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Nottingham is a city in Nottinghamshire, England.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2010) |
Nottingham is a city in Nottinghamshire, England.
The middle Trent Valley was covered by ice sheets for large parts of the Paleolithic period between 500,000 and 10,000 years ago, and evidence of early human activity is limited to a small number of discarded stone artefacts found in glacial outwash or boulder clays. [1] The post-glacial warming of the climate in the Mesolithic period between 10,000BC and 4,000BC saw the Trent Valley colonised by hunter-gatherers taking advantage of the emerging mixed woodland environment. [2] Flintwork dating from the period has been excavated on the site of Nottingham Castle, and stone tools used by hunter-gatherers have been found in areas of the city including Beeston, Wollaton Park and the site of the Victoria Centre. [3] The Neolithic period between 4,000BC and 2,000BC saw the clearance of woodland and the transition of the area towards a settled agricultural society. [4] Pottery from the period has been found in Attenborough and Holme Pierrepont, [3] and Neolithic stone axes have been found in the city manufactured as far away as Great Langdale in the Lake District and Penmaenmawr in North Wales. [4] Holme Pierrepont is also the site of the area's most impressive Stone Age monument: an early Neolithic burial monument consisting of several intercutting concentric ditches surrounding a central mound containing five shallow pits. [5]
Abundant evidence exists of Bronze Age habitation in the area, including tools and weapons found in the River Trent and other local rivers, [3] a flat axe found in Edwalton and a looped palstave found in Bestwood. [6] A large hoard of Bronze Age metalwork was discovered during building works in Great Freeman Street in 1860, [3] dating from the late 9th or 8th centuries BC and consisting of ten socketed axes, four bronze arrowheads, a palstave, a hollow ring and the base of a spear shaft. [6] A possible Bronze Age dwelling has been discovered in Clifton, including a series of oak stakes spaced about a yard apart in the river bed of the Trent and a collection of mid and late Bronze Age metalwork including spearheads, rapiers, swords, knives and a dirk. [7] Similar though less well preserved sites have been discovered in Attenborough and Holme Pierrepont. [8] Cropmarks indicating the ring ditches of Bronze Age burial sites are densely distributed across the gravel terraces around the Trent in the south of the city. [8] Excavation of these sites have revealed evidence of cremations and traces of Bronze Age pottery, including urns. [8]
The Iron Age between 700BC and AD43 saw a significant increase in the density of settlement in the area, with evidence of a large number of farming settlements encompassing both arable and pastoral agriculture, each probably occupied by a single family group. [9] Iron Age pottery has been found at a wide variety of sites within the city centre, including the north bailey of the Castle, Low Pavement, Fisher Gate, Halifax Place and a shallow ditch between Woolpack Lane and Barker Gate. [3] Excavations of settlements at Gamston provided evidence of small-scale pottery and textile industries and extensive trading links, with salt from Cheshire, pottery from Charnwood Forest and querns from the Pennines. [9] The importance of the Trent as a trade route during the period has been shown by the discovery of three dugout canoes and a spoked wheel dating from the Iron Age in the gravels at Holme Pierrepont. [10] Iron Age ditches have been excavated at Nottingham Castle and at several sites in the Lace Market, suggesting that pre-historic fortifications in these areas are possible. [11]
Nottingham is notable for its lack of evidence of occupation during the Roman era. [12] [13] Although the Fosse Way was one of Britain's major Roman roads and passed within six miles to the south of Nottingham, there is no record of any crossing of the Trent or settlement close to the site of the modern city. [14]
After the Roman departure at around 410 AD, independent Brythonic kingdoms emerged everywhere in Britain. The Nottinghamshire area was briefly covered by the kingdom of Elmet from the late 5th century to the beginning of the 7th century.
In Anglo-Saxon times, around 600 AD, the site formed part of the Kingdom of Mercia, where it may have been known as "Tig Guocobauc" (though this is only known from the later 9th-century account of the Welsh cleric Asser, active at the court of Alfred the Great) meaning in Brythonic "a place of cave dwellings", until falling under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot, [15] whereby it was dubbed "Snotingaham" literally, "the homestead of Snot's people" (Inga = the people of; Ham = homestead). Snot brought together his people in an area where the historic Lace Market in the city can now be found.
