Underwood: Gardens, Literature and Local History

Underwood offers a variety of options for a stay, including gardens and animal experiences, the village church, industrial history, and trails with literary and scenic connections. If you are looking for a hotel in Underwood, these interests can help you choose a destination suited to your planned stay.

Gardens, animal experiences and tea room

The gardens at Felley Priory and the Tea Room are wheelchair accessible. Accessible toilets are located at the Tea Room and at the garden entrance. Check the latest visitor information before your trip.

The Farmhouse Tea Room offers cakes, scones and light meals made with locally sourced ingredients. It caters for gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan dietary requirements. This makes specific food options another feature of a visit, alongside the gardens.

Felley Animal Experiences is a small farm in Underwood. Its interactive animal experiences include petting and feeding animals, as well as brushing donkeys. Haggs Farm, by contrast, is not open to visitors: it is on private land and is not accessible to the public.

Church and industrial history

Underwood St Michael and All Angels was consecrated on 29 September 1890. The church features 14th-century-style architecture, including ashlar walls, a plain tiled roof and a shingled spire. The lancet windows are also in the 14th-century style.

The war memorial at the church consists of a clock, an east window and a plaque mounted on the outside of the east wall. It commemorates the local officers and soldiers who fell in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. The colliery in Underwood was initially called Selston Colliery and was renamed Pye Hill No. 1 Colliery in the early 1970s.

For the Chatterbox Cafe, St Michael’s is open every Thursday morning from 10 am to 12 noon. Check the latest church information before your visit so you can take this opening time into account when planning.

Literary walk and trails

The “Literary landscapes” walk passes through part of the historic Annesley Park estate, which was a major source of inspiration for Lord Byron and D. H. Lawrence. The Sutton and Eastwood Loop Cycling Trail passes through Underwood. The Broxtowe Country Trail runs alongside Moorgreen Reservoir towards Underwood—a different route description with a specific landscape connection.

Underwood is in the Hidden Valleys area, which has numerous waymarked walking, cycling and horse-riding trails. The area's trails therefore cater for several ways of getting around; the named literary walk and the two trails offer different specific points of interest.

Getting there and planning your visit

You can reach Underwood by car via junction 27 of the M1 and then the A608. Road conditions and signage may change, so take this into account when planning your journey.

Direct bus services from Eastwood and Mansfield provide access to the “Literary landscapes” walk. The bus stop is on the A608 in Underwood, at the top of Felley Mill Lane. Check current bus services before travelling. Langley Mill and Hucknall railway stations are also listed as options for travelling to Underwood; check onward connections in advance.

Discover more destinations: Mansfield, Willoughby On The Wolds, Cuckney, Clayworth, Trowell, Southwell, Coddington, Edwinstowe.

For the main travel overview: Nottinghamshire.