Described as the 'poor cousin' of all the country parks across the county, throughout the ages Bestwood Country Park has been a popular hunting ground of kings and queens.

Tourism experts say it has more links to royalty than the likes of Sherwood Forest and Rufford Country Park - and to this day is still visited by descendants of the throne.

Laura Simpson, 38, senior practitioner in heritage tourism at the county council, explains it was used as a "luxury retreat" by royals staying at Nottingham Castle - dating back more than 900 years ago.

In a nostalgic look-back, she reveals it was enforced by the crown and later was used as a "love nest" - before part of the land became a colliery and the first in the world to produce a million tons of coal in a year.

In the 12th Century the park had its own laws, Laura says:

"Everything in the forest belonged to the king, it had its own special laws, enforced by the king's forest stewards and wardens. So many kings footed here.

"In the 1150s, King Henry II (also Henry Curtmantle, who reigned between 1154 and 1189) offered a 10 penny reward for anyone capturing an outlaw in Bestwood.

Bestwood Country Park.
Bestwood Country Park.

"Anyone in Bestwood caught taking wood or shooting deer or taking a bird - anyone, whether it's the wardens or other villagers dobbing each other in - he'd offer a 10 penny reward for getting them and taking them to the sheriff.

"In 1178 the Forest Court sentenced a man for trespassing in Bestwood Park."

And King Henry II's son, King John (also known as John Lackland, who reigned between 1199 and 1216) raised the outlaw reward to five shillings, in 1205.

"He's a nasty piece of work that King John. It was basically the king's playground and means of resource," Laura says.

"He wanted it clear of anybody so he could hunt and have a bit of sport."

Into the 14th Century:

"King Edward III (who reigned between 1327 and 1377) hunted in Bestwood Country Park - and he stayed at the medieval lodge that was here.

"And then it was here that he planned to take over from his mother, who was Queen Isabella (wife of Edward II and regent of England from 1326 until 1330) who was trying to run England with her lover, Roger Mortimer.

Laura Simpson
Laura Simpson.

"They were staying at Nottingham Castle and Edward III came from Bestwood to Nottingham Castle and went up through the caves and captured them both, Mortimer and the Queen because they were staying there.

"He hung Mortimer and put his mum in prison.

"That's why there's a cave under the Castle called Mortimer's Hole. That's how he managed to regain his power.

"Edward had Bestwood enclosed within a pale, which is a continuous wooden fence. That's what creates your private hunting area."

King Richard III was staying in Nottingham before The Battle of Bosworth, in Leicestershire:

"King Richard III (who reigned between 1483 and 1485) was staying in Nottingham before The Battle of Bosworth in 1485, it was a major battle that took place between the tudors and Lancastrians who were vying for power," Laura says.

"Richard III was overthrown by Henry primary tudor. Henry tudor was Henry VII, he was Henry VIII's dad.

"He overthrew Richard III at Bosworth and that's how the whole tudor line started: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn - that's how it all happened.

"Richard III was staying at Bestwood when he heard that Henry tudor had landed and wanted battle.

"Nottingham Castle belonged to Richard III and he was staying there.

"He used to come out to Bestwood to hunt and he was staying at Bestwood, hunting, when he heard that Henry tudor landed and they were about to have battle.

"That's when they met at Bosworth, in Leicestershire. It's a major, major battle."

Into 17th Century...

"By 1627 you are onto Charles I and he loved to hunt and so he maintained the park and the lodge because it was important to him," Laura says.

"But instead of paying for it himself what he did was lease out parts of the park. So the leaseholders paid and not the crown. Typical."

The former Winding Engine of Bestwood Colliery.
The former Winding Engine of Bestwood Colliery.

Between 1681-85 the park was used as a 'knocking shop' by a 'merry monarch':

"This is Charles II (who reigned between 1630 and 1685) and his mistress, Nell Gwynn. Charles II is known as the merry monarch because he liked to party," Laura says.

"Bestwood was like his knocking shop, his love nest, how else can I put it...

"He'd come here with his mistress and they would enjoy visits at Bestwood together. There's a legend about that was well.

"They liked to hunt and party. Nell Gwynn would go to bed late and he teased her for not being able to get up to go hunting and enjoy breakfast.

"What he said to her was if you can get up before breakfast, and ride around this park, I will give you as much land as you can ride around - thinking she's a lazy cow, she isn't going to do it.

"But because she was a mistress and she'd had two illegitimate sons, she thought as they are not going to inherit the crown, how else am I going to give them the best lifestyle?

"She got up really early and rode around Bestwood as fast as she could and the legend has it she dropped handkerchiefs to show where she'd been.

"She got back before breakfast and the king was so impressed that he gave her all the land that was contained within her circle of handkerchiefs.

"Of course she'd pass it onto her sons so they had some kind of form of income in the future. She wanted then to have a title and because they were illegitimate they had nothing.

"He gave them the title of Duke of St Albans. That is the title they've inherited through the ages."

In 1800s the Bestwood Lodge Hotel at the site is built - the start of Bestwood Colliery and into the 1900s:

"By the time you get to 1862, the time of the 10th Duke of St Albans, the medieval hunting lodge that had been here since the 1100s was demolished.

"Bestwood Lodge Hotel was built on top of those foundations.

Bestwood Country Park.

"The sort of people that visited in Victorian times were friends of the 10th Duke of St Albans - people like Queen Alexandra, Benjamin Disraeli, he was a Prime Minister and King Edward VII."

She adds: "In 1872 a guy called John Carpenter, who was leasing a bit of land from the duke, he sank a successful coal mine. That's when substantial numbers of people started to come here.

"Before it had just been hunting forests for the rich.

"After the early 1900s, the royal influence is waning. So by 1967 the coal mine shut. It was the first pit to produce a million tons a year."

In 1985 it becomes a country park - and it is still has a royal legacy:

Laura says the site became a country park in 1985 and is managed and run by Gedling Borough Council and the county council.

She says Heritage Lottery funding in 2009 helped to restore the former Winding Engine of the original coal mine.

Earl of Burford Charles Beauclerk - a descendant of Charles II, the first duke of St Albans - still visits the park, Laura says.