*NOTTINGHAM, (Nottinghamshire) one of the neatest Ts. in England, stands on the Lind, near its influx into the Trent, 96 cm. 122 mm. from London. It had a castle, supposed to have been built by Will. the Conq. or rather by his natural son William Peverel, which for most part bel. to the crown from the beginning of the R. of Hen. II. and often gave entertainment and residence to the monarchs of England, The Danes had possessed it three times before it submitted to Will. the Conq. who gave the Gt. both of the castle and forest to William Peverel, by whom St. Mary's Ch. and the tithe of the fishery here, were granted to the priory of Lenton. This Bor. had its first charter that appears on record from Hen. II. though it is evident it was a corp. before, with a Mt. and paid rent to the crown; but it had been burnt in the R. of K. Stephen, by Robert Earl of Ferrers and Derby. It had another charter from K. John, appointing the bailiff to pay the K's. rent at the exchequer at Easter and Michaelmas. In 1179, the Ks. of England and Scotland kept their Christmas here, Edward I. granted them a mayor and 2 bailiffs. King Richard I. held a great council here, after having taken it by siege from his brother, Earl John, who got possession of the castle while he was in the Holy-Land. And 2 great councils were held here in the R. of Edw. III. and 2 more by Rich. II. K. Henry VI. made the Bor. a Co. turned the bailiffs into Sheriff's, and incorporated them by the name of mayor and burgesses. It is now governed by a mayor, recorder, 6 ald. 2 coroners, 2 Sheriffs, 2 chamberlains, a town-clerk, and a C. C. of 24 persons, of whom 6 are to be such as have not served as sheriff or chamberlain. The mayor and sheriffs have each two sergeants at mace. The scavenger, who takes care of the pavement and streets, has the honour, upon extraordinary occasions, to attend the mayor's wife; and here are 2 pinders, the one of the fields, the other of the meadows, the former of whom is also woodward for the T. and attends at the forest courts, this T. being within the jurisdiction of the forest. Here is an uncertain number of persons, called the Clothing, and 1200 other burgesses. There are fine estates bel. to this corp. some for general, and others for particular uses, as, for the maintenanace of their fr. sc. and their costly bridges over the Trent, which are four, but the fairest, which is over the Lind, is kept in repair at the charge of the T. and Co. When the staple was at Calais, this was a flourishing place; but its chief trade of late years is in the mfs. of glass and earthen wares, weaving of frame stockings, and converting the barley that grows in the Vale of Belvoir, &c. into malt, by which it gains more profit than ever it did by wool heretofore, or by the mf. of cloth, for which it was famous long before Calais was subject to England; for the best malt in England is made here, and sent by land to Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. The assizes and sessions, &c. of the Co. are held here, in that called the King's-Hall, near which is the gaol; but the sessions and courts for the corp. are kept, in the T.-hall, which is a grand fabrick on piazzas. Great part of the castle was pulled down, and the iron and other materials sold, a little before the civil war; yet there were so much left of it, that K. Cha. I. chose to let up his standard here, in 1642; but soon after it became a garrison for the Pt. and so continued till the end of the war; after which, the last governor, Capt. Poulton, had orders and money given him to pull it down, though it was not utterly demolished at the restoration of Charles II. after which the D. of Buckingham, grandson by the mother's side to Francis Earl of Rutland, who had the grant from K. James I. both of the castle and park, sold it to the late D. of Newcastle, who pulled down what remained, and erected a stately fabrick in the place of it. From him it came to the honourable family of Pelham; and it has been improved and adorned, at a great expence, by the present D. of Newcastle, who has made it one of the best seats in England, it being built on a steep rock, and the chief ornament of the T. which standing as it were in the midst of a forest, and a sporting country, is a second Newmarket for races, &c. there being a fine plain on the N. side of the T. for a horse-course. Few of the inland Ts. have a better trade than this, the r. Trent, which runs parallel with it about 1 m. to the S. having been made navigable to it by barges, which bring them cheese from Warwickshire and Staffordshire, and all their heavy goods from the Humber, and from Hull. There is a stately stone bridge of 19 arches over it; and as it sometimes overflows the neighbouring meadows, a causey is erected near 1 m. long, quite from the r. to the T. Here were anciently divers mons. and now 3 Chs. and 3 ch. scs. There is a fine spacious Mt.-place, with two crosses in it. Its Mts. are W. F. and S. Fairs on Feb. 24, Sept. 21 and Th. before Easter, and a Horse-Fair on Jan. 8. The Spring-Fairs are for colts, and St. Matthew's for colts and cheese. Here is an almsh. built in 1640 by Henry Hanley, Esq; and endowed for 12 poor people. The rock, on the ascent of which the T. stands, was anciently called the Dolorous-Hill, or Golgotha, from the great slaughter, as it is said, of the Britons there, by K. Humber, a piratical monarch of the North. The ancients dug caves under the steep rocks towards the land, for places of retreat. There were many under the castle, and some of them cut out with great art into convenient apartments, with chimneys, windows, &c. One of them is noted for the history of Christ's Passion, cut out by David K. of Scots, when he was prisoner here; and there is a winding stair-case to a place at the bottom, called Mortimers-Hole; in which Mortimer E. of March, who was hanged in the R. of Edw. III. is said to have absconded; but it is rather believed, that his apprehenders made their way through this private passage, and seized him in the castle. There is excellent cellaring in the rock, on which the T. stands, with 2 or 3 vaults one under another, which are great conveniences for storing their ale, &c. whereof they send great quantities to most parts of England; for which purpose, all the low lands hereabouts are sowed with barley. In the D. of Newcastle's park, there is a ledge of perpendicular rocks hewn into a Ch. houses, chambers, dovehouses, &c. the altar of which Ch. is natural lock; and there appears to have been a steeple and pillars. Travellers take great notice of a house here, built on the side of a hill, where the entrance is at the garrets, and the ascent from it to the cellar at top of the house. Many families of great esteem have honoured this T. with long residence; particularly the Plumptrees and the Gregories. The former have flourished here, ever since Rich. II. when their ancestor, John Plumptree, built and endowed an hos. here, for 13 poor old widows; which was pulled down in 1654, and rebuilt by his descendant, Dr. Huntington Plumptree, a learned poet and physician. Will. Gregory, the T.-clerk, in the last century gave 11 houses here for almshs. In short, the T. is said to have more gentlemens houses, than any of its bigness in Britain. It gives title of E. as well as Winchelsea, to the noble family of Finch. Marshal Tallard was brought hither prisoner from the battle of Hochstet, and lived here very pleasantly 7 years; during which, he made fine gardens to the house he lived in, which, at his departure, he gave to his landlord. The malt liquor here occasioned this distich in a ballad made, while he was here. " If he'll take t'other bout, we'll " let Tailard out, " And much he's improv'd, let " me tell you, " With Nottingham ale at " every meal, " And good pudding and beef in " his belly." Not many years ago, the hall, where the assizes are held, gave such a crack, that all the people ran out, leaving old justice Powis, who was also very infirm, on the bench, to hobble out by himself; but he fined the T. afterwards, for not keeping the hall in repair.