NOTTINGHAM, a borough and market-town and county (of itself),
locally in the county of Nottingham, of which it is the chief
town, 124 miles (N. N. W.) from London, containing, with the
extra-parochial liberty of Standard Hill, and the limits of the
castle, which are in the south division of the wapentake
of Broxtow, 40,415 inhabitants. This place, from the numerous
caverns and subterraneous dwellings excavated in the sandy rock
on which. it is situated, was by the Saxons called Snottinga
ham, or place of caverns, of which its present
name is only a slight modification. According to the
Saxon Chronicle, the Danes, having in one of their numerous
predatory incursions made themselves masters
of the town, in 868, were attacked by Burrhed, King
of Mercia, who, having obtained the assistance of King
Ethelred I. and his brother Alfred, afterwards Alfred the
Great, compelled the invaders to conclude a treaty of
peace, and to retire to York. The town having subsequently
suffered material injury from their renewed attempts
to take possession of it, in which they were frequently
successful, was fortified with a wall by Edward
the Elder, who in 910 built a bridge over the river
Trent. In 924, the town was repaired on the south
side, towards the river, but soon after fell again into the
hands of the Danes, who retained it till they were finally
subdued by Edmund, in 940. In the reign of Edward
the. Confessor, Tosti, brother of Harold, had considerable
possessions in Nottingham, which at that time contained
one hundred and ninety-two burgesses; but this number,
at the time of the Conquest, had decreased to one
hundred and twenty. The Conqueror, in order to keep
his new subjects in awe, erected on the site of the ancient
fort a formidable castle, the government of which
he conferred on William Peverel, his natural son; this
castle, from its situation on the summit of a bold eminence,
rising perpendicularly from the river Leen, and
i'rom the strength of its fortifications, was regarded as
impregnable, and the town was at the same time
strongly fortified. During the war between Stephen and
Matilda, Nottingham was besieged by the Earl of Gloucester,
who having gained possession of it, plundered
and burnt it, and in a few years after it experienced
a similar calamity from the partisans of the
young prince Henry, in his rebellion against his father,
Henry II. On the death of the prince, and the consequent
pacification of the kingdom, the king greatly
contributed to the rebuilding of the town; and to
reward the fidelity and loyalty of the inhabitants,
grunted them a charter, by which he confirmed all the
privileges they enjoyed under Henry I. Richard I.,
previously to his embarking in the crusades, assembled
a parliament here, to deliberate upon the requisite measures
for the administration of the government during
his absence, which was entrusted to his younger brother
John, in whose attempts to usurp the dominion, the castle
was alternately in the possession of his partisans
and of those of his absent brother, by whom, on returning
from his captivity in Germany, it was finally reduced.
Richard, on taking possession of the throne, held another
parliament in this town, in which he demanded
justice against the unnatural usurpation of his brother
John, whom, however, he ultimately pardoned. In
the reign of John the town and castle were unsuccessfully
assaulted by the confederate barons, who
had invited the Dauphin of France to accept the English
crown. In the early part of the reign of Edward
III., Mortimer, Earl of March, and the queen
dowager Isabel, resided in the castle, which was
strongly fortified; but a party of noblemen in the interest
of the king, having obtained entrance through a
subterranean passage which led to the keep, surprised
that nobleman in an apartment adjoining the queen's,
and having seized him, conveyed him to London, when,
being convicted of high treason, he was hanged at
Elmes. In the same reign a parliament was held here,
which passed the first enactments for prohibiting the
exportation of English wool, and for encouraging foreign
manufacturers to settle in the kingdom. David
Bruce, who had been made prisoner at the battle of
Durham, was for some time confined in the castle,
previously to his removal to London; and in 1386,
Richard II. held a council here, the members of which
having declared the proceedings of the parliament which,
had impeached his ministers to be illegal, were afterwards
accused of treason by the House of Commons,
and many of them executed. In 1461, Edward IV,,
after landing at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, assembled-his
forces in this town, where he caused himself to be proclaimed
king, and made extensive additions to the castle,
which were completed by Richard III., who marched
hence with his forces to Bosworth Field. Henry VII.
held a council of war here previously to the battle of
Stoke, in which the rebels who had espoused the pretensions
of Lambert Simnel were defeated, with the loss
of four thousand men.
