Issue 37 Spring 23 WEB - Flipbook - Page 36
Richard E Goodwin, who was in charge of all troops in
the area whether Regulars or Territorials. Occupants in
succession were Major-General Sir Richard Goodwin,
Major-General T H Birkbeck, Major-General P F Glover,
Major-General C M Man and Major-General R GordonFinlayson. The occupier in 1966 was Major-General C M
Man. In 1969 Major-General D A H Toler held the title
GOC for the East Midlands Division, followed in 1973 by
Brigadier C M A Mayes for Eastern District (Nottingham). By 1976 a Brigadier & Mrs Tugwell arrived, and
taking their place a short while later, Brigadier & Mrs
Stileman and in 1979 Brigadier R A Plummer. During the
Army occupation, bands such as the South Notts Hussars
playing in the Hall grounds often enlivened Woodborough Feast celebrations in July. It is not known if the
above named military personnel represent a full list of occupancy of the Hall during the period 1939 to 1979.
The nursing home closed in 2004 and the new owners
the Bellamy family turned the Hall into a restaurant with
head chef Des Sweeney. The planned opening of the
restaurant took place in 2005, but the tenure of the
Bellamys only lasted until 2008 when the Hall and business was sold to a Mr & Mrs T Lock. In 2008/09 a new
orangery was added and the venue established as a wedding venue. The Orangery adjoins the Grade II listed
building and is designed to complement the main hall and
gardens.
Following the recent decline of the business, the Hall was
sold to Kidd Hospitality in July 2022.
The Hall was listed as Grade 2* in 1985.
From July 2022
The Hall has traded as a hospitality venue since 2003 but
had become run down over recent years and following
the sale, Kidd Hospitality spent five months renovating
the Hall prior to re-opening as a hospitality venue in
December 2022.
Woodborough Hall and MI6
The relationship between the Hall and MI6 started in
1852 when Mansfield Parkyns bought the Hall for £4500.
His nephew, Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, founded the Secret Service during a meeting in
1909 at the Hall. It was a very small, selective, secretive
group when it was first founded and specialised in foreign
espionage and internal counter-espionage. Even though
the foundation of this Secret Service was before even the
First World War, MI6 had a huge role in the Second
World War. Probably the most well-known success was
the cracking of the German codes and encryptions at
Bletchley Park, which was a branch of MI6. It is amazing
the think that these war winning successes started when
Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming held a secretive meeting
at the Hall. Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming was the
director of MI6 from its founding in 1909 until 1923.
The refurbishment work fell into four categories and was
phased over five months:
• Compliance
• Some restoration and renovation work
• Refurbishment
• Design and fit out
The project was managed by the owners. The principle in
selecting contractors was to use mainly small local firms
who had been recommended to the owners.
Prior to takeover a visit was arranged with the local listed
buildings officer and the local heritage coordinator to take
advice and familiarise the team with the history of the
building. An outline project plan was then set up following a thorough diagnostic with the help of some of our
contractors and more specifically Richard Hill at Bonsers
who was very supportive and helpful in framing the work.
1960’- 2022
Several structural alterations were made in the 1960’s
during General Glover's time. The front door at the side
of the Hall facing onto Bank Hill was blocked up to create
a dining room, moving the entrance to the front facing
the lawn.
The first phase was essentially obtaining the necessary
compliance certifications. This included fire risk assessments, electrical, gas, asbestos and catering certifications,
with a full assessment of the plumbing and heating infrastructure. Substantial remediation work then took place.
Plumbing and gas work was undertaken by A Grice, Ltd,
Fire and security work by Action alarms (Midlands) with
local family run businesses providing the other services.
The Hall then remained empty for some time until sold
to Mr Oxby in 1984 for £144,000. The East wing was demolished and the West wing was in very poor condition.
Mr Oxby lived in the main rooms of the ground and first
floors and converted the second floor into flats. In 1986
the outbuildings and coach house were also converted
into separate flats.
The second phase, running in parallel with this, related
to restoration and renovation work. The majority of this
work was undertaken by Bonsers. Included in this phase
were roof, guttering and chimney repairs, restoration work
on the stone entrance along with restoration and repair
of the orangery woodwork. This work was completed by
October 2022.
In 1988 Woodborough Hall was purchased by Mr Dennis
Wright and Mr Gerald Poxton who refurbished the main
part of the Hall, restored the West wing and rebuilt the
East wing to bring the house back to life in its role at that
time as a residential Nursing Home, which it ceased to be
by February 2004.
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