Attractions and Places To See around Lowdham - Top 20

The Domesday Book records a church and priest at Colwick in 1086. The church that now stands in ruins was largely built by Sir John Byron in the 16th Century but incorporates 14th and 15th Century sections from an earlier church. The building at that time probably had a spire not a plain tower. By 1912 the roof of the church was in a poor state. Although repairs made the building serviceable again for a few years, the condition of the church continued to deteriorate and by 1920 some of the services were being held in the Schoolrooms in wintertime and later in a newly built Parish Hall. From 1923 some marriages were conducted in the Parish Hall. In Mar 1924, the down-pipes were repaired and the walls pointed. The roof was again repaired but its condition continued to give concern and in 1933 the church was abandoned as dangerous. It was finally closed as being unsafe in March 1936, and in November 1936, the principal beam of the roof gave way.

The former Maythorne Mill, its former workers’ cottages and its ancillary buildings, plus a farm, form the greater part of this small hamlet. It was a cotton mill built in 1785 to supply the framework knitting industry with yarns. The speculator that built Maythorne was a Southwell hop merchant. In the early C19th the mill was adapted to produce silk and lace thread. There was also a Mission Hall, a pub & general store. The mainly female workforce was required to wind silk on bobbins, form it into shanks before it was finally washed and pressed and despatched to Nottingham. However, yarn & thread products were not the only items produced here as osier beds provided willow for basket-making and hops were also grown locally. From 1939-45 the mill was used to billet soldiers and in 1948 the land & buildings were put to agricultural use. the mill building has been converted into residential flats & some workshops in various outbuildings. The mill wheel was powered by the River Greet.

The earliest church on the site is believed to have been founded in 627 by Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York, when he visited the area while baptising believers in the River Trent. The legend is commemorated in the Minster's baptistry window. In 956 King Eadwig gave land in Southwell to Oskytel, Archbishop of York, on which a minster church was established. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the Southwell manor in great detail. The Norman reconstruction of the church began in 1108, probably as a rebuilding of the Anglo-Saxon church, starting at the east end so that the high altar could be used as soon as possible and the Saxon building was dismantled as work progressed. Many stones from this earlier Anglo-Saxon church were reused in the construction. The church was originally attached to the Archbishop of York's Palace which stood next door and is now ruined.

The now derelict St John the Baptist Church was built by Sir John Byron in the 16th century, incorporating 14th and 15th century sections from an earlier church. It was restored again in 1684 by Sir John Musters and was in use until the mid-1930s when it was no longer repaired, the nave roof collapsed and it was abandoned as dangerous and left to ruin. source: https://travellerj.com/2018/12/18/ruins-of-st-johns-church/

Features now restored in the middle of the wood, including small gap-jumps with chicken line, flowing great (April 2022).

Unfortunately the Forestry Commission have been into Watchwood and removed all the man-made features (jumps) from the downhill runs. However the trails are still rideable & fun, plenty of berms still in place. (July 2021)

well worth a visit

Absolutely worth the slog is the downhill charge into Southwell. This climb is featured in Simon Warren’s greatest climbs series. It’s tough but doable.