Depravity and genius of our first celebrity

HE was notorious for drinking from a cup crafted from a monk’s skull; spent his evenings drunkenly singing Albanian sea shanties and was described by his lover, Lady Caroline Lamb, as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’.

Lord Byron was perhaps our first celebrity. A poet, bon viveur and scandaliserin-chief of Regency society, he became the poster boy for literary mavericks.

Nottinghamshire marked the 200th anniversary of his death on Friday, with Newstead Abbey, his ancestral home near Mansfield, hosting a yearlong exhibition, Byron: A Sensational Life.

‘I see him as a pansexual rock star in the Harry Styles mould,’ says curator Jonathan Brown.

Newstead Abbey dates from 1163, originally an Augustinian Priory. Byron arrived here in 1808, inheriting the title from his uncle, the ‘Wicked Lord’.

He set about beautifying the crumbling home before selling it in 1817 to his friend, Thomas Wildman. Bailiffs had been knocking to recover his debts – as had angry men whose wives Byron had seduced. He kept a pistol next to his four-poster bed. Following his disastrous marriage to Annabella Milbanke, Byron exiled himself to Europe in 1818. He died aged 36 fighting in the 1824 Greek War of Independence.

A short drive from Newstead is Hucknall, where his statue looks out atop a shop and his book-shaped memorial is by St Mary Magdalene Church. Also, Nottingham’s Bromley House Library is hosting exhibition ‘Byron at Bromley’, showing some of his first editions. Where to stay: St James Hotel has modern rooms and offers buffet breakfasts. Doubles from £80 (stjames-hotel.com). Abbey entry from £15 (newsteadabbey.org.uk).