Previously to the commencement of the parliamentarian
war, Charles I., having retired to York, received the
answer of the parliament to his various propositions for
an accommodation; but the conditions proposed by that
body being so humiliating and unreasonable, the monarch
resolved upon war as the milder alternative, and collecting
what forces he could in those parts of the country that
still adhered to his cause, advanced to Nottingham, where
he set up his standard on a hill within the limits of the
castle, which is still distinguished by the appellation ol
Standard Hill; but, wishing to avoid extremities, he
again made overtures for a treaty, which were still refused.
Very early in the war, Prince Rupert, commanding a
body of cavalry which had been stationed at Worcester,
to observe the movements of the Earl of Essex, defeated
a party under the command of Colonel Sandys, who was
killed in the encounter, a .short time prior- to the battle
of Edge Hill. The town and castle were soon afterwards
besieged and taken by the parliamentarians, who
stationed Colonel Hutchinson, with a powerful body, as
a check on the garrison at Newark, which still held out
for the king. During the usurpation of Cromwell, the
castle was dismantled, and so far demolished as to
render it unserviceable. After the Restoration, it became
the property of the Duke of Buckingham, who
sold it to the Duke of Newcastle, by whom it was pulled
down, and a mansion commenced on a part of the site,
which was completed in a few years after his death.
At the time of the revolution in 1688, the Earl of
Devonshire and other noblemen who had declared for
a free parliament, held a meeting here on the landing
of William, Prince of Orange, whom they assisted with
all their influence in establishing his claims to the
crown. During the French revolution of 1798, there
existed a considerable degree of political excitement
in the town; and in the years 1811 and 1812, the workmen,
ascribing their distresses to the introduction of
the improved machinery, were excited to the destruction
of property to a considerable amount, by the party called
" Luddites;" since which time some .disturbances, originating
with the frame-work knitters, occasioned the
passing of the act of the 57th of George III.
The town is situated nearly in the centre of the
kingdom, and at the south-western extremity of the Forest
of Sherwood, and occupies the acclivity of a sandy
rock, commanding an extensive view of the beautiful
vale of Trent, the fertile meadows watered by that river,
and the Leen, from the bank of which rises the precipitous
rock on which its castle is built, and skirted by
the pleasant village of Sneinton on the east: it is sheltered
from the winds by a chain of hills on the north,
and on the south is open to the vale of Belvoir, the
Nottinghamshire wolds, and the Leicestershire hills.
The streets in the central and more ancient part of the
town are narrow, but, since the increase of the manufactures,
it has experienced considerable improvement,
and several spacious streets have been formed, and
handsome ranges of building erected: it is well paved,
lighted with gas, and supplied with water by two companies,
incorporated by act of parliament in 1827, and
with spring water of great purity by pumps in various
parts; the general;appearance of the town is interesting,
and, from its elevated situation, the streets are
always'clean. At the distance of a mile, on the London
road, is an ancient stone bridge of twenty arches
over the river Trent, which is here of .considerable
breadth, being increased by the.waters of the Derwent,
the Soar, the Dov.«, and the Erwash: this bridge,
for the repairs of which -ample funds are vested in the
corporation, having been repeatedly damaged by floods,
exhibits a great diversity of style, corresponding
with the several times at which it has been repaired;
from the frequency of the rapid floods to which the
river is exposed in rainy seasons, a flood-road, or cause-
way, over the meadows has been constructed, by act
of parliament, and a strong embankment raised for
the protection of the lower part of the town, .which
are maintained by a toll granted under the .act: the
approaches have been widened and greatly improved,
and a considerable improvement has been effected in
the entrance from Mansfield. The environs abound
with pleasant walks, and with interesting and diversified
scenery. A public subscription library and newsroom
was established in 1816; and, in 1821, a spacious
mansion at the west end of the market-place
was purchased by the subscribers (of whom there are
about two hundred and thirty-five), and appropriated
to the use of the institution: it contains a commodious
suite of rooms, comprising the library, in which there
are eight thousand volumes (a valuable library of old
books, given by the Rev. Mr. Standfast, in 1744, is also
deposited here, but kept distinct from the other works),
a news-room, lecture-room, law library, and a billiardroom;
a mineralogical cabinet has been recently added
to the establishment: the price of a proprietor's share
is £20, and the annual subscription £2; the admission
