Wollaton Hall
The Hall
An incredibly impressive building that was built between 1580 and 1588 at great expense for one of Nottingham's wealthiest families at the time, The Willoughby’s. Descended from Ralph Bugge, a wealthy 13th Century Nottingham wool merchant, the Willoughby’s set about making their mark and commissioned ‘the architectural sensation of its age’ Wollaton Hall.
Constructed in an advanced Elizabethan Style that features many Jacobean elements, the hall is believed to have been designed by Elizabethan Architect, Robert Smythson, who is responsible for several Elizabethan architectural gems such as Longleat in Wiltshire and Derbyshire’s Hardwick Hall. Wollaton Hall took 8 years to build and was constructed from Ancaster Stone which was brought over on horseback and exchanged for coal from Wollaton’s Pits. Across it’s elaborate facade it features incredible stonework details from historical busts, medallions and even stone gondola rings in the form of great lions heads. All of this stonework was overseen by Italian Master Masons at the time.
Since the 1920’s the hall has been in the possession of Nottingham City Council and has been open to the public as a Natural History Museum and park ever since. The building itself has even featured in a rather popular film as ‘Wayne Manor’ in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ starring Christian Bale.
The collection of Natural History items that span several floors in the hall is of great national importance and contains the finest collection of exotic butterflies in the country, as well as mammals, invertebrates and insects. The hall also houses displays of minerals, rocks and fossils and most recently Titus, the first real Tyrannosaurus Rex to be displayed in England for over a century.
The Wallpaper
Contacted by Nottingham City Council Bruce Fine Papers was commissioned to recreate one of the pre existing wallpapers that had been found in the hall during refurbishment. This wallpaper had been discovered in the Retiring Room inside a large cupboard and the recreation was to cover the entire span of the room as a perfect match to go alongside the original which would remain in situ in its cupboard.
The particular wallpaper which was discovered in the cupboard is an incredibly early example of a Tudor Rose and Fleur de Lis block printed design that featured a fine background stripe and was printed in a neutral colourway.
We produced new artwork from the original design for the production of new block printing blocks and hand matched colour samples to produce a colourway that exactly matched the original design. The rolls of wallpaper that we produced for Wollaton Hall are still up today and stand proudly alongside the original bringing its incredibly historic design out of the cupboard and proud onto the walls for all to see.
