Sutton Bonington is in south-west Nottinghamshire on the border with Leicestershire. The buildings on either side of the long, straggling main street lie between the flood plain of the River Soar and the London to Sheffield railway line. The parish also includes the tiny canal settlement of Zouch and some outlying houses in the Melton Lane and Landcroft Lane area. Originally two settlements which grew together in medieval times, the village has two churches, St Michael's in Bonington to the north and St Anne's in Sutton. The parishes were united for civil purposes in 1829, but it was 1923 before an order was made in Privy Council to amalgamate the ecclesiastical parishes, and 1950 before both benefices were vacant and one rector could be appointed.

The village covers 2183 acres, with fertile arable land on the higher ground to the north and east, and pasture in the river valley. The main occupations were framework knitting and agriculture in the 19th century, a period when the numerous small farms of earlier times were consolidated into larger holdings. The coming of the Midland Counties Railway in 1840 provided alternative employment, and by 1900 other work was available at the Hathern Station Brick and Terracotta works, the gypsum mines at Kingston, the Zouch plaster mills and in the declining cottage hosiery trade. At this time much of the land was owned by the Paget family of Sutton Hall and Loughborough, and one or two other wealthy proprietors. By 1915 the Midland Agricultural College had purchased land in the north-east of the parish, and moved from its original site at New Kingston into purpose-built accommodation on College Road at the end of the First World War. As the college expanded this provided more jobs for local people and today, as the University of Nottingham Faculty of Agricultural Science, it is the principal employer in Sutton Bonington.

In the early years of this century the village, with a population of around 1,000 (now 1,600), was still very much a rural community, but it had excellent communications with the outside world. There was no station in the 'parish itself, but residents used either Kegworth station (closed in 1969) to the north or Hathern station (closed in 1960) to the south. Roads led to Loughborough, Derby and Nottingham, with bus services from the 1920s, and the Soar Navigation linked the village to the Midlands and North of England via the canal network. This convenient transport system enabled local people to work outside the village without having to move away, and attracted middle and upper class people to take up residence. There were four establishments of 'gentleman' status in the village, and a number of wealthy business and retired people occupied some of the larger houses, most of which had previously been yeoman farmhouses.

The community was largely self-sufficient and there were several shops. Trades like blacksmith and saddler flourished, and carriers and hawkers provided a service for those unable to visit the nearby towns. Education to the age of 12 or so was available at the village schools, one of which, the Endowed School, had been founded in 1718. The children of the better off attended schools in Loughborough, a private school in Kegworth, or boarding-schools elsewhere. The villagers made their own entertainment, much of it revolving around the activities of church or one of the four chapels. Until the 1920s there were six public houses, and these traded alongside the popular Union Jack Coffee House and Temperance Hall and a fish and chip shop kept behind one of the cottages.

 

Sanitary conditions were fairly primitive: a sewer was laid down Main Street in 1908, but many houses were not connected to it and relied on cess pits and earth closets. Mains water was not laid on until 1936 and the villagers drew their supplies from wells or old pumps in Hungary Lane and Goose Pasture. In times of drought, for example in 1935, many wells dried up. Not surprisingly outbreaks of diseases like typhoid fever were quite common. Mains electricity came to the village in 1928, and a gas main was laid in 1964.

Sutton Bonington in the first half of the twentieth century was a thriving village with various means of employment and a community with a diverse social mix of gentry, middle classes, tradesmen, farmers and working people. Our previous booklet Discovering Sutton Bonington Past and Present described the buildings of the village and something of their history. In the following pages we hope you will enjoy learning about some of the people who lived in them and their way of life, in an era so different from our own.

Sutton Hall c.1900, showing bay windows and porch, since removed

 

THE GENTRY

THE PAGET FAMILY

At the end of the 19th century much of the land in Sutton Bonington was owned by members of an old Leicestershire family, the Pagets. William Paget, a wealthy merchant hosier and banker of Loughborough, purchased the Sutton Hall estate from the Parkyns family in the 1820s and bought up a good deal of other property in the village before his death in 1846. The estate was divided between his two sons, William junior and George Byng. William Paget became Lord of the Manor of St Anne's and owned property in the Sutton end of the village, though his main residence was at Southfields, Loughborough. George Byng Paget inherited Sutton Hall and the Lordship of St Michael's Manor, but did not outlive his father by many years, and on his death in 1858 the Sutton Hall estate passed to his son George Ernest Paget who resided in the village for most of his life.