to the news-room is £1. 5. per annum. A Literary Society,
consisting of one hundred members, established
in 1824, meets every alternate Monday, during the winter,
in the lecture-room of the library, for the discussion
of literary and scientific subjects. A mechanics' institution,
formed in 1824, has a library of two thousand volumes,
and a reading-room j the members hold their meetings
in one of the upper apartments of the Exchange
buildings, where is also a commodious suite of assembly-
rooms, in which concerts and balls are held; there
are also other assembly-rooms, in that part of the town
called the Low Pavement, where the assize and race
balls are held. The theatre, a small plain building in
Marygate, is open generally .for about three months in
the year. Races formerly took place on the second
Tuesday in August, but have lately varied; they are
well attended: the course, which is situated to the
north-east of the town, is one of the finest in the
kingdom, and is two miles in circumference; the
grand stand, a handsome brick building, was erected
by subscription, in 1777; adjoining the course" is a
spacious cricket ground. The cavalry barracks, an
extensive range of building at the upper extremity of
the Castle park, were erected in 1793,;on land leased
to the crown by the Duke of Newcastle. Near the
Castle-gate is a spacious brick building, erected in
1798, as a riding-house, by the Nottingham yeomanry
cavalry, which is occasionally used as a circus, and
for other public amusements.
The staple manufactures are cotton and silk stockings,
bobbin-net and lace, which afford employment to
nearly forty thousand persons in the town and environs;
and so much has the trade of the town increased,
that the manufacturers have agents, or factors, in
most parts of the world with which commercial intercourse
is carried on. For its present prosperity Nottingham
is greatly indebted to science for the improvements
lately made in the machinery employed in these
branches of national industry, which have given to the
manufactures of the town a decided superiority. The
machines for making the bobbin-net and lace are exceedingly
expensive, and being therefore beyond the
purchase of the poor, are let out to them at a weekly
rent by the proprietors, who invest large capitals in this
species of property, which has lately so much decreased
in value, that a machine which, about four years since,
would have cost from £1000 to £1200, may now be
purchased for. about £200. The improved lace machines
have been latterly worked by steam, but the
recent depression of the lace trade has compelled the
manufacturers to limit the hours of employment, andc
in some instances, to suspend their operation for a
time; the machines for stockings and lace are principally
made in the town, and afford employment to a
considerable number of persons, who, till the depression
in the lace trade, were receiving very high
wages. There are several mills for spinning and twisting
silk, and for spinning cotton and woollen yarn.
In addition to the staple branches of manufacture, pinmaking,
wire-drawing, and the manufacture of brass
fenders, are carried on to a considerable extent; there
are also white lead-works, an iron-foundry, and several
breweries; the trade in malt is very extensive; and the
ale brewed here is in high repute. The town derives
great facility of trade from its situation on the river
Trent, which is navigable to the Humber; from the
Grantham canal, affording communication with Lincolnshire
and part of Leicestershire; and from the Nottingham,
Cromford, and Erwash canals, with those of
Staffordshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire, and opening
a communication with the extensive mines of coal,
lead, and iron, in those counties, and affording a
medium of intercourse with the metropolis and the
principal manufacturing towns. The market days are
Wednesday and Saturday; the latter, which is principally
for corn and cattle, is the most considerable
in the midland district: the fairs are on the Friday
after January 13th, for cattle; March 7th and 8th, for
cheese, cloth, and cattle; Thursday before Easter, for
horses; October 2nd, called Goose fair, which is very considerable
for geese, cheese, cloth, and cattle, and continues
nine days. The market-place, including an area of
more than five acres and a half, is one of the most extensive
and commodious in the kingdom: it is surrounded
with lofty buildings, the first stories of which, projecting
over the pavement, form a piazza. At the east end is the
New Exchange, a handsome building of brick, erected by
the corporation in the early part of the last century, and
in 1814 repaired and faced with Roman cement; the
ground-floor has been converted into shops, behind
which are the shambles; the upper stories contain a
suite of noble rooms for the transaction of public business;
of these the principal is seventy-five feet long,
thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, with an arched
ceiling; two other rooms communicate with the principal
hall by folding doors, forming a suite one hundred
and twenty-three feet in length.
