FAMILY’S FIGHT TO SAVE THE TEMPLE

Why did Nuthall Temple – a striking and desirable villa in a pleasing lakeside setting – have to go?

When the last resident Squire died in 1926, the people of Nuthall hoped his son, Robert Holden (known as Robin), would move in and continue the strong family spirit of benevolent ownership – but it was not to be.

Some years ago, we were grateful to Robin’s son, the late Major Hubert Holden, for shedding light on the situation and confirming that his father never wanted the Temple to be lost.  “It’s a sad story and one which would never happen today,” he wrote.

From as early as 1920, Robin tried to persuade his father (the Rev Robert Holden, previously Nuthall’s Rector) to ensure that he kept the Temple.

“Before forsaking  the family  home, one should do everything possible to increase income and       reduce expenses,” he wrote,   pointing out that Nuthall’s advantages included the   proximity of trams to take servants to Nottingham and the possibility of getting electric light off a main.  He suggested parting with Hawton (an estate near Newark owned by the Holdens), selling some areas of Nuthall, and doing away with “endless” pleasure grounds – and if the servants moved downstairs it would make the Temple easier to run.

Major Holden explained that after the old Squire died, Robin had to sell for purely financial reasons.  He wrote:  “Although he owned Nuthall and Hawton, rents were low and so was the value of land.  Total income did not cover outgoings and this was the situation when my father inherited.
 
SAD SALUTE: The Temple in ruins

“The picture was worse because the General Strike was on, there were death duties to be raised, and heavy mortgages to be coped with.  The Temple and the estate were advertised extensively, but there was little money in those days and it took a long time to sell.  Eventually it went not as a house to be lived in (as my father dearly wished) but to someone who wanted to pull it down and sell the decorative interior plasterwork if possible to America.”

The Temple was demolished in 1929 and its ruins were flattened under the motorway in the mid-1960s.