The first documentary record of Nottingham is as Snotengaham in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 868. [16] Names of this form normally represent settlements established in the 6th or 7th century and associated with tribal groupings, [16] indicating that Nottingham was probably formed as the primary settlement of the Snotingas , whose wider territory would have formed a regio or administrative subdivision of the Kingdom of Mercia. [17] Anglo-Saxon pottery from the 7th or 8th century has been found in Fisher Gate within a defensive ditch that can also be seen in Woolpack Lane and Barker Gate, suggesting the first Anglo-Saxon settlement took the form of a small defensive enclosure in this area. [16]
The placename of Nottingham and the large amount of land in Royal ownership at the time of the Domesday Book probably indicate that the settlement was the Snotingas' royal vill or administrative centre during the early Anglo-Saxon period. [18] The remains of a large 8th-century timber hall situated in its own enclosure has been excavated in Halifax Place. [19] This was replaced in the 9th century by an even larger bow-sided timber hall that was at least 100 feet (30 m) long – at least as long as any hall known to have been built in England at this time. [19] This was later replaced by a series of three halls built further to the west, which survived until the 11th century, when they were replaced in turn by a large stone-built aisle hall. [20] These halls all fronted the street now known as High Pavement, the main street of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, and are similar to halls excavated in Northampton known to have been palaces of Mercian Kings. [21]
Nottingham was captured in 867 by Danish Vikings and later became one of the Five Burghs – or fortified towns – of The Danelaw, until recaptured by the Anglo-Saxons unded Edward the Eldar in 918.
The first Bridge over the River Trent is thought to have been constructed around 920.
Nottingham is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Snotingeham" and "Snotingham".
In the 11th century, Nottingham Castle was constructed on a sandstone outcrop by the River Trent. The Anglo-Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall and Courts. A settlement also developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the Castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later.
The construction of St Peter's Church, Nottingham started around 1180.
The construction and opening of Ye old Trip to Jerusalem was in 1132. (Attributed to be Britain's oldest Pub)
In 1264, during the Second Barons' War, rebels attacked the Jewish community of Nottingham. [22]
In 1276, a group of Carmelite friars established a Friary on what is now Friar Lane with lands that included a guesthouse on the site of what is now The Bell Inn.
The construction of St Mary's Church, Nottingham began around 1377.
Foundation of Plumptre Hospital in 1392, Nottingham's longest serving charity.
The town became a county corporate in 1449, giving it effective self-government, in the words of the charter, "for eternity". [23] The Castle and Shire Hall were expressly excluded and technically remained as detached Parishes of Nottinghamshire.
King Charles I of England raised the Royal Standard in Nottingham on 22 August 1642 at the start of the English Civil War.
One of the first banks in England outside London was established around 1688. Smith's Bank was in Market Square.
The Nottingham Exchange was built in the Market Place between 1724 and 1726 as the main offices of the Nottingham Corporation. It was demolished in 1926.
The Trent Navigation Company is formed in 1783 to improve navigation on the River Trent from Nottingham to Kingston upon Hull.
The Nottingham Canal opens in 1796. The price of coal in Nottingham is halved.
Coal gas was introduced in Nottinghamshire by the Nottingham Gas Light and Coke Company in 1819 when gas lamps were installed, one at the top of Drury Hill, one at the top of Hollowstone, four in Bridlesmith Gate and three in front of the Nottingham Exchange. [24]
Nottingham was the first place in Britain to install high pressure constant supply mains water in 1831. This system was deployed by engineer Thomas Hawksley and the Trent Waterworks Company.
The Midland Counties Railway opened the first railway service between Nottingham and Derby on 4 June 1839.
