In Search of Nottingham

Alexander Spotswood 1674-1740

The first home was built here around 1774 by General Alexander Spotswood, grandson of colonial Virginia (Lieutenant) Governor Alexander Spotswood (1674-1740). The colonial governor took ownership of this tract of land in 1722. Alexander had a son named John who had a son named Alexander. The grandson Alexander's father, John, was married to a cousin of Martha Washington, George Washington's wife. Alexander the grandson was married to George Washington's niece, Elizabeth.

William Lawrence McCarthy Spotswood (1791-1871[?]), great-grandson of the colonial governor, built Nottingham, the focus of this post. It is named after the location in England where his father attended school. The exact date of construction is unknown, but it has to pre-date 1834 because the land was sold out of the Spotswood family at that time.

I first heard about Nottingham in January 2009. I was still in college pursuing my degree in historic preservation when a fellow preservationist friend of mine had heard that it was slated to be demolished in the near future. Fearing the worst, we hopped in the car and headed off into Spotsylvania County looking for a home with no address and no exact location. After getting lost, backtracking, and almost giving up, we finally spotted the home about a quarter of a mile off of the main road.

Heading up the drive, we got our first glimpse

We got out of the car and got our first good look at the once-stately home.

 

A survey of the home was done in 1936 by Sue Gordon. Already by that time, she noted that the home was "in rather poor repair." That said, she was still able to observe walnut handrails, a combination of panelled and painted walls, wrought iron hardware on pine doors, and a partially original yellow pine floor.

1936 and 2009

The image above shows the difference in Nottingham's front facade between 1936 and 2009. At some point, the second story porch was removed. The tuscan supporting columns were replaced with much taller square beams and the central doorway upstairs now opens to nothing.

Simply put, Nottingham was a mere shell of its former self. There was no longer any indication that this was the home of a very important Virginia family. The home had obviously been modernized at one point, but the home was clearly a goner by this point. All of the flooring for the second floor was gone - ripped out of the walls, making for a very awkward presentation of second floor doorways and closets that open onto nothing below them.

Sad remains of the second floor

Much of the flooring was missing on the first floor as well. Giant holes scarred the walls, too. It was all likely ripped up to be resold and to provide access to valuable copper piping hidden within and underneath.

First floor destruction

We poked around outside some more before leaving. Sue Gordon mentioned that a separate kitchen building was present in 1936, complete with a brick walk leading to the house. It was long gone by the time we got there.

Upon arriving back at campus, I showed the photos I took to one of my historic preservation professors. He and another colleague made arrangements with the developer who owned the site to make measured drawings of the home so that it could be documented for posterity. They went out to the site on a handful of occasions and documented the home.

As we headed down the driveway to leave, I remember stopping the car and sticking my head out the sunroof for one last look. It was like saying goodbye to a long lost relative you only recently met yet felt an immediate bond with. I was sad to go and know that it would soon be torn down, but I was delighted to have spent some time there.

By the following spring, Nottingham was no more. It now lives on only in architectural drawings, in my photos, and in my memory.