Historic Parks & Gardens

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Registered Parks and Gardens

Designed landscapes which are of special national historic interest are included on a national register known as the Register of Parks and Gardens compiled by Historic England (external link). There are over 1450 sites on the register. Within Bassetlaw there are 4 landscapes included on the register.

  • Clumber Park - Grade I (scanned document produced 1999)(PDF) 
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    • C18 landscape park of c.1600ha, containing 8ha of C19 and early C20 formal and ornamental gardens.
  • Welbeck Abbey - Grade II (scanned document produced 1999)(PDF)
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    • Landscape park with much woodland, c.1200ha, having had extensive C19 and early C20 formal gardens in the vicinity of the house.
  • Babworth Hall - Grade II (scanned document produced 2000)(PDF)
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    • C18 landscape park of c.1600ha, containing 8ha of C19 and early C20 formal and ornamental gardens.

Although the parks and gardens are graded as seen with listed buildings they have no additional statutory protection in the way listed buildings do. Instead the Local Planning Authority is required to make provisions for their protection in their planning policies. The inclusion of a landscape on the national register of parks and gardens also makes them a material consideration in the planning process. Therefore when determining an application for development which would affect a registered park or garden the Local Planning Authority will take into account the historic interest of the site.

In conjunction with Nottinghamshire County Council, the District Council has identified and surveyed a total of 56 other parks and gardens which are not on the national register. These are referred to as ‘Unregistered Parks and Gardens’. Further information on these sites is available on the ‘Unregistered Parks and Gardens’ web page.

Unregistered Parks and Gardens

Man-made landscapes form an integral part of the heritage of Bassetlaw and include some of its most important heritage assets. Whilst a few of the District’s historic landscapes are on the national register (and therefore receive a strong level of protection in the planning system), many significant landscapes and landscape features, of a variety of sizes, dates and functions, exist across the District. These are referred to as ‘unregistered park and gardens’, and are defined as:

Landscapes shaped by human activity which are not on the national register but are identified locally as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of their heritage interest.

Many of these sites were originally identified on Nottinghamshire County Council’s Historic Environment Record (HER). In 2015 - 2017, the District Council’s Conservation Team has re-surveyed each of these sites. In addition, the Conservation Team has also identified and surveyed a number of new sites. As a result of the surveying, a total of 56 unregistered park and gardens have been identified in Bassetlaw District. The identification and surveying of these sites was carried out using a clear methodology approved by Planning Committee:

The results of this survey work are set out in the documents below, which comprise a ‘statement of significance’ for each individual site. Together with the methodology, these statements form part of the Council’s evidence base used to help better inform planning decision-making and wider plan-making. Please note that for planning purposes, where these sites contain heritage assets which are designated (e.g. Listed Buildings, Scheduled Ancient Monuments or are within Conservation Areas), the relevant policies for ‘designated heritage assets’ would apply and take precedence.

The geographic distribution of the 56 unregistered parks and gardens can be seen on the Council’s Bassetlaw Heritage Mapping web page.

Individual statements of significance

The individual ‘statements of significance’ (which include boundary maps) are available below:

These documents may not be suitable for users with assistive technology. Request an accessible format.

For further information on any of the above sites, please contact the Conservation Team.


Last Updated on Wednesday, March 11, 2026