During the Industrial Revolution, much of Nottingham's prosperity was founded on the textile industry; in particular, Nottingham was an internationally important centre of lace manufacture. However, the rapid and poorly planned growth left Nottingham with the reputation of having the worst slums in England. the Government in 1844 appointed a Commission to look into the state of great towns. Thomas Hawkesley, Borough Water Engineer, testified to the Commission that he considered Nottingham to be the worst town in England. Residents of these slums rioted in 1831, in protest against the Duke of Newcastle's opposition to the Reform Act 1832, setting fire to his residence, Nottingham Castle. Businesses in other sectors founded in 19th-century Nottingham included the Raleigh Bicycle Company and Boots the Chemist.
Nottingham was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and at that time consisted of the parishes of Nottingham St Mary, Nottingham St Nicholas and Nottingham St Peter. It was expanded in 1877 by adding the parishes of Basford, Brewhouse Yard, Bulwell, Radford, Sneinton, Standard Hill and parts of the parishes of West Bridgford, Carlton, Wilford (North Wilford).
The first incinerators for waste disposal were built in Nottingham by Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. in 1874 to a design patented by Alfred Fryer. They were originally known as Destructors. [25]
The first horse drawn tramcars were operated by the Nottingham and District Tramways Company Limited in 1878.
The National Telephone Company opened the first telephone exchange in Bottle Lane in September 1881 and the first line was opened on 1 November when Messrs Morley’s premises in Mary Gate and Manvers Street were connected. By the end of the year there were 22 subscribers. By 1884 there were 350 miles of wires installed to supply 140 subscribers within a 14 mile radius of Nottingham and the average number of calls to the exchange operators was around 1,000 per day. Heanor, Kimberley, Long Eaton, Ilkeston, Colwick, Plumtree and South Normanton were all connected. [26] Later the exchange moved to new premises over an ironmonger shop in Thurland Street before moving again in 1899 to purpose built accommodation in George Street. The first telephone directory was issued in 1885 when there were 170 subscribers. [27]
Public telephone stations were established in 1886 where any member of the public could call a subscriber. The first were opened at the Central Exchange in Thurland Hall, Thurland Street, Swinbourne’s Jeweller on Derby Road, Spencer’s tobacconist at Mansfield Road, the Basford Exchange on Nottingham Road, Basford and Long Eaton. The general fee was 3d for three minutes except from the centre in Long Eaton where the charge as 6d per three minutes. [28]
Until 1888 it was only possible to make local telephone calls within Nottingham and to other local networks in Long Eaton, Ilkeston and Loughborough but from 5 November 1888 the local Nottingham telephone system was connected to other networks enabling calls to be made to subscribers in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and practically the whole of Lancashire and Yorkshire and London and other large centres in the south. [29]
In 1889 Nottingham became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888. City status was awarded as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria, being signified in a letter from the Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury to the Mayor, dated 18 June 1897.
The Great Central Railway opened Nottingham Victoria railway station in 1899.
Electric trams operated by Nottingham Corporation Tramways begin on 1 January 1901.
Nottingham Council House was rebuilt between 1927 and 1929 to designs by Thomas Cecil Howitt.
The Nottingham Blitz was the Nazi German Luftwaffe bombing on the city of Nottingham on the evenings of 8/9 May 1941 as part of a nationwide campaign to disrupt key industrial production, undermine morale and destroy factories, rail networks and infrastructure. During one air raid alone 140 people had been killed and 4,500 houses had been destroyed. Large areas of Nottingham and West Bridgford had been destroyed and University College Nottingham had been damaged.
In common with the UK textile industry as a whole, Nottingham's textile sector fell into headlong decline in the decades following the World War II, as British manufacturers proved unable to compete on price or volume with output of factories in the Far East and South Asia. Very little textile manufacture now takes place in Nottingham, but the city's heyday in this sector endowed it with some fine industrial buildings in the Lace Market district. Many of these have been restored and put to new uses.
On 13 June 2023, three people are killed in attacks across Nottingham City Centre. [30]
The legend of Robin Hood first arose in the Middle Ages. Robin Hood is said to have lived in Sherwood Forest, which extended from the north of Nottingham to the north side of Doncaster, Yorkshire. Although Robin Hood is generally associated with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, some authors (e.g. Phillips & Keatman, 1995) argue that he came from Yorkshire. Hood's main adversary was the Sheriff of Nottingham. Today the office of Sheriff of Nottingham is a ceremonial position with no real jurisdiction. Whilst the accuracy of the legend is questionable, particularly the finer points, it has had a major impact on Nottingham, with Robin Hood imagery a popular choice for local businesses and many modern tourist attractions exploiting the legend. The Robin Hood Statue in Nottingham is within walking distance from the Old Market Square.