After an early army career G.E.Paget developed numerous business interests, the most notable being his chairmanship of the Midland Railway Company. The railway line ran through the grounds of The Hall, and until his retirement trains were stopped for his convenience a short distance from the house. He was well known in county affairs, being Deputy Sheriff of Nottinghamshire at one time, and High Sheriff of Nottingham in 1898. He was created a Baronet by Queen Victoria in her Jubilee Honours of 1897 to mark the many developments on the Midland Railway during her reign. He was instrumental in providing corridor carriages. The Deanery Magazine for July states that during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations the chairman of the Parish Council, on behalf of the whole village, presented an address of congratulation to Sir Ernest and Lady Paget on the baronetcy which had been bestowed upon him: "All share in the feeling of joy that the village has been honoured in this way." Sir Ernest was a member of the Jockey Club, and had horses in training at Newmarket. His horse Reacher won the Cambridgeshire in 1922 at 33 to 1. He was also interested in cricket and became President of the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club one year.

Sir Ernest was very much the squire in Sutton Bonington. He lived at The Hall with his wife, Sophia, and owned a large agricultural holding and many of the houses in the St Michael's end of the village. Most of the lovely old red brick Hall was erected in the reign of Queen Anne, and it was enlarged by Sir Ernest in the 1870s. A large staff was employed there including a butler, footman, cook and several maids. John Cavey was the butler, and Mr Clark head gardener over four or five junior staff. The gardens were beautifully kept, providing the house with vegetables and a variety of fruits. Each year flowers and produce were sent to St Michael's Church for the Harvest Festival, and hot-house blooms for Christmas and Easter. Sir Ernest was a keen horseman and grooms lived over the stables. Joe Monk, father of the builder G.T. Monk, was his coachman.

Hall Farm on the estate was managed by a bailiff, Robert Fowler, and Sir Ernest took a great interest in agricultural matters. Many of the villagers worked on the farm. John White who was a labourer on the estate in the 1890s recalled that his weekly wage was 14s. His wife was employed on the farm as a girl and earned Is for a nine hour day, 'twitching' (weeding), mangold loading etc. According to Millicent Vickerstaff, Sir Ernest had "ever so many sheep up on top" and these were tended by her father Thomas. He evidently excelled at his job for the sheep often won prizes at the Royal Show and Christmas Fat 'Stock shows.

 

 

Sir Ernest Paget, Bt. 1841-1923

The Pagets were benefactors in the village as well as employers. They contributed to all the appeals for funds and supported charitable events. Every year they provided a dinner for the old people, with roast beef cooked in the baker's oven and puddings boiled in the copper. Coals and sacks of potatoes were also distributed to the elderly. Lady Paget took an interest in the welfare of the tenants, and if anyone was ill she would take them a rice pudding. She became the 'Lady Manager' in the village when the first District Nurse was appointed in 1894: persons requiring the nurse's services were requested to apply to her. (Subscriptions were a halfpenny per week or 2d per month).

Sir Ernest was closely involved in the affairs of St Michael's church. He was a member of the Vestry and rarely missed a meeting. He provided money towards repairs of the fabric when necessary, donating many items to furnish the church. These included the Paget memorial windows by C.E. Kempe dedicated on Easter Sunday 1897, and the oak eagle lectern described in The Deanery Magazine (December 1895) as 'an animated and finely-conceived piece of modelling with a noble and free outline'. These benefactions were accepted with suitable gratitude by the parishioners. In January 1899 The Deanery Magazine states: 'It is with the greatest pleasure and thankfulness that we here record a truly munificent act on the part of Sir Ernest Paget, in having provided for our Church a new and powerful boiler, a stokery in harmony with its surroundings, a radiator for the Chancel, and in a variety of ways enormously improved those methods hitherto adopted for heating the sacred edifice... We have, moreover, to thank him again this year for gravelling the churchyard'.

