings had to be built quickly, to a high quality and within a tight budget. They were also faced with a considerable technical problem caused from mining subsistence, which the new buildings needed to be able to withstand. The solution up until then had been to use massive concrete foundations, but these tended to break-up under the pressure.

Henry Swain and his colleagues’ solution was revolutionary. They designed a lightweight steel frame that clipped and bolted together, with large panels between. These buildings were laid on foundations of sand so that if a wave of mining subsistence passed underneath, the building moved gently to accommodate it, as if surfing over the top. All the components were designed to be easily prefabricated allowing mass production and keeping costs down.

At the time, this CLASP system was acknowledged by experts for its innovation and was used throughout the country to great effect. CLASP technology won a number of Royal Institute of British Architects awards and Henry Swain’s contribution was acknowledged internationally with the Hold Medal at the Milan Triennale in 1960.

Henry Swain was the Deputy County Architect from 1958 and then County Architect from 1964-68, during which time he was also the vice-president of RIBA in 1967/68. He died in Nottinghamshire in January 2002, aged 77. His legacy of public buildings are all around us and make an important contribution to Nottinghamshire’s communities. Many people work, socialise, and learn in them every day.

Examples of CLASP schools can be seen in Ollerton, Carlton (Frank Wheldon), Bingham (Toothill), East Retford (King Edward VI), Skegby, Arnold (Redhill), Mansfield (Berry Hill). Health centres and other buildings include: Mansfield Health Centre (St John’s Street); County Hall extension, West Bridgford (the County Council’s own HQ); South Manor, Ruddington; Sherwood Lodge Police HQ; The Sutton Centre, Sutton-in-Ashfield. There are many more CLASP buildings across the county. To find more records, search 'CLASP' in our search bar here and look for the records that say 'Building'.