The Nottingham Caves have always formed an important part of the region, at first providing shelter and sanctuary, but growing to house thriving tanning works and in modern times becoming a tourist attraction. The caves are artificial, having been carved out of the soft sandstone rock by prospective dwellers, and have grown to become a complex network under the city. The oldest date back to 1250. [31] The city has more manmade caves than anywhere else in the country and this whole cave network has Scheduled Ancient Monument protection equal to that of Stonehenge, making Nottingham Caves a site of vast importance to the heritage of the United Kingdom. Part of the network can be viewed by the public at the City of Caves attraction which is accessed from the upper mall of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.
Before the industrial revolution, the cave network was substantially expanded and became home to a large proportion of the poorer populace, particularly those involved in the tanning industry. The majority of the caves were thought to have been used for storage by the 18th century and were still inhabited until around 1924 when the last family (the Shore family) moved out of the caves in Ilkeston road; they came into use again as air raid shelters during World War II. A section of the cave network under the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre is now open as a tourist attraction, and some parts are still used as pub cellars.
Another section of the caves, under the castle, is still in regular use as the indoor rifle range of the Nottingham Rifle Club. In addition, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, a pub that claims to be the oldest in Britain, is partly built into the cave system below the castle and still retains access from the beer cellars to the castle through the cave inside castle rock. Although the pub's building only dates from the 16th or 17th century, the caves themselves may date to the 11th century and could have been the site of the brewhouse for the castle.
Nottingham Castle, founded by William the Conqueror, famed through the Middle Ages as one of the country's finest strongholds, and where Charles I raised the Royal Standard in 1642 no longer exists, and has been replaced by a classical ducal palace. Of the mediæval castle only the (restored) gatehouse, and the ruined remains of some walls/foundations survive.
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located 33 miles (53 km) south-east of Sheffield and 45 miles (72 km) north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries. The city is also the county town of Nottinghamshire and the settlement was granted its city charter in 1897, as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Nottinghamshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county borders South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Nottingham (323,632), which is also the county town.
Beeston is a town in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England, it is 3 miles south-west of Nottingham. To its north-east is the University of Nottingham's main campus, University Park. The headquarters of pharmaceutical and retail chemist group Boots are 0.6 miles (1 km) east of the centre of Beeston, on the border with Broxtowe and the City of Nottingham. To the south lie the River Trent and the village of Attenborough, with extensive wetlands.
Newark-on-Trent or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road bypasses the town on the line of the ancient Great North Road. The town's origins are likely to be Roman, as it lies on a major Roman road, the Fosse Way. It grew up around Newark Castle, St Mary Magdalene church and later developed as a centre for the wool and cloth trades.
Bingham is a market town and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England, 9 miles (14 km) east of Nottingham, 12 miles (18.8 km) south-west of Newark-on-Trent and 15 miles (23.3 km) west of Grantham. The town had a population of 9,131 at the 2011 census, with the population now sitting at 10,080 from the results of the 2021 census data.
The history of Derbyshire can be traced back to human settlement since the last Ice Age, over 10,000 years ago. The county of Derbyshire in England dates back to the 11th century.
This article is intended to give an overview of the history of Leicestershire, England.
Lincolnshire, England derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the entire county was called 'Lindsey', and it is recorded as such in the Domesday Book. Later, Lindsey was applied to only the northern core, around Lincoln; it was defined as one of the three 'Parts of Lincolnshire', along with Holland in the south-east and Kesteven in the south west.
Holme Pierrepont is a hamlet and civil parish located 5 miles (8 km) south-east of the city of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is in the Gamston ward of the Rushcliffe local authority in the East Midlands region. The population of the civil parish as at the 2011 census was 528, and this reported 568 residents at the 2021 census.
