August 7, 2025, by Chloe

Croquet Lawns and Coach Houses: Echoes of Lenton Mount

Today known as The Hemsley, the building originally called Lenton Mount is named for its original owner: William Sidney Hemsley. Hemsley was a prosperous lace manufacturer in Nottingham who purchased the plot of land on which his house was built from the Lenton Hall estate in 1904.

The property was designed by Nottingham architect William Dymock Pratt (1854-1916) who designed a large number of local buildings, including The Orchards, a neighbouring property. Lenton Mount was built in around 1906-1907, occupying an enviable position set within extensive gardens and overlooking the Trent valley. The building’s garages were built during the same period and were originally a coach house, home to Hemsley’s coachman Frederick Nurse, along with stables.  

The Hemsley (formerly Lenton Mount) today

Hemsley would go on to occupy the property until the 1920s, after which he sold it to one Frederick Mitchell, who in turn was quickly supplanted by Captain John Eric Greenwood in 1926. Greenwood was a notable Rugby Union player whose sporting career had been interrupted by his service in the First World War; by the 1920s he was working for Boots, where he would eventually go on to become joint Vice-Chairman.  

UMP/6/2/2 Photograph of gardens of Lenton Mount, the future site of Hallward Library; c.1970

The Greenwoods sold the house to the University in 1953, at which point it was renamed ‘The Hemsley’, and was converted for use as the staff club. However, the family had certainly made their mark on the property across their twenty-seven years of ownership, adding a croquet lawn, the traces of which can still be seen in the form of the level area at the south of the house, as well as a rock garden, which was unfortunately subsumed by the house’s west extension.  

UMP/6/2/1 Photograph of gardens of Lenton Mount, the future site of Hallward Library; c.1970

Greenwood also added a bowling green and tennis courts to the property, but these too are no longer visible, as they now lie beneath Hallward Library. When the University had agreed to fund the construction of a new library in 1969, it had initially been assumed that the new building would be located behind the Trent building, but it ultimately ended up being built in the former gardens of Lenton Mount. This site was chosen for its proximity to the Faculty of Arts and the Social Sciences building, as it was students studying these disciplines who would be the library’s primary user base.  

Our first architecture tour of University Park on Friday 12 September is now fully booked – but don’t worry if you missed out! Due to popular demand, we will be running a second tour on Friday 19th September, 2pm – 3.30pm. Please email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk to book your FREE place today!

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