Plaque Attack

Aim

Nottingham Womens' History Group is aiming to put a blue plaque up to Rose Fyleman 1877-1957 a writer, singer and teacher.

NOTTINGHAM - HERSTORY: ROSE AMY FYLEMAN

NWHG's vision is to have more plaques around Nottingham to raise the profile and celebrate the achievements of the city's many remarkable women.

In January 2026, thanks to the generosity of the people of Nottingham, we successfully raised the money to install a plaque honouring Margaret Glen Bott. 

This time we want to celebrate the remarkable Rose Amy Fyleman, a writer well known for her fairy stories whose phrase 'There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!' will be well known to many.

Performer

Rose Amy Feilmann (the original spelling of her surname) was born in Nottingham to German-Jewish immigrant parents. She attended University College Nottingham (the precursor to the University of Nottingham) but did not finish her course having made the brave decision to train as a singer in Paris, Berlin and London. She made her professional debut in a Promenade Concert at Queen’s Hall, London in August 1903 . 

Teacher

As well as performing, she also taught singing at her sister Gertrude's school in the family home in The Park, a prestigious residential are in the city. The outbreak of WW1 led to the family name change from Feilmann to Fyleman. 

Writer

Rose began her writing career relatively late at the age of 40. Within a year, her famous fairy poem ‘There are fairies at the bottom of my garden’ was published in Punch magazine in 1917. Her first collection, 'Fairies and Chimneys', followed in 1918 - it was reprinted 20 times over the next decade. She also wrote short stories and plays for children.

In 1927 she published ‘A Princess Comes To Our Town’ a fantasy set in Nottingham which recognisably describes the city in 1920’. Princess Finestra leaves Fairyland and to put off the evil day when she must marry a boring old prince she lands in Nottingham where she was taken to Standard Hill. Princess Finestra is a feisty young woman with a bag full of magic objects which can only be used once before she must return home. She has various adventures in the Arboretum, the swimming baths and the Castle – she also spends the night with Queen Victoria and a fire engine! 

Rose moved to London in the late 1920s and continued to write educational material for children as well as adult fiction and plays. She died in St Albans in 1957and is buried in Golders Green cemetery. In May 2023, the Nottingham independent bookshop Five Leaves republished 'A Princess Comes To Our Town' with a launch event held at the city's Bromley House subscription library where she had been a member.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 23rd September 2026 at 2:09pm