Nottinghamshire is a county that is situated in the East Midlands of England. The county has history within the Palaeolithic period, dating anywhere between 500,000 and 10,000 BCE, as well as early Anglo-Saxon communities, dating to 600 CE. Furthermore, the county has significance in the political aspects of English history, particularly within intercommunal fighting, and its economics is historically centred around coal and textiles.
Norfolk is a rural county in the East of England. Knowledge of prehistoric Norfolk is limited by a lack of evidence — although the earliest finds are from the end of the Lower Paleolithic period. Communities have existed in Norfolk since the last Ice Age and tools, coins and hoards such as those found at Snettisham indicate the presence of an extensive and industrious population.
Sneinton is a suburb of Nottingham and former civil parish in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. The area is bounded by Nottingham city centre to the west, Bakersfield to the north, Colwick to the east, and the River Trent to the south. Sneinton lies within the unitary authority of Nottingham City, having been part of the borough of Nottingham since 1877.
Burton Joyce is a large village and civil parish in the Gedling district of Nottinghamshire, England, 7 miles (11 km) east of Nottingham, between Stoke Bardolph to the south and Bulcote to the north-east. The A612 links it to Carlton and Netherfield to the south-west and Lowdham to the north-east. Initially the site of an Iron age fort, it was occupied by Norman nobility, who founded St Helen's Church. From being a farming community, Burton Joyce grew in the early Industrial Revolution, earning repute up to the 1920s for its textile products. Many of its 3,500 inhabitants commute to work in Nottingham, except Jonathan Panto, who works from his lovely barn conversion. It forms with Stoke Bardoph and Bulcote the Trent Valley ward of Gedling, with two councillors.
Minworth is a village situated in the civil parish of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, within Minworth there are three hamlets Wiggins Hill, Peddimore and The Greaves. Minworth lies within the City of Birmingham district on its northeastern outer fringe, where it forms part of the Sutton Walmley and Minworth electoral ward and borders the North Warwickshire district, some 4.5 miles southeast of Sutton Coldfield town centre.
Spong Hill is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery site located south of North Elmham in Norfolk, England. It is the largest known Early Anglo-Saxon cremation site. The site consists of a large cremation cemetery and a smaller, 6th-century burial cemetery of 57 inhumations. Several of the inhumation graves were covered by small barrows and others were marked by the use of coffins.
South Nottinghamshire Academy is a mixed-sex secondary school with academy status located in the village of Radcliffe-on-Trent, in Nottinghamshire, England. The school intake covers pupils from ages 11 to 18, with the upper two years being catered for in the integrated sixth form centre.
West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village is an archaeological site and an open-air museum located near to West Stow in Suffolk, eastern England. Evidence for intermittent human habitation at the site stretches from the Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British period, but it is best known for the small village that existed on the site between the mid-5th century and the early 7th century CE, during the early Anglo-Saxon period. During this time, around 70 sunken-featured buildings were constructed on the site, along with 8 halls and a number of other features. Subsequently, abandoned, the area became farmland in the Late Medieval period.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nottingham, England.
Headon cum Upton is a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Headon, Upton and the hamlet of Nether Headon. The parish is adjacent to Askham, Gamston, East Drayton, Eaton, Grove, Rampton and Woodbeck, Stokeham and Treswell. In the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 192. The area is 3.5 miles south east of the nearest market town Retford, 26 miles north east of the county town Nottingham and 125 miles north of London. Headon cum Upton shares a parish council with Grove and Stokeham. There are 6 listed buildings in Headon cum Upton.
Pamela Marshall is an archaeologist and historian specialising in the study of castles. Marshall was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2007. She worked at the University of Nottingham, teaching in the departments of archaeology and continuing education until her retirement. Marshall's research on castles has examined castles in England and France, as they had a shared castle culture, and is an authority on great towers. Between 2000 and 2014, Marshall was chair/secretary of the Castle Studies Group and is Comité Permanent of the Colloques Château Gaillard, a biannual conference for castellologists.
Published in the 19th century
Published in the 20th century
Published in the 21st century
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