The annual church garden party was often held in the grounds of the Hall, as were hospital fetes. Mrs Alice Berresford remembers Sir Ernest teaching her to play croquet

 

at one of these events. The Hall Field across the road was frequently used for village celebrations.

Sir Ernest was a manager of the village schools, which he and Lady Paget would visit to inspect the buildings and see the pupils' work. Very occasionally they invited the teachers to concerts in Nottingham or provided the scholars with a tea or entertainment in the Temperance Hall at Christmas. One year Lady Paget decorated a Christmas tree with gifts for 200 children. Not all who were youngsters at that time remember Sir Ernest with affection, for he was a typical squire and expected due deference. Girls had to curtsey when they met him in the village, and boys tip their cap. They got into trouble if they did not open the gate when he approached on horseback, and one gentleman recalls an enraged Sir Ernest lashing a whip and chasing him and some other boys out of the field on the corner of Pasture Lane (now Council houses) where they were playing cricket! At this time there was no recreation ground so the children had no choice but to trespass if they wanted to play in a field rather than the village street.

Lady Paget was never seen without two or three black dogs at her heels. When she died in 1913 she was the first person to be interred in the new churchyard extension on Marlepit Hill. An estate dray was used as her hearse.

Sir Ernest and Lady Paget had two sons and a daughter. George Leigh Paget, the elder son, met a tragic end at the age of 29 when serving as a Captain in the Rifle Brigade in the South African War. He died of wounds received at Vlakfontein, Transvaal on October 10th 1900 and there is a window and cross in his memory in St Michael's church. Miss Ellen Gaskin remembered him riding up to her cottage door accompanied by his sister, and described him as "a fine young man". The younger son was Cecil Walter Paget, a brilliant engineer who followed his father in the Midland Railway, being General Superintendent for 10 years. His first marriage was to Lady

Miss Hylda Sophia Paget, later Mrs William Tilney

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Alexandra Godolphin in 1906 and they made their home at Kings Newton, near Derby, where he rebuilt the burnt out old Hall. He served in the First World War with honours, and succeeded to the baronetcy and the estate in 1923 when Sir Ernest died and was buried beside his wife in the Marlepit Hill cemetery. Sir Cecil, who died in 1936 without issue, was also buried there with his second wife, Florence.

Miss Hylda Sophia Paget was Sir Ernest's only daughter. She is remembered with affection, and Mrs Jane Wrath described her as "a lovely person". She too supported St Michael's church in many practical ways, helping with bazaars and decorating the church for festivals. In 1902 she married Colonel William A. Tilney, a professional soldier with a distinguished military career. From 1911-1915 he was Commander of his regiment, the 17th Lancers, and in the First World War he was Military Secretary to the London and Eastern Command. They had two sons, Robert Adolphus George Tilney ('Dolly') and Edward Vyner Tilney. Owing to their parents' frequent absence overseas these boys lived for a while at 118 Main Street, Sutton Bonington in an old farmhouse belonging to the Paget estate. Lady Paget, their grandmother, is remembered carrying one of them piggy-back, along Main Street to The Hall.

When Sir Ernest died in 1923 Mrs Tilney and her husband came to live in The Hall as her brother was already established at King's Newton. They had fewer servants than in Sir Ernest's time, and altered the house for convenience. The gardens were still well maintained and made available for the traditional fetes. The links with the church and village schools also continued.

The estate eventually passed to Brigadier R.A.G. Tilney, their eldest son, and his daughter Anne the Lady Elton is the present owner of Sutton Hall.

The 19th century owner of the other Sutton Bonington estate, William Paget junior, built the house now called St Anne's Manor, but originally called The Cliff, in 1848. It

Sir Ernest Paget's funeral cortege, 1923. Robert Fowler, farm bailiff on left, Tommy Caldwell, waggoner, leading horse

 

Sir Ernest Paget's funeral, 1923. St Michael's choir approaching Marlepit Hill cemetery

stands on the high ground behind St Anne's church with fine views over the Soar valley. (The original manor house, a timber-frame building, stood in St Anne's Lane. It had been divided into three dwellings, and was demolished in 1965.) After the death of William Paget's widow in 1884 St Anne's Manor was let, and eventually sold, but to this day descendants of the family still own much of the original inheritance, which includes a large agricultural holding and the old stone house known as 'Hobgoblins' in Park Lane.

