In 2017, the county was estimated to have a population of 785,800. Over half of the population of the county live in the Greater Nottinghamconurbation (which continues into Derbyshire).[3] The conurbation has a population of about 650,000, though less than half live within the city boundaries.[citation needed]
Nottinghamshire lies on the RomanFosse Way, and there are Roman settlements in the county; for example at Mansfield, and forts such as at the Broxtowe Estate in Bilborough. The county was settled by Angles around the 5th century, and became part of the Kingdom, and later Earldom, of Mercia. However, there is evidence of Saxon settlement at the Broxtowe Estate, Oxton, near Nottingham, and Tuxford, east of Sherwood Forest. The name first occurs in 1016, but until 1568, the county was administratively united with Derbyshire, under a single Sheriff. In Norman times, the county developed malting and woollen industries. During the industrial revolution, the county held much needed minerals such as coal and iron ore, and had constructed some of the first experimental waggonways in the world; an example of this is the Wollaton wagonway of 1603–1616, which transported minerals from bell pitt mining areas at Strelley and Bilborough, this led to canals and railways being constructed in the county, and the lace and cotton industries grew. In the 18th and 19th centuries, mechanised deeper collieries opened, and mining became an important economic sector, though these declined after the 1984–85 miners' strike.
Until 1610, Nottinghamshire was divided into eight Wapentakes. Sometime between 1610 and 1719, they were reduced to six – Newark, Bassetlaw, Thurgarton, Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, and Bingham, some of these names still being used for the modern districts. Oswaldbeck was absorbed in Bassetlaw, of which it forms the North Clay division, and Lythe in Thurgarton.
Nottinghamshire is famous for its involvement with the legend of Robin Hood. This is also the reason for the numbers of tourists who visit places like Sherwood Forest, City of Nottingham, and the surrounding villages in Sherwood Forest. To reinforce the Robin Hood connection, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the Nottingham Caves Survey, with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham".[4]
Nottinghamshire was mapped first by Christopher Saxton in 1576; the first fully surveyed map of the county was by John Chapman, who produced Chapman's Map of Nottinghamshire in 1774.[5] The map was the earliest printed map at a sufficiently useful scale (one statute mile to one inch) to provide basic information on village layout, and the existence of landscape features such as roads, milestones, tollbars, parkland, and mills.
Interactive map of Nottinghamshire and city/districts
Nottinghamshire, like Derbyshire, and South Yorkshire, sits on extensive coal measures, up to 900 metres (3,000 feet) thick, and occurring largely in the north of the county. There is an oilfield near Eakring. These are overlaid by sandstones and limestones in the west, and clay in the east.[6] The north of the county is part of the Humberhead Levelslacustrine plain. The centre and south west of the county, around Sherwood Forest, features undulating hills with ancient oak woodland. Principal rivers are the Trent, Idle, Erewash, and Soar. The Trent, fed by the Soar, Erewash, and Idle, composed of many streams from Sherwood Forest, run through wide and flat valleys, merging at Misterton. A point just north of Newtonwood Lane, on the boundary with Derbyshire is the highest point in Nottinghamshire; at 205 metres (673 feet),[7] while Silverhill, a spoil heap left by the former Silverhill colliery, a man-made point often cited as the highest, reaches 204 metres (669 feet). The lowest is Peat Carr, east of Blaxton, at sea level; the Trent is tidal below Cromwell Lock.[8]
Nottinghamshire is sheltered by the Pennines to the west, so receives relatively low rainfall at 641 to 740 millimetres (25 to 29 inches) annually.[9] The average temperature of the county is 8.8–10.1 degrees Celsius (48–50 degrees Fahrenheit).[10] The county receives between 1321 and 1470 hours of sunshine per year.[11]
Nottinghamshire contains one green belt area, first drawn up from the 1950s. Completely encircling the Nottingham conurbation, it stretches for several miles into the surrounding districts, and extends into Derbyshire.
Nottinghamshire is represented by eleven (11) members of parliament (MPs). The three seats within the City of Nottingham are represented by Labour Party MPs, with the other eight Nottinghamshire seats represented by Conservative MPs.
Following the 2017 County Council elections, the County Council is controlled by a coalition of Conservatives and Mansfield Independent Forum, having taken control from the Labour administration. The seats held are 31 Conservatives, 23 Labour, 11 Independents, 1 Liberal Democrat. In the previous 2013 election, the County Council was Labour controlled, a gain from the Conservatives.
Local government is devolved to seven local borough and district councils. Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Gedling, and Mansfield are Labour controlled; while Broxtowe, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe are Conservative controlled.
