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.

16th and 17th Century Nottingham

In 1513 a grammar school was founded in Nottingham. However in the 1530s Henry VIII closed the leper hostels and the friaries. Robert Smythson, who lived from 1535 to 1614, built Wollaton Hall in 1588. In Nottingham traditional industries such as the manufacture of wool declined. The pottery industry continued. Tanning declined in the late 17th century. However new industries, including making silk or wool hosiery, had started to boom by the late 17th century. The making of malts, using is brewing beer, also flourished. Another new industry in Nottingham was glass making. Glass windows were rare in the Middle Ages but they became common in the 17th century. So did brick houses. In the 1600s many of the houses in Nottingham were rebuilt in brick with tiled roofs. By the early 18th century it was an elegant town with many fine buildings.

Nottingham grew steadily despite outbreaks of plague, which occurred throughout the 16th and early 17th century. The last outbreak was in 1667. By 1600 Nottingham probably had a population between 3,500 and 4,000. It probably rose to about 5,000 by the late 17th century. In 1642 the English Civil War began when King Charles I raised his standard on a hill north of Nottingham and called on men to join his cause. Nevertheless in November Parliamentarian troops occupied Nottingham. They held it for the rest of the war despite attacks by the royalist army in June 1643 and January 1644. In 1651, after the war, Parliament ordered that the castle should be destroyed to prevent it ever falling into royalist hands. In 1674 The Duke of Newcastle bought the site and built a mansion there between 1674 and 1679.

18th Century Nottingham

From the late 17th century salt glaze stoneware was made in Nottingham. In the 18th century the hosiery industry boomed. There was also a lace industry although it was quite small. Nottingham grew rapidly especially in the later 18th century. By the middle of the century the population of Nottingham had passed 10,000. By 1801, the year of the first census it exceeded 28,000. By the standards of the time Nottingham was a large and important town. For the well-to-do it was elegant and genteel. In the 18th century there was a piped water supply although it was expensive and not many people could afford it. From the 1760s oil lamps lit the streets. The first theatre in Nottingham was built in 1760. A general hospital was built in 1782.

19th Century Nottingham

The town continued to grow rapidly, especially after 1845 when a great deal of land around it was released for building. A cholera outbreak in 1833 killed 330 people. However conditions improved by the later 19th century. Nottingham acquired gas street lighting in 1819. In the mid-19th century the piped water system was taken over by the corporation and was greatly expanded. After 1835 Nottingham had its first proper police force. A new prison was built in Nottingham in 1846. The railway first reached Nottingham in 1839. The first public library opened in 1868. University College was formed in 1881. In the late 19th century the corporation created parks and recreation grounds. The hosiery industry continued in the town. Nottingham also became famous for lace. A lace-making machine was introduced in 1809. Some new industries began, including the making of cigarettes and bicycles.

Modern Nottingham

Electric trams began running in Nottingham in 1901. Nottingham University was founded in 1948. In 1952 a statue of Robin Hood by James Woodford was erected by the castle. In the late 20th century the main industries in Nottingham were textiles, tobacco, bicycles, pharmaceuticals and printing.

Nottingham Castle

Nottingham Castle is not a proper castle at all, since it was built in the late 19th Century on the site of previous castles. So there is very little of the Sheriff and Robin Hood in it, except for the statue nearby. It contains the town’s municipal museum and art gallery. There is medieval bridge that connected the Outer and Middle Baileys of the castle, built in the late 12th century and one of the few surviving remains of the medieval castle. The gate house is also impressive. There are some dungeons one can explore.

Tales of Robin Hood

For those who prefer the legend to the reality, this is a kind of commercialized tribute to the famous robber from the rich and giver to the poor. It’s a Robin Hood theme park, with a simulated ride through the Nottingham of Robin and the Sheriff, along with a lot of other attractions. It’s great fun for the kids, though. There’s also a medieval style banquet available at night, with a Robin Hood show.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem

England's oldest pub has been selling ale and beer to thirsty travelers in the same place since 1189. The food is pretty average pub grub, but the inn serves an excellent Jerusalem bitter. It can be reached from the castle by an underground passage known as Mortimer’s Hole. It is said that King Edward III and a band of nobles caught Roger Mortimer and the Queen there, killing Mortimer and locking the Queen up. The Old Salutation is also a good place for a pint.

Newstead Abbey

This is the magnificent former home of the flamboyant poet, Lord Byron, a romantic Gothic style house incorporating the remains of a 13th century priory. There are picturesque formal gardens and a lake. The library has displays and reading material. The wood paneling in the Great Hall is reputed to have come from a single oak. While the living area maintains its 19th Century ambiance, the cloisters and chapter house hearken back to the house’s medieval past.

Visiting Nottingham

Nottingham is serviced by the East Midlands Airport, about thirteen miles away. It is also readily accessible by rail and road. Though many of the attractions are within walking distance of one another, Nottingham has a good bus system.