Kelham

Kelham
Kelham Hall
Kelham  Kelham shown within Nottinghamshire
OS grid reference	SK7755
Civil parish	Averham, Kelham and Staythorpe
District	Newark and Sherwood
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Nottinghamshire

Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles" to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.

Historical

Kelham is "a small but pleasant village and parish, upon the Worksop Road, and on the west bank of the Trent, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Newark. Its parish contains 208 inhabitants and 1,800 acres (7.3 km²) of land, of which 484 acres (1.96 km²) are on the island formed by the two rivers betwixt it and Newark. It has long been the seat and property of the Suttons, who once held the title of Lord Lexington. It is now the property of John Henry Manners Sutton Esq., who resides at the Hall, which was a plain but elegant building, with a centre and wings of brick, with stone corners and window frames, standing in a handsome lawn, near the Trent. A curious wooden bridge which crosses the river close to the lawn has been taken down, and a light but substantial iron bridge erected in its place at a cost of £3,000. The church dedicated to St. Wilfred, had a handsome tower and three bells. It was new-roofed and completely renovated in 1844. Here is a richly wrought monument of the last Lord Lexington and his Lady, of fine stauary marble, but the figures are strangely placed back-to-back. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £19 8s 4d, annexed to that of Averham, being in the same patronage and incumbency. The poor have the interest of £25 left by an unknown donor."

Kelham Hall

CS Jagger's Kelham Rood (1927-29), now in London

Originally the home of the Manners-Sutton family (a family connected to the Dukes of Rutland, the Marquess of Granby, and Viscount Canterbury) of Averham. On "5 May, 1647," "King Charles I surrendered at the end of the English Civil War at nearby Southwell and was held at Kelham Hall for several days afterwards." The Hall was destroyed by fire in the Victorian on 27 November 1857 and rebuilt. The modern "Kelham Hall is considered a masterpiece of high Victorian Gothic architecture, entirely asymmetrical, with a gloriously irregular skyline, and crowning 'grandiloquent' towers." It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Not long after the fire, "a new Kelham Hall, of magnificent proportions, and of an architectural beauty far superior to that possessed by its predecessors, either at Kelham or Averham was erected in the Italian style...and is justly said to be one of (Scott's)...most successful works."

The Hall was bought up by the Society of the Sacred Mission in 1903, and run as a theological college, but was occupied by military forces during World War I. The Great Chapel "was dedicated in 1928 and was a masterpiece. It was almost square with a great central dome, (62 feet across and 68 feet (21 m) high) the second largest concrete dome in England. A few visitors said it reminded them of Stonehenge - massive, austere and mysterious." A bronze sculpture, known as the Kelham Rood, depicting Christ on the Cross accompanied by figures of St John and the Virgin Mary was commissioned from the English sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger to adorn the chapel in 1927, and was completed in 1929.

The Hall was occupied again by military personnel during World War II. "The main accommodation building at the front of the Hall was completed in 1939 to house the Monks and the theological students but its first occupants were a garrison of the ‘Blues’ cavalry and also Texas and Oklahoma oil men who were involved in drilling for oil at the nearby Eakring oilfield."

The theological college closed in 1972 due to declining numbers and also the Church of England policy to reduce the High Church influence.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1973, the Hall has been the head office of Newark and Sherwood District Council. Jagger's Kelham Rood sculpture was removed and re-erected at Willen Priory in Milton Keynes, where it stood in the garden until 2003 when it underwent restoration and was moved to the Church of St John the Divine, Kennington, in London.

External links

• Kelham Hall by Leonard Jacks, 1881
• Kelham Hall history and architecture in article of Newark Advertiser, April 1999
• SSM homepage
• Kelham village webpage with pictures of the area
• Council webpage & brief history courtesy of Tree Foundation
• Site with numerous quality pictures of Kelham Hall
• Excellent picture of the domed prayer hall from the air
• Article concerning the loss of the old Kelham bridge in 1855
• Kelham Hall Website