InfoBritain

 

D.H. Lawrence's House, and Durban House Heritage Centre, Nottinghamshire

8a Victoria Street, Eastwood, Nottingham is the house where D.H. Lawrence was born in 1885. He was born into the fraught domestic environment described in the largely autobiographical Sons And Lovers. His mother never forgave his father for being a miner, and his father was equally resentful of this snobbery.

Lawrence started out his career as a school teacher, teaching botany, and he was an admirer of Darwin. Before Darwin the old religious order of fixed species in the animal kingdom was reflected in a generally fixed social order in the human world. There were special people and places, and there were ordinary people and places. Once Darwin published The Origin Of Species in 1859 social divisions were to become progressively less clear. The fact that Lawrence was a miner's son, and a renowned novelist, reflects the new sort of world which was emerging. It is fitting in this respect that the ordinary miner's cottage where he was born became a literary monument.

The interior of the house has been recreated to appear as it would have done in Lawrence's time there. An adjoining building shows a video on Lawrence's life, and some personal items. There are also a few of Lawrence's paintings on display.

 

Opening Times: Open Tuesday to Sunday from April to September 11am - 4pm, and October to March 11am - 4pm. Closed from 24th December to 2nd January.

Address: 8a Victoria Street, Eastwood, Nottingham NG16 3AW

Directions: Leave the M1 at junction 26 and follow the A610 to Eastwood. Parking is difficult at both the D.H.Lawrence's birth place. Use town centre cars parks and follow brown signs. There is limited parking at the Durban House Heritage Centre. Click here for an interactive map centred on D.H.Lawrence's birthplace.

Access: The ground floor is partially accessible to wheelchair users, but only with assistance. Lighting levels are low, as is often the case with historic properties.

Contact:

telephone: 01773 717353

web site: http://www.emms.org.uk/notts.htm

 

Five minutes walk from Lawrence's house is the Durban House Heritage Centre in Mansfield Road, Eastwood. This building was once the offices of local coal owners Barber Walker and Co. Young D.H Lawrence used to pick up his father's wages here. The building is now a heritage centre where the early life of Lawrence can be explored. There is also an art gallery, and a restaurant. Details will be available for the Blue Line trail, a walk which will take you around the four Eastwood properties Lawrence lived in, and other places of interest.

Opening Times: Open Tuesday to Sunday.

From October to March 10am - 4pm and from April to September 10am - 5pm.

Closed 24th December to 2nd January.

Address: Durban House Heritage Centre, Mansfield Road, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire NG16 3DZ

Access: Durban House is fully accessible to wheelchair users.

 

 

 

 

Contact:

telephone: 01773 717353

fax: 01773 713509

e-mail: culture@broxtowe.gov.uk