A History of Nottingham

Saxon Nottingham

Nottingham began in the 6th century as a small Saxon settlement called Snotta ing ham. The Saxon word ham meant village. The word ing meant "belonging to" and Snotta meant "a man." Nottingham was well located to grow into a town as it was built at the first point where the river Trent can be forded. The river is also navigable to that point inland. In the late 9th century the Danes conquered North East and Eastern England. They made Nottingham into a fortified settlement or burgh. They built a ditch around the town, with an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. In 920 the English recaptured Nottingham and built a bridge across the Trent. By the 10th century Nottingham was a busy market town, though with a population of only several hundred. From the 10th century Nottingham had a mint.

Medieval Nottingham

Nottingham may have had a population of around 1,500 at the time of the Norman Conquest. In 1067 William the Conqueror constructed a wooden castle at Nottingham. It was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. Nottingham grew rapidly after the Norman Conquest. A new area was created between the old town and the castle, called the French borough, because most of those who lived there were Norman French. The old town was called the English borough. The ditch and rampart around Nottingham were extended to surround the new area. Later, in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, they were replaced by stone walls. By the 14th century it may have grown to 3,000.

In 1155 the king gave Nottingham a charter. Nottingham gained its first mayor in 1284. The town gained its first sheriff in 1449. Nottingham had a weekly market in this period. It also had an annual fair. From 1284 it had two. In the Middle Ages the main industry in Nottingham was wool manufacturer, though there were also some tillers, potters, and goldsmiths in the town. There were the same craftsmen one would find in any medieval town. These included brewers, bakers, carpenters, shoemakers and blacksmiths.

In the 13th century friars arrived in Nottingham. There were Franciscans known as grey friars because of their grey habits and Carmelite friars known as white friars. In the Middle Ages the church ran the only hospitals. In Nottingham there was a hospital dedicated to St Thomas. There were also two leper hostels outside the gates, dedicated to St Leonard and St Mary. In the 12th and 13th centuries there was also a Jewish community in Nottingham. However all Jews were forced to leave England in 1290.