There are lots of examples of Watson Fothergill buildings across Nottingham city centre, from his offices on George Street to the Pakistani Centre on Woodborough Road. However, there are a few that still remain pubs, including the Rose of England pub on Mansfield Road and The Castle Pub on Castle Gate.
The pub has been renovated in recent years and it sits opposite the historic gates of Nottingham Castle. It was designed in 1883 for Mr. Tate. The building was known as Mortimer House and the row once housed a row of shops and offices.
Watson Fothergill is one of the best-known Victorian architects and he was born in Mansfield on July 12, 1892. He left school at 15 before going to work for Frederick Jackson, Civil Engineer, Architect and Surveyor where he started to learn about architecture.
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He established his own architectural practice in Clinton Street in 1864 before going on to design his first building in the city centre. Fothergill won a competition to design the Albert Hall in Derby Road, which opened in September 1876, although it burned down in 1906.
You can recognise his distinctive builds due to their gothic style, red and blue bricks, stone and black timber used for eaves and balconies. The Fothergill and castle pub and kitchen have many of these features including a tower over the top of one of the windows on the building at the end of the row.
A square tower can be seen above what was once The Old Castle Inn and there is a rounded turret that caps the lower end of the row.
The building is listed including the beautiful stained glass windows which are decorated throughout the pub. One window shows Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
Fothergill died in 1928 following a struggle with ill health after a fall at the age of 87. The pub was once known as The Old Castle Inn before it was renamed in more recent years.
The pub has had many different uses over the years including art exhibitions in the 1970s and it was an accountant's office in the 1930s. In 1984, the upstairs room was opened as 'the Shires Room' where you could get an English breakfast along with crumpets and cream tea.
In the late 90s, photos show a brown sign for Firkin Brewery across the top of the window. Firkin Breweries ran from 1979 to 2001 and had 44 pubs across the UK.
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