Many Old Worksopians will have both seen and heard of the boat that sits on the bed of Clumber Lake. A photograph taken in 1910 at Clumber shows a miniature (one-third scale) frigate, used by the Duke of Newcastle’s family for pleasure purposes. It was called the Lincoln, since the Duke’s heir holds the title Earl of Lincoln. It is rumoured the frigate was deliberately sunk by the Duke via cannon – this is however likely to be a fantasy and in reality the boat simply started to rot and was abandoned in the lake.

The Lincoln on Clumber Lake

For the past thirty years only a spar from the stem of the sunken Lincoln has stuck out above the lake’s surface. During a dry summer in the 1920s the remains of the Lincoln were set alight by local youths (did youths exist in the 1920s?!) which is why only a small proportion of the hull is visible when the waterline is low.

By September 1988, the level of Clumber Lake had fallen due to mining subsidence, and the photograph below shows the Lincoln stranded like a beached whale on the bed of the lake. British Coal paid for the necessary work to restore the surface of the lake. During the repair work, all fish in the lake were netted, mainly bream and roach, and a total weight of over 23,000 lbs of fish were rescued.

Drained Clumber Lake