The Gentleman' s Retreat - The Borough Club, King Street, Nottingham
Incorporated as a company limited by shares on 17 November 1893, the Borough Club closed in December 1981. It was established on social and non-political lines and, by 1926, could boast nearly 350 town and county members who could enjoy the handsome premises at 12 King Street, Nottingham.
Each new member would take up shares in the Borough Club Limited and paid an annual subscription, with county members paying half the amount of town members. Three months arrears in subscription payments would result in the forfeit of shares and loss of membership.
The club house was designed by Gilbert S Doughty, architect of 14 Fletcher Gate, Nottingham. It opened on 24 May 1895 and aside from the rooms provided for members and their visitors, also included a large reading room, writing room, card room, a large dining room and billiard room. The club also boasted living accommodation for a 
manageress and service staff, but there were no bedrooms available for the membership.
By the beginning of the 1950s membership numbers had risen to a peak of around 500 and the facilities of the club house had been upgraded to include a cocktail bar.
When the premises were being modernized for Berni Inns Limited in 1971 a large amount of material was cleared from the premises. Some archival records were dumped and some were burned; sadly, many of the older, historical 
records were destroyed. From the miscellaneous material that remained, archivists were able to preserve and catalogue a small collection which is available to the public at Nottinghamshire Archives [ref: M24,547]. Additional records were deposited with Nottinghamshire Archives in 1981 when the Borough Club went into voluntary liquidation.
The King Street premises adjoined the Jessop building designed by Watson Fothergill and the site, known as Fenchurch House in recent years, is now home to Zizzi, an Italian restaurant.
