Local organisation, The West Bridgford & District Local History Society, reminisce about The Rectory during years gone by:
Local history is fascinating. To understand the history of your local area gives a much more informed appreciation of the reasons for how a locality appears today. The West Bridgford & District Local History Society exists to promote greater awareness therefore of how and why West Bridgford has developed, as well as researching many aspects of its past and current people, transport, buildings, commerce, religion, education – you name it, we are interested!
To begin with, the proposed re-development of the Police Station site is under review at the moment. So, we thought we would take a brief look at the history of the St Giles church Rectory and garden that once occupied much of this land.
The names of the rectors for West Bridgford are recorded as far back as one Luke de Crophill back in 1239, while members of the Luterell/Lutterell family succeeded him. Not all of the rectors would have lived in West Bridgford but certainly a new Rectory house was built in 1863 – as shown in this old postcard view, and hence this giving the name to ‘Rectory Road.’
To place exactly where it was it can be seen on this old Ordnance Survey map dated 1885 (what is now Church Drive is to the north), as well as on the 1950s aerial view of the Avenue, which also shows the Tudor Cinema (demolished 1959), the old Police Station (replaced by the current building around 1990), and the Lutterell Hall (completed in 1929). The Rectory was demolished in the early 1960s and was replaced by a new house north of Church Drive, while the ambulance station, also now gone, was built to the south facing Rectory Road.
It is to be hoped that the surviving trees and woodland that once formed part of the Rectory garden can be preserved for the future.
See https://www.bridgfordhistory.org for more information about the local Society and what we can offer, including an extensive photograph archive. The Society has also published two books on Aspects of West Bridgford’s History, plus there are also several other books available by local authors. Meetings are held from October to April, more details to be announced later.