You may have walked around the University of Nottingham on various occasions,
especially as a student, but what lies beyond what you see on the expansive campus is
an even more expansive and hidden ‘herstory’ that has shaped some of the most
prominent and important stories in the area.
Florence Boot
If you’re interested in the history of the University of Nottingham, you are likely to have
heard of Lord Trent, who gifted the University 35 acres of the Highfields Park to build
the Trent Building overlooking the lake below. Despite this, even without knowing this
history, you have most definitely heard of Sir Jesse Boot (the founder of the cosmetics
store ‘Boots’), under which Lord Trent was previously known as. The less known story
emerges with Boot’s wife, Lady Florence Boot. Known as a highly capable
businesswoman, she cofounded the Boots Company alongside Jesse and contributed
to the female landscape of the University. Not only did she open the University’s first
female halls of residence (Florence Boot Hall), but she also agreed to personally take
on 50 female graduates in 1913 to train them in commerce and business at the Boots
Company, aiming to move away from the conventionality of the narrow-minded and
exclusive female education at the time and offer a ‘fast-track’ to working in retail.
Florence Boot remains a greatly important figure in the female history at the University
of Nottingham, and you can still visit the halls today.
Lost Village of Keighton
Have you ever wondered what lies underneath the University of Nottingham’s campus
and Highfields Park? What used to be before the University was built? Apart from being
a private estate belonging to the Lowe family in the 18th Century, what often goes
unnoticed is that the area houses the remains of one of the thousands of deserted
medieval villages (DMVs) in the UK – a former settlement abandoned during the Middle
Ages (likely due to mass death from the plague), typically leaving no trace other than
earthworks. Keighton Hill, on which you can find the Keighton Auditorium, used to be a
site of the lost medieval village of Keighton (or Kiketon), which likely belonged to the
Lenton Abbey as a means of income over 600 years ago. First excavations were made
during the Dig for Victory after the Second World War; however it was Ms Katheryn Steenson (an archivist at the University) who later accumulated research that enabled
the study of the village. Thanks to her study of the excavated manuscripts, we can now
know what it really is that we’re walking on when on our way around the campus.
Excavations revealed a medieval cottage and road, as well as evidence of tile making in
the village. Ms Steenson’s research and knowledge has made it safe to say that these
findings belong to the missing village which we now study over.
Lenton House
Lenton House is also one of the historical buildings that you can find walking around the
campus, which has been standing since around 1802-04. The house’s history mainly
consists of being passed between several occupants and owners, but what is of
importance in its archives is the damage it suffered after an accidental fire after the
building as it was being decorated for new owners, yet the subsequent revival of its
appeal and status. Some time after the fire, the estate was leased to Lady Preisig
Wildman, the daughter of F. Preizig of Appenzal in Switzerland, and who married
Thomas Wildman at the age of 15. Her influence on the house is where ‘herstory’
surfaces. The house had to be put on the auctioning market after her husband’s death
and was initially going to be sold as agricultural land, yet the auctioneer, Mr Port,
appraised Mrs Wildman’s improvements made to the house, describing it as a first-class
mansion with every convenience for a gentleman’s family, together with entrance lodge,
park, with wood, arable and meadow land to the extent of 155 acres. Without Mrs
Wildman’s contribution to the estate, this site would’ve been sold off as arable farming
land, and the heritage of Lenton House would’ve been lost along with it.
So, as you can see, the ‘herstory’ of the Nottingham Campus is just as important as its
‘history’, yet seems hidden and goes unnoticed by many. It is important to acknowledge
the important influences that women have had on the world around us, and to
remember that it isn’t simply a ‘man-made’ world. If you’re a student or even just a
visitor, have fun taking a walk around the incredible campus with this newfound knowledge!