Thoresby Hall, Newark and Southwell – Review
By Clare Jenkins, February 2025
When Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire was completed in the 1870s for Sydney Pierrepont, the 3rd Earl Manvers, the Duke of Wellington described it as ‘one of the grandest houses in England’ despite its location ‘in the midst of a forest’.
Simon Jenkins was sniffier about it. In his classic book England’s Thousand Best Houses, the former chairman of the National Trust wrote: ‘How are the mighty fallen. Thoresby was one of the great Dukeries estates’ and the house, with its honey-coloured gables, turrets, towering chimneys and clocktower, ‘an extravagant Jacobean creation’.
He visited just a couple of years after the hall had reopened (in 2000) as a Warner Leisure Hotel. ‘There are now fruit machines in the bar,’ mourned Jenkins, ‘photographic paintings on the walls and, on my last visit, transvestite entertainers promenading in the drawing room’.
Well, there are no such entertainers there during our visit. In their place: The Base Tones three-part vocal harmony group, and The Ed Sheeran Experience tribute band. And, as Jenkins eventually, reluctantly, admitted, the Grade I listed house, once on English Heritage’s ‘at risk’ register, is triumphantly revived. Only it’s now filled with paying guests instead of huntin’, shootin’ toffs (stags’ heads still adorn some of the walls). As he concluded: ‘Let us make the best of what we have.’
A view from a bedroom window at Thoresby Hall
“Wide range of activities”
My husband and I certainly do that, spending three nights in a bedroom overlooking the drive, from where we can see people enthusiastically arriving (as we do) on the Friday, then reluctantly leaving (as we do) on Monday morning. In between times, these fellow guests – couples celebrating anniversaries, mothers and daughters sharing a weekend break, groups of chic women having reunions – engage in a wide range of activities. For those who want to be active, these include aqua-aerobics, disc golf, croquet, a gym and a swimming pool. For those who don’t: saunas and spa treatments (fancy ‘A Brush With Heaven’, anyone? ‘A Mediterranean Marinade’?). The particularly self-indulgent can sign up to gin or cocktail tasting in the Manvers Bar (where I see no fruit machines).
Or you can simply sit in the sumptuous Library, nestled among carved oak bookcases, and read. As I found on a previous Warner weekend at Studley Castle in Warwickshire, it’s like being on a cruise ship, but on dry land.
It’s a view echoed by two men playing dominoes in a window seat. “We just come here to relax,” says one. “It’s time out. You don’t have to think about anything. Everything is laid on, provided for you.”
“When I was a child,” adds his friend, “it was all Butlins and Pontins. Now it’s this, much more upmarket. And I love it!”
The Great Hall
image: Stephen McClarence
“Immaculately-maintained”
The Library, like other rooms in the old part of the 220-bedroom hotel, oozes stately home elegance. The beautifully carved wood overmantel shows Sherwood Forest’s legendary Major Oak surrounded by deer and forest ferns, with Robin Hood and Little John lurking below. There are padded armchairs to sink into, warmly-glowing lamps, and thick brocade curtains at the huge windows, which look out onto 30 acres of parkland and an immaculately-maintained croquet lawn.
The Great Hall, meanwhile, is a three-storeyed marvel of white arches, wrought-iron chandeliers, swirling bannisters and balconies, soaring up to a hammerbeam roof. Tapestries adorn the light wood panelled walls, the fireplace is topped with the Pierrepont coat of arms held by snarling black lions, and one large window is studded with heraldic stained-glass panels.
Our bedroom – like many in the newer wings – is a twisting, turning walk away (bring a ball of string) from the original hall. It’s spacious and light, with a king-size bed, feature walls of birds and foliage, padded sofa and armchairs, side tables – and those windows through which to spy on fellow guests.
The Blue Room
image: Stephen McClarence
“Very satisfying”
Dinner our first two nights is in the waitress-service Brasserie 32 in the impressive Blue Room, surrounded by blue damask wallpaper covered in cavorting cherubs and an intricately carved ceiling in burnished gold and blue.
Here, as in the buffet-style Market Kitchen, the menu is extensive without being overwhelming. I start with deliciously creamy broccoli and Stilton soup while my husband chooses the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. Then it’s the risotto verde for him – “I could carry on eating this all evening,” he says, even though the portion is ample – a very satisfying mushroom and tarragon suet pudding for me (I ignore the calorie count listed beside it).
