Kelham
| Kelham | |
| Nottinghamshire | |
|---|---|
 Kelham Hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK774557 |
| Location: | 53°5’35"N, 0°50’44"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 207 (2011) |
| Post town: | Newark |
| Postcode: | NG23 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Newark and Sherwood |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Newark |
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire about three miles north-west of Newark-on-Trent, at a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 207.
This is a small and pleasant village along the Worksop Road, on the west bank of the Trent. Of the 1,800 acres of the parish, 484 acres are on the island formed by the two rivers between it and Newark.
History
The village has long been the seat and property of the Suttons, who once held the title of Lord Lexington. It is now the property of John Henry Manners Sutton Esq., who resides at the Hall, which is a plain but elegant building, with a centre and wings of brick, with stone corners and window frames, standing in a handsome lawn, near the Trent.
White's Directory of Nottinghamshire in 1853 noted:
A curious wooden bridge which crosses the river close to the lawn has been taken down, and a light but substantial iron bridge erected in its place at a cost of £3,000. The church dedicated to St. Wilfred, had a handsome tower and three bells. It was new-roofed and completely renovated in 1844. Here is a richly wrought monument of the last Lord Lexington and his Lady, of fine statuary marble, but the figures are strangely placed back-to-back. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £19 8s 4d, annexed to that of Averham, being in the same patronage and incumbency. The poor have the interest of £25 left by an unknown donor."[1]
Parish church
[[St. Wilfrid's Church, Kelham|
Kelham Hall
- Main article: Kelham Hall
Kelham Hall was originally the home of the Manners-Sutton family (a family connected to the Dukes of Rutland, the Marquess of Granby, and Viscount Canterbury) of Averham.[2] The house today has been converted to a country-house hotel. It is a Grade I listed building standing in 52 acres of parkland.
The Kelham estate was first acquired by William Sutton from the Foljambe family. It was here in 1647 that King Charles I was held for several days after he surrendered on 5 May 1647 at the end of the Civil War in nearby Southwell. After the Civil War, William's son Robert Sutton, 1st Baron Lexinton, upgraded the Hall. This first house though was destroyed by fire in the reign of William and Mary, as was its 1730s replacement. The third house, which stands today was built in 1865 in a grandiloquent Victorian Gothic style.
The Manners-Sutton sold the Hall in 1903 to a Roman Catholic organisation, the Society of the Sacred Mission in 1903, as run a theological college. The college closed in 1972 and the local council moved in, the hall serving as its headquarters until 2017.
Kelham Hall was sold to Jonathan Pass in 2014 with the council as sitting tenants.[3] When the council moved out in 2017, he began to convert the hall into a boutique hotel, conference centre and health spa,[4][5] Initially, Pass began redeveloping Kelham Hall & Country Park into a venue for weddings and conferences;[6] but conversion was delayed for many years and the building was put up for sale again in 2020.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kelham) |
References
- ↑ White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853
- ↑ Nottinghamshire: history and archaeology | Link's with Old Nottingham: Southwell: The Saracen's Head
- ↑ BBC on the sale of Kelham Hall
- ↑ Grade I-listed Kelham Hall conversion 'will create 80 jobs'
- ↑ NSDC Update
- ↑ Businessman finalises purchase of Kelham Hall for wedding venue and boutique hotel 3 January 2018
