I may have found England’s perfect market town

Thought a certain Mr Hood was the most interesting thing to come out of Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood district? He has a certain scampish charm, of course. But considering he didn’t actually exist, I give you Southwell instead.

Pronounced either South-well or Suh-thull (depending to whom you speak), it lies an arrow-shot northwest of Nottingham. And it’s an interesting place, with Roman remains, a disproportionately impressive minster, a National Trust gem, good pubs, its own cooking apple and affordable accommodation… I visited on a whim and wondered: might I have stumbled upon South England’s most perfect little market town?

With its fine Georgian buildings and handsome prebendal houses, once home to the minster’s canons, this isn’t a cheap place to live: Zoopla puts the average property price here, in the “jewel of Nottinghamshire”, at £408,792 (the county average is £292,000, according to Gov.uk). However, on my visit to Southwell, I found a cute bolthole that didn’t break the bank.

Kate Cronin grew up in the 18th-century house at No 56 Church Street and now runs its annex as a small but niftily-designed studio flat. It’s in a great location too. Almost opposite is No 75, home to the original tree from which gardener Henry Merryweather propagated the first Bramley apple in the 1850s. The old, fungus-infected tree still stands; you can just about see it from the car park at the Hearty Goodfellow, where Kate invited me for a drink.

Kate knew everyone in the pub – Southwell’s that sort of place – and was soon reeling off recommendations: Reg Taylor’s Garden Centre, coffee at Alfresco Caffe, a walk along the rail trail from the Final Whistle pub to Maythorne’s All Mine Cakes by the Lake. However, I’d already had a tip-off for dinner.

The timber-frame Saracens is an institution, dating back to the late 14th century. Past guests have included Dickens, Byron and Charles I, who spent his last hours of freedom here in May 1646. It still has its wood-panelled walls and grandfather clocks. It’s a lovely, cosy spot for a dinner of pub classics.

Southwell ticks all the other ideal mini-break boxes too. Its compact centre is lined with peruse-able independents while heritage trails add context to its streets and surrounding countryside. I spent a sunny morning wandering the (free) six-mile Bramley Apple Trail, crunching through the town’s pomological history via Norwood Park (where Merryweather learned to garden), the riverside Community Orchard and the Heritage Orchard, which nurtures 30 apple varieties previously grown by H Merryweather & Sons.

However, most visitors come to Southwell for the Minster. Free to enter (though donations are welcomed), the complex was built from the 12th century on the site of a major Roman villa and earlier Saxon church. With its two looming pepper pot towers, Archbishop’s Palace ruins and grand State Chamber, where Cardinal Wolsey spent his final months, it’s inordinately big and important for such a small town. Best is the elegant Gothic Chapter House, its capitals exquisitely carved with leaves of oak, maple and hawthorn, ivy, wormwood and rose – a symbolic woodland in stone.

It’s quite the contrast to Southwell’s other big attraction, which isn’t free – though was when it opened in 1824. “Welcome to the Workhouse,” National Trust guide John Bartle announced as he led us around the austere red-brick building. “It means you’ve reached rock bottom.”

Part of the country’s most ambitious welfare programme, Southwell Workhouse was supposed to be a last resort, with life inside so onerous and dull that only the absolutely destitute would apply – though the elderly, infirm and orphaned often had little choice. It’s a desperately sad and complicated story – the last resident didn’t leave until the 1990s – told in an engaging, thoughtful way.

In the 1970s the former women’s wing was still being used as temporary accommodation for mothers and children escaping domestic violence, and some rooms have been left dressed with peeling floral wallpaper and Top of the Pops records. It was here that I overheard an older man talking to a lady from the National Trust. He’d lived in the building with his mum in 1949 and was trying to remember which room had been theirs, where he might have had lessons, where he’d ridden his bicycle. It appeared the story of the Workhouse, and this fascinating little market town, was still being written.

Essentials

Sarah was a guest in 2023 of No 56 Church Street (airbnb.co.uk/rooms/50341386), a smart studio apartment for two; from £105pn.

For a little more space, try Lavender Cottage, which sleeps 2-4; from £280 for two nights (southwell-holiday-cottage.co.uk).

The Bramley Apple Trails are free to download (southwellcouncil.com).

The Workhouse & Infirmary costs from £15/7.50 adult/child (01636 817260; nationaltrust.org.uk).

This piece was first published in September 2023 and has been revised and updated.