The Loughborough Pagets were generous in contributing to village fund appeals, and patronizing local events. They met a large proportion of the costs of the 19 th century restorations of both Sutton Bonington churches, and many members of the family have been brought to Sutton to be buried in St Anne's churchyard. There are several memorial windows in the church, and the lych-gate was erected by subscription in memory of Frances Ann Paget, the widow of William junior. Their eldest son, William Byerley Paget, gave the land in St Anne's Lane and built the Village Hall in 1908. Like Sir Ernest he was prominent in county affairs, being High Sheriff of Leicestershire, a magistrate, county councillor and Joint Master of the Quorn Hunt. He distributed coal and potatoes in winter to the elderly who lived in Sutton St Anne's parish and gave money for the needy of St Michael's at Christmas.

There are few memories of this side of the Paget family because they did not live in the village, but later on in the 1920s Mr Edgar Paget, a distant relative, came to reside at Eviton House near Kegworth crossroads. He and his wife are recalled as a very pleasant couple, greatly concerned with the welfare of the villagers. Mrs Paget was President of the Women's Institute for many years, and Mr Paget provided milk for the children at the Infants School in the days before it was given by the authorities. He died in 1945 and was buried in St Anne's churchyard.

 

The Old Manor and St Anne's Church, c. 1920

 

ST ANNE'S MANOR

After Mr William Paget's widow died in 1884 this house was let and eventually Major Charles Richard Tennant J.P. became the occupant. He bought the property and the parkland around it in 1891 for £11,000, making many costly renovations and alterations to the house. Major Tennant was a professional soldier, born of a naval family in Staffordshire, and he served in the 2nd Life Guards in the Egyptian War of 1882. He retired from the army in 1885 and the next year married the Hon. Ruth Adamson Brooks, youngest daughter of the first Lord Crawshaw of Whatton Hall. The couple probably came to live at the Manor soon after this, and resided there for the next fifty years.

Major and Mrs Tennant had no children and lived quietly at the Manor, not joining in village life to any great extent. They went to St Anne's church every Sunday and Mrs Berresford recalls Mrs Tennant wearing lovely grey furs and splendid jewellery on these occasions. Major Tennant was Rector's Warden for many years. The Manor gardens were not opened for charity events, even though they were beautifully kept, and fetes for St Anne's church were always held in the Rectory grounds. However the Major contributed generously to the upkeep of the church, and he was also a manager at the National School. The Major was a prominent follower of the hounds and kept hunters in the stables adjoining the house.

In keeping with their lifestyle and the size of the house, the Tennants employed several staff. Mr William Shaw, who had been batman to the Major in the army, retired with him and came to Sutton as his butler. He lived with his wife Emma and two young daughters in a cottage near St Anne's church, so that the children did not disturb the

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peace at the Manor! After Mr Shaw retired, Mr Wright became the butler. Mr Watts was head groom and lived in the Lodge House in Hungary Lane. Jo Patrick and Harry Silvester, the under-grooms, lived in the village. The other servants were a cook/housekeeper, housemaids and a gardener, Mr Holden, who lived in the Old Manor in St Anne's Lane. When motor cars came on the scene Jack Thomas was the chauffeur and Mrs Edna Marshall remembers that he was always sent round the village on polling day to pick up the Conservative voters. She and her friends used to climb on board for a free ride!

The big event remembered about the Manor is the night that it caught fire. It was Christmas time in 1908, and most of the villagers were at a social in the Old School near St Michael's church. Word came down that the house was on fire and everyone left and rushed there to assist in any way they could. Percy Haywood recalls people running about shouting "Fire at the Manor!" and virtually the whole village was quickly at the scene helping to carry the furniture out. All those who helped at the fire were given a gold sovereign by Major Tennant afterwards.

