7. Lynncroft

The final home

The Lawrence family moved into their final Eastwood home towards the top of the long street of Lynncroft in 1905. Sadly, Lydia would pass away here at the same time that Lawrence was in the process of drafting his novel Sons and Lovers (then called Paul Morel). It was only about a fifth written by the date of her death on 9 December1910, and given the very personal nature of the novel, Lawrence didn’t return to writing it until March the following year. Lawrence keenly felt the absence of his “love of loves”, even as he began to court Louie Burrows for his short-lived engagement to her. 

Lawrence's relationship with his mother

Watch Dr. Andrew Harrison, Director of the D.H. Lawrence Research Centre at the University of Nottingham as he discussed Lawrence's relationship with his mother and his time at Lynncroft.

Lynncroft Pottery

Across the street from the Lawrence’s house was the old site of Lynncroft Pottery, which opened in 1880 and manufactured items like ink pots and bottles. The photo below, taken around 1888, seems to show some of the workers in the aftermath of a severe fire at the pottery, and only the right-hand house (number 109 Lynncroft) still stands today. By the time the family moved into their Lynncroft house, the pottery business was winding down and it closed altogether in 1908. The site would be completely unrecognisable by 1938, with a series of new homes built on the former land. You can see a set of salt glazed bottles taken from the pottery in the photo below.