Bestwood Lodge
The History of an Estate
History relates that Bestwood Lodge was once a Royal residence, much used for hunting purposes. King Edward III issued letters patent, dated "at his Park at Bestwood" in 1364 and earlier still, Henry I granted to the Priory of Lenton permission to have "the right of having two carts to fetch deadwood and heath daily out of the Royal Forest of Bestwood" This grant might appear to us today to be a petty privilege but then Forest laws were more savage and drastic than any laws since. Within the Forests, the beasts, which were the objects of Royal hunting, the red and fallow deer and wild boar, were protected against poaching by harsh penalties. To poach a deer from the Royal Forest of Bestwood put life and limb in peril and it was not only the game that was protected but also the timber, which could not be cut without permission and the land itself could not be ploughed.
The First Lodge
Prior to his visit to Nottingham in 1363 King Edward III sent instruction to Robert Maule of Linby, the custodian of Bestwood to fell sufficient timber to enclose the park in order to build a suitable lodge on the most attractive part of the enclosure, somewhere for the King to stay whenever his wished.
In nearly every reign it is possible to find some reference to the Royal Hunting Lodge at Bestwood. Edward IV stayed at Nottingham Castle for three weeks from 1st October 1469 and availed himself of the joys of hunting in Bestwood while in residence at the Castle.
Nottingham Castle was Richard III's 'Castle of Care' and he too enjoyed hunting at Bestwood whenever he was in residence, his last visit was on Tuesday August 16th 1485 when he rode out with a few friends to visit the Lodge.
In Elizabethan times, Thomas Markam, a courtier and servant of Elizabeth I was keeper of Bestwood and before that Sir John Byron, a great favorite of Henry VIII. In 1593 Thomas Markham received a warrant from Queen Elizabeth's Lord Treasurer to fell 86 trees from Bestwood Park 'for ye repair of Bestwood Lodge'
The Lodge at this time was built of wood and plaster, covered with slate and tiles and contained 38 rooms with several cottages, farmhouses and barns.
In 1683 King Charles II granted Bestwood Lodge to his illegitimate son Henry Beauclerk, the First Duke of St Albans. Henry's mother is said to be the infamous Nell Gwynn.
The Second Lodge
Down the decades, subsequent Dukes held court in the house, but it was the 10th Duke along with the top London architect S.S. Teulon who created the house we see today. The original house was demolished in 1860 to make way for a large house in domestic Gothic style, with red brick and white stone facings. This Lodge was finished in 1863.
A disastrous fire occurred in 1893, it was discovered by George Fisher, the estate carpenter, who found the drawing room in flames. Before the fire brigade could arrive, men and horses had to be fetched from working in distant fields, the loyal tenants and workmen gathered quickly to form a human chain of water buckets and succeeded in controlling the flames. Unfortunately for the family, many treasures were destroyed along with 25 valuable paintings.
Recent History
In the last century, Sir Frank Bowden, head of Raleigh bought Bestwood Lodge and when it ceased to be a private home it became the headquarters for the Army during World War II. It remained Ministry of Defence property until the mid 1970's when it was converted into The Best Western Bestwood Lodge Hotel.
Hauntings at Bestwood Lodge
Ghostly goings-on back in the '80s still haunt a woman to this day. She quit her job as a chambermaid at Bestwood Lodge in Nottingham, after working at the reputedly haunted hall for two years. During that time ghosts were said to stroll around the premises before vanishing into thin air. Spooky voices were heard in the cellar where bodies were allegedly buried, and some staff felt they were being watched. "Although I never saw any of the ghosts," the woman said, "the things I felt and heard about will stay in my memory forever. I always remember when we had to clean the family room. It always smelled strongly of oranges whenever children had stayed there, but there were never any oranges or peels around - and it was only when kids had been in, never adults. Staff saw people dressed in medieval clothes who mysteriously disappeared. Once when one of the barmen went to change a barrel in the cellar, the lights went out and a voice said to him, 'Can I help you, Sir?' I remember him rushing back upstairs with his hair standing on end, his face as white as a sheet and his body shaking with terror and asking which one of us was playing tricks on him. Nobody had touched the light switch or had been down there. But when he went back downstairs the barrel pipe had mysteriously been changed." She finally left in 1985 after two years working there. "The place scared me to death." Bestwood Lodge was originally a royal hunting lodge. It was later used as a love nest by Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwynn. Gwynn, of course, was famous for being an orange seller before becoming an actress and meeting theking. It's strange how you can still smell oranges in her home, 300 years after her death. There are also reports of the sound of children crying in the vicinity of the lodge.
First Hand Encounter
I have stayed many times in a beautiful hotel called the Bestwood Lodge, an old hunting lodge which even warrants a mention in the Doomsday book. The present lodge dates back to the late 1700s and the staff and guests have seen and heard of many apparently spooky goings on. It is said to be haunted by a grey lady though I have never had the pleasure of seeing her there have been several reported sightings.
The second time I stayed I awoke one night to hear a horse and carriage on gravel and the call of the horseman. The carriage stopped and the horses were stomping on the ground and making some noise. I got up to look out of the window but there was nothing there (no, I hadn't had that much to drink!) I mentioned it to one of the staff the following morning and discovered I wasn't the only one who had reported hearing such a thing! Originally there was a gravel drive where coaches pulled up and I have since seen some old photographs depicting this.
The barmen told me about a presence which some of the staff had sensed in the cellar, when I persuaded him to let me have a look I found that I couldn't even walk down the corridor unless the door was left open – I felt that uncomfortable. I didn't see anything but I certainly felt it and it wasn't friendly! Another odd thing that happened on a subsequent stay when I heard a loud crash coming from my bathroom in the middle of the night. Gingerly I got up to take a look and found everything that I had neatly stacked on the bathroom shelf had now piled itself up in a pyramid in the centre of the bathroom floor. Nothing was broken not even the shelf. I left everything where it was until the following morning and slept fitfully for the rest of the night!
The last time I stayed I was beginning to think that something or someone didn't want me to be there. It began when I got crippling stomach pains the minute we arrived which didn't go away until after we'd left. I know it could have been a coincidence, but I hadn't had anything to eat or drink that would have caused it and apart from the pain I had no other symptoms! Dosed up with pain killers the following four days passed in a flurry of activity, wardrobe doors kept opening by themselves and the lights on the entire ground floor went out when I happened to be talking about how we had a ghost in a London building who kept turning off lights!
On Sunday morning the heavens opened - literally, right into our room! I was awakened at 5am by a drip...drip.... drip...drip. I got up to investigate and noticed that water was running down the wall from the roof above. It had already soaked the curtains and carpet so I grabbed a couple of towels and a spare blanket (from the already open wardrobe) and rang the night porter to alert him to the good news!
The next morning it continued raining heavily and the Lodge was surrounded in an eerie looking mist, which took ages to disappear. Later on we loaded up the car and set off home and I just had this overwhelming feeling that for whatever reason I wasn't meant to be there or welcome at that particular time!