Westminster Parliamentary
General Election 2019: Nottinghamshire
Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrats
Brexit
Green
Others
Turnout
258,794 (47.4%) 16,343
204,011 (37.4%) 61,062
33,585 (6.2%) 17,567
15,922 (2.9%) New party
10,375 (1.9%) 4,657
23,241 (4.3%) 419
545,844 6,238
Overall number of seats in 2019
Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrats
Brexit
Green
others
8 3
3 3
0
0
0
0
Political control
Nottinghamshire is a non-metropolitan county, governed by Nottinghamshire County Council and seven non-metropolitan district councils. Elections to the county council take place every four years, with the first election taking place in 1973. Following each election, the county council has been controlled by the following parties:[12]
The regional economy was traditionally based on industries such as coal mining in the Leen Valley, and manufacturing. Since the invention of the knitting frame by local William Lee, the county, in particular Nottingham, became synonymous with the lace industry.[13]
In 1998, Nottinghamshire had a gross domestic product (GDP) per-capita of £12,000, and a total GDP of £12,023 million. This is compared to a per-capita GDP of £11,848 for the East Midlands, £12,845 for England, and £12,548 for the United Kingdom. Nottingham has a GDP per-capita of £17,373, North Nottinghamshire £10,176, and South Nottinghamshire £8,448.[14] In October 2005, the United Kingdom had 4.7% unemployment, the East Midlands 4.4%, and the Nottingham commuter belt area 2.4%.[15]
Nottinghamshire contains the ancestral home of the poet Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey, which he sold in 1818. It is now owned by Nottingham City Council, and is open to the public. The acclaimed author D. H. Lawrence was from Eastwood in Nottinghamshire. Toton was the birthplace and home of English folk singer-songwriter Anne Briggs, well known for her song Black Waterside. The north of the county is also noteworthy for its connections with the Pilgrim Fathers. William Brewster, for example, came from the village of Scrooby, and was influenced by Richard Clyfton, who preached at Babworth.
Nottinghamshire has international twinning arrangements with the province of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) in western Poland, and with the province's capital city, Poznań.[16]
Settlements and communications
The council house and a tram in Nottingham market square
The traditional county town, and the largest settlement in the historic and ceremonial county boundaries, is the City of Nottingham. The City is now administratively independent, but suburbs including Arnold, Carlton, West Bridgford, Beeston, and Stapleford are still within the administrative county, and West Bridgford is now home of the county council.
The M1 motorway runs through the county, connecting Nottingham to London, Leeds, and Leicester by road. The A1 road follows for the most part the path of the Great North Road, although in places it diverges from the historic route where towns have been bypassed. Retford was by-passed in 1961, and Newark-on-Trent was by-passed in 1964, and the A1 now runs between Retford and Worksop past the village of Ranby. Many historic coaching inns can still be seen along the traditional route.
East Midlands Airport is just outside the county in Leicestershire, while Doncaster Sheffield Airport lies within the historic boundaries of Nottinghamshire. These airports serve the county and several of its neighbours. Together, the airports have services to most major European destinations, and East Midlands Airport now also has services to North America and the Caribbean. As well as local bus services throughout the county, Nottingham and its suburbs have a tram system, Nottingham Express Transit.
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, England. Part of the East Midlands region, it is 128 miles (206 km) north of London and 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Birmingham. To the west lies Derby, separated by the M1 motorway.
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. The region has an area of 15,627 km2 (6,034 sq mi), with a population over 4.5 million in 2011. There are six main urban centres, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton and Nottingham. Others include Boston, Chesterfield, Corby, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Loughborough, Newark-on-Trent, Skegness, and Wellingborough.and Worksop
Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its council, Rushcliffe Borough Council(0115 981 9911), is based in West Bridgford. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging the West Bridgford Urban District, the Bingham Rural District and part of Basford Rural District.
Bingham is an English market town in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, 9 miles (14 km) east of Nottingham, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south-west of Newark-on-Trent and 15 miles (24 km) west of Grantham. The town had a population of 9,131 at the 2011 UK census.
This article describes the history of Nottinghamshire.
Newark is a constituency in Nottinghamshire, England. It is currently represented by Robert Jenrick of the Conservative Party who won the seat in a by-election on 5 June 2014, following the resignation of Patrick Mercer in April 2014.
Nottingham South is a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, represented since 2010 by Lillian Greenwood of the Labour Party.
Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million.
Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election was held in 2017.
Scouting in East Midlands is about Scouting in the official region of East Midlands. It is largely represented by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
Rushcliffe School is a secondary school with academy status in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire and is situated on Boundary Road in West Bridgford, one of the wealthiest areas in the county. It is ranked regularly in the top 100 comprehensive schools in the UK for GCSE results and is in the top 2% of UK comprehensives for A Level results. The School's recognised as Outstanding by Ofsted in all categories.
Elections to Nottinghamshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.
Healthcare in Nottinghamshire is the responsibility of six Clinical Commissioning Groups, covering Nottingham City, Nottingham North & East, Mansfield and Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, Rushcliffe, and Nottingham West. They plan to merge in April 2020.
The Nottingham and Derby Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy for the cities of Derby and Nottingham in the East Midlands region of England. It includes designated parts of several districts in the surrounding counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Management is mainly performed by the local planning authority on guidance from central government.
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