According to local newspaper reports, the fire was discovered by a maid shortly after midnight, and the alarm given immediately. Mrs Tennant's invalid sister, Mrs Townshend of Nuneaton who was staying with them, was evacuated to a nearby farm whilst helpers brought out much of the valuable antique furniture and priceless works of art: these included a number of Gainsborough pictures. A good quantity was saved from the drawing room and some of the bedrooms, and everything was removed from the dining room on the west side. It was stored in an arbour on the lawn, and in various

The Hon Mrs Tennant planting King George V's Jubilee Tree at Pasture Lane in 1935. I to r: W. Brown, A.E.M. Shepherd, Rev Hodder (Meth.), F.W. Beckett, Rev A.L. Thomas (St Anne's), J.R. Branson, Rev F.W. Soames (St Michael's), Mrs Tennant, Mr Pateman, Rev Weddell (Metn.)

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St Anne's Manor before and after the 1908 fire

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St Anne's Manor in 1985, showing former stables and outbuildings

outbuildings. However the flames spread rapidly, and soon the whole south side of the house was enveloped. The fire and a huge pall of smoke could be seen from many miles away.

A motor car was sent to Nottingham to summon the Fire Brigade, but Sutton Bonington was outside their area, so the car had to make its way to Loughborough where the Brigade received the call about 2 o'clock. Foreman Wesley turned out with the light steamer and a complement of men, but their progress was impeded by the icy roads, and they did not arrive until 2.30. The firemen had great problems with the water supply, for the Manor well kept running dry. An attempt to connect the hoses to Sir Ernest Paget's reservoir failed because the pipe became choked with ice due to the intense cold. The freezing weather hampered all the firemen's efforts, icicles formed on their faces as they worked, and to cap it all a blizzard engulfed the scene for some time. Eventually the fire was brought under control, so that by daylight the flames had been put out, although the debris continued to smoulder for hours. The brigade finally left the scene at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Practically the whole of the south-east portion of the main building was gutted, nothing standing but the walls, and much of the contents of the remainder was damaged; the losses ran to many thousands of pounds. The Major took the opportunity to refurbish and extend the house. The family lived at Whatton Hall for a while before moving into the back of the Manor whilst the front part was rebuilt. The fire was thought to have started in a beam over the library fireplace, but this was never resolved satisfactorily.

Major Tennant died in 1937 and his widow in 1943. Both are buried in St Anne's churchyard. After their deaths the house passed to Sir Charles Buchanan, a nephew of Major Tennant, who died in 1984. Sir Charles and Lady Buchanan opened the attractive and interesting gardens for fetes and parties, and took a much more active part in village life than their predecessors. Lady Buchanan still lives at the Manor, which has now been in the occupancy of one family for nearly a century.

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THE ELMS

The Elms is a large house situated between College Road and the railway line, now used as a Veterinary Investigation Centre by the Ministry of Agriculture. It was built in 1860 for John Harris, Esquire, and While's Directory of 1864 describes it as a 'neat brick dwelling, with pleasure grounds and gardens attached, tastefully laid out'. Towards the end of the 19th century the house had some famous occupants. Owen White described the situation well: "Mrs Tillotson lived at Whatton Hall. Her husband realized that when he passed on, she wouldn't be able to keep it up, so he disposed of the Hall and bought The Elms. Well, he passed away and she married Admiral King-Hall. After that she married Sir Alexander Armstrong, but she outlived them all."

Charlotte Simpson was born in Staffordshire in 1827 and married Thomas Tillotson of Sheffield in 1850. They appear to have bought The Elms in 1874, although Mrs Tillotson probably did not live there until after her husband's death in 1878. There is a window and brass tablet to his memory in St Michael's church, but Mr Tillotson does not seem to have been buried in Sutton Bonington. Mrs Tillotson's second husband Admiral Sir William King-Hall was born in 1816 and had a distinguished naval career, winning honours in the Chinese War of 1856. He was deeply religious and a leading figure in the temperance movement. After he came to live at Sutton Bonington in retirement he was much concerned with charitable organizations, and was responsible for the building of the Temperance Hall in Bollards Lane (to be described in a future publication). He died in 1886 and was buried in St Anne's churchyard, where his grave is marked with a headstone in the form of an anchor. There is also a window to his memory in the church, depicting Christ walking on the sea with Peter, erected by his widow, and a memorial plaque in St Michael's put up by the children of his first marriage 'who thank God for having blessed them with such an unselfish father'.

