Friends of Nonsuch – Autumn Newsletter

Posted by Nonsuch Mansion

The Friends of Nonsuch are a registered charity formed in the nineteen nineties to preserve the Nonsuch Park Estate as an open space accessible to all.

Long before our events team arrived in 2009, groups of volunteers were restoring parts of the mansion, researching the rich history of the site and actively conserving the parklands and gardens. You can see evidence of their hard work everywhere you look especially in the Service Wing Museum which is open on the second and fourth Sundays of every month and details the rich Tudor history of the Nonsuch site as well as showing a fully restored Victorian service wing.

Anyone interested in Nonsuch Park, Nonsuch Mansion or it’s grand predecessor Nonsuch Palace can join the hundreds of members of the Friends of Nonsuch and help them carry out their important work. Once a quarter, a newsletter informs members of goings on, news and announcements. This month, we were able to add a “thank you” to the people that helped us during refurbishment.

Nonsuch Mansion: A Small Update and a Big Thank You

On behalf of the team, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Friends of Nonsuch for such a warm welcome and for your ongoing support.

As you all know, it has been a busy and exciting summer of refurbishment and change and we feel privileged to be working with you to bring the mansion back to life.

Thank you for those who took the time to pop in and say hello, thanks to all of you who braved the building site for a pre-launch show round. Thank you for all of the valuable feedback and advice that you have offered us, and thank you if you were one of the 3,000 people who visited or volunteered on Nonsuch Park Awareness Day to take tours and quiz us about our plans.

Most of all, many thanks to everyone for continuing to spread the word and for being champions of Nonsuch Mansion.

The response to the relaunch has been overwhelming. We opened the diary only six weeks ago and already almost half of all 2010 weekend dates (and a few 2011) have either been booked or reserved for a full spectrum of celebrations. We’ve taken hundreds of enquiries, some from as close as Wickham Avenue and some from as far afield as Texas, Dubai and Australia.

Thinking ahead to 2010, we are looking forward to having the opportunity to develop and expand the cafe facilities. We want to ensure that the mansion continues to be the perfect place for all park visitors to meet and relax in comfort, all year round, rain or shine. We hope to start work on this soon, not least because Morton, our black lab, has now tested so many trial dog treats he needs to go on a serious doggy diet! We are also anxious to make the most of the dark winter months so that we can make changes quickly without disrupting the busy life of the park.

This is just a brief update (I could have written pages) so if you would like to know more or have any questions or idea, please do call or visit. We also have a new website with a ever evolving “News and Events” section should you wish to stay up to date with happenings.

Thank you again, and best wishes for a fantastic Christmas.

Andrew Gray
Head of the new events team from Bovingdons caterers.