Afterwards, we sidle into The Late Lounge cabaret to catch The Base Tones singing 1960s favourites like The Four Seasons’ hit ‘Sherry’ and Neil Sedaka’s ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’ before they segue into more recent times. “Was anyone here alive in the 1980s?” asks the lead singer, tongue firmly in cheek.
A room in Thoresby Hall
“Happy memories”
After breakfast the next morning (which includes that hotel rarity, fresh fruit salad), we resist the temptation to stay put. Instead, we head for Newark-on-Trent, 20 miles away, where I started my journalistic career as a trainee reporter on the Newark Advertiser. First, though, we visit the estate village of Perlethorpe, where generations of the Manvers/Pierrepont family are buried in the churchyard.
We get talking to Catherine Moore, whose parents worked for the 6th Earl for 30 years, her father as a forester, her mother as dinner-lady at the village school. “Mr Bart was the chauffeur, Mr Judkins was the butler and Amelia was the maid,” she tells us. Now in her 70s, Catherine left the area after marriage and settled in Devon, until the pull of Perlethorpe and Thoresby Hall proved too strong.
“I have such happy memories of it all,” she says. “I used to ride my horse here – and I sang in the church choir. We used to go to Christmas parties at the hall and do the carol singing. Countess Manvers used to give us presents – and she painted our portraits.” Indeed, some of her artwork still hangs in the hall. “When I lived in Devon, it wouldn’t leave me alone. I just had to come home. To me, it’s just a magical place. And the hall hasn’t changed.”
Newark Parish Church
image: Stephen McClarence
“Important role”
In Newark, we stroll around the cobbled market square, admiring the handsome Georgian and Victorian buildings. The top floors of the medieval timber-framed Old White Hart, though, are To Let, and the magnificent St Mary Magdalene parish church is sadly closed for a year ‘for essential maintenance’.
However, the absorbing Civil War Museum is open, tracing Newark’s important role in the war between Royalists and Roundheads. Among items on display are 17th Century amputation saws and bullet extractors (fearsome-looking instruments of torture), a soldier’s coat disturbingly flecked with blood and a cannon ball taken from the church’s soaring spire.
There’s another museum in the handsome 18th Century Town Hall, mainly focussed on the town’s civic side, together with a small art gallery showing work by Sir William Nicholson (father of Ben, father-in-law of Barbara Hepworth), Stanley Spencer, and artist and sculptor Robert Kiddey. A teacher at Newark technical college for 50 years, he exhibited at the Royal Academy and Paris Salon alongside Picasso, Augustus John and Jacob Epstein, but somehow eluded their fame.
A Green Man carving in Southwell Minster
image: Stephen McClarence
“Finest in the country”
A further short drive away is Southwell, with its magnificent Minster. Its Chapter House stone carvings of leaves, animals, birds and Green Men, are rightly considered amongst the finest in the country. No wonder they’ve recently been voted the nation’s No 1 Cathedral treasure.
Back at Thoresby Hall, we have dinner in The Market Kitchen, the conservatory-style, self-service restaurant offering a range of different dishes, including Burmese-style butternut squash curry, roast beef or pork, fish, salads and quiches.
Halfway through the meal, a table of impeccably stylish women launch into song. Turns out they’re classically trained singers who perform under the name Shades of Blonde, and they’re here celebrating a birthday. “We’ve all done different things while we’ve been here,” says Debbie. “Some of us have done the rifle-shooting, Michelle had a go at archery, Lynn had the falconry experience. Then we all get together again afterwards. In a place like this, you can do your own thing, or you can do things together. There really is something for everyone.”
A two-night break at Thoresby Hotel & Spa costs from £204pp, while a three-night break costs from £259pp. Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Park, nr Ollerton, Notts NG22 9WH: warnerleisurehotels.co.uk/hotels/thoresby-hall-hotel
nationalcivilwarcentre.com
visitnewark.co.uk
southwellminster.org
Clare’s dream is to live in a hotel suite, safe from the bother of boiler breakdowns and crashing computers. In fact, thanks to her husband Stephen McClarence’s work as a national newspaper travel writer, she’s been lucky enough to stay at hotels and eaten in restaurants across the UK and abroad – and has loved (nearly) every minute. As a journalist herself, she’s made hundreds of features and documentaries for Radio 4, including interviews with many actors and writers. She’s also a former theatre reviewer for The Stage magazine, and co-author of Teatime at Peggy’s: A Glimpse of Anglo-India.
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