Dame Charlotte King-Hall was married again in 1894 to Sir Alexander Armstrong, another naval hero. He was Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria and to the Prince of Wales, but had spent 5 years in the Arctic as medical officer on board The Investigator. This ship's expedition was famous for achieving the long-sought North-west Passage, and Sir Alexander was responsible for keeping the crew alive under conditions of great hardship and privation. In Sutton Bonington he lived quietly, dying at The Elms in 1899, aged 81. Lady Armstrong gave the present seating in St Michael's church in his memory.

According to Owen White, Lady Armstrong was "a very kind lady. She used to entertain the choir from St Michael's church each year, and she attended the service at St Michael's one Sunday, and the following Sunday at St Anne's. Now, that large opening at the top of the lane outside St Anne's, that was made on purpose for her carriage and pair to turn round in. Previous it was just a straight lane and they used to have to go into the field to turn round, so Mr William Paget of Loughborough gave that bit of land to make a carriage ring". This was in the days before the Village Hall was built. Lady Armstrong was much involved in the affairs of the village and the two churches, contributing generously to charitable appeals and patronizing local events. After Lady Armstrong died childless in 1913, The Elms was put up for auction and the sale catalogue gives a good picture of a 'gentleman's residence' of the period. The house is described as having a 'spacious hall, dining room, drawing room, study, billiard room, nine principal bedrooms and dressing rooms, bathroom, schoolroom,

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The Elms

nursery and complete domestic offices'. These latter were 'well shut off from the residential part of the house' and comprised butler's pantry, servants' hall, housekeeper's room, kitchen, scullery, larder and storeroom. There was a bungalow lodge at the entrance to the drive, stables for three horses, carriage house and motor garage, harness room and two cottages for a coachman and gardener, plus a large kitchen garden with glasshouses etc.. The estate extended over 14 acres and included 'The Farmery' — a range of brick buildings comprising cowhouses for 12 beasts, barn, large granary, open cartshed, piggeries and fenced-in rickyard. The purpose of this 'farmery' is somewhat puzzling as the property did not seem to be an agricultural holding, only one acre being arable and the remainder 'rich old pasture with spinnies'. Possibly there was more of a farm in the house's mid-Victorian beginnings.

It took a good number of servants to run this establishment and in the 1881 census returns eight were listed at The Elms — a butler, cook/housekeeper, page, kitchenmaid, two housemaids, a lady's-maid and a governess for those of the Admiral's children still at home. In addition there was a resident coachman and a gardener. All of these people came from elsewhere, so the house did not help with local employment.

The property was evidently bought by the Midland Agricultural College for The Elms was next occupied by Dr Goodwin, Principal of the College and then by his successor, Dr Milburn. They cannot have lived in the style of the house's Victorian and Edwardian heyday. Later the house was converted into offices and laboratories.

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SUTTON FIELDS HOUSE

This stone house first appears in White's Directory of Nottinghamshire for 1864, being described as 'a neat brick(!) residence 1 1/4 miles from the village and near Kegworth Station'. The seat and property of Thomas B. Chamberlain J.P., it was close to The Elms in the far north-west of the parish, and the two houses were built around the same time in the early 1860s. The site occupied part of an 85 acre holding allotted to John Chamberlain (grandfather of Thomas) in the St Michael's Enclosure Award of 1777, and was bounded on the north by the road to Kegworth and the east by the Kingston road, now College Road. The railway cut the holding in two when it came through in 1840, and the close proximity of the new Kegworth Station may have induced the building of Sutton Fields and The Elms in that otherwise isolated part of the parish. Unlike The Elms, Sutton Fields had a sizeable area of farm land attached. The house was substantial, with a lodge at the entrance to the drive on Kegworth Road, and a range of outbuildings, including coach-house, stables, farrier's shop, forge and a pair of cottages for employees.

Little is known of the Chamberlain family. By the time of the 1881 census William Tidmas was the owner and occupier of Sutton Fields. Born in Manchester, he was a surgeon and physician turned lace manufacturer. His wife Martha was the daughter of Jonathan Burton, a self-made Nottingham brown net manufacturer who had purchased an estate in the village, and the couple probably moved to Sutton Bonington after his sudden death in 1856. According to the 1861 census William and Martha

 

Sutton