The town, with the exception of the castle and the county gaol,
was separated from the county of Nottingham, and constituted
a distinct county, under the designation of " the Town and
County of the Town of Nottingham," in the 27th of Henry VI.,
by which title it is recognised in an act of the 3rd of George I,
The inhabitants have been incorporated by various charters
from time immemorial; under the last of which, granted by
Henry VI., the government is vested in a mayor, recorder,
deputy recorder, two sheriffs, six aldermen, eighteen senior
and six junior common council-men, assisted by
a town clerk, two chamberlains, two coroners, two
bridge-masters, and subordinate officers. The mayor is
elected from among the aldermen by the corporation at
large, by whom also vacancies in that body are filled
tip; the common council-men are chosen by the burgesses
at large; the senior members from those who
have filled the office of chamberlain, after which they
are chosen sheriffs, and the junior members from the
burgesses generally. The mayor and aldermen are
justices of the peace, with whom the .county magistrates
have concurrent jurisdiction, by an act passed in
the 43rd of George III., called the Nottingham election
and police bill, in consequence of the tumultuous
proceedings which took place at the election in
1802. The freedom of the borough is inherited by the
eldest sons of freemen, born in the town, and by the
younger sons after the expiration of their indentures
of apprenticeship in any place; by others it is obtained
by servitude to a resident freeman, by gift from the
corporation, or by purchase: among the privileges of
the freemen is the right of depasturing three head of
cattle, or forty-five sheep, in the common fields and
meadows, which comprise nearly sixteen hundred acres;
The corporation hold courts of quarter session for the
borough for the trial of all but capital offenders; a
court of record, under the mayor and sheriffs, every
alternate Wednesday, for the recovery of debts to any
amount, the power of which extends to the recovery
of freehold property by ejectment; the sheriffs hold
their monthly county court for the recovery of debts
under 40a., and courts leet and baron are held twice
in the year. The town hall, rebuilt in. the reign of
George I., is a spacious and commodious edifice, two
stories in height, containing on the ground-floor the
town prison or common gaol, comprising cells and
rooms for the classification of prisoners, and on the
first story the court-room for the sessions, appropriately
fitted up, and other apartments. The town bridewell, or
house of correction, is an extensive edifice, well adapted
to the classification and employment of the prisoners,
to whom one - half of their earnings is given on
their discharge. The borough has returned two members
to parliament from the reign of Edward I.: the
right of election is vested in the freemen generally, and in.
freeholders to the amount of 40s. per annum, the mm-"
her of whom is about five thousand; the sheriffs are the
returning officers. This being the county town, the election
of knights of the shire, and the assizes and quarter
sessions for the county are held in it. The county
hall, rebuilt in 1770, is a handsome edifice with a
stone front, containing two well - arranged courts for
the Crown and Nisi Prius bar, with the requisite
rooms for the grand jury, and offices for transacting the
business of the county; behind it is the common gaol
for the county, comprising one ward for debtors, one
for prisoners convicted of misdemeanor, three for felons,
and five airing-yards, for the classification of prisoners.
The town comprises the parishes of St. Mary, St,
Nicholas, and St. Peter, in the archdeaconry of Nottingham,
and diocese of York, and the liberty of bt.
James, which is extra-parochial. The living of bt.
Mary's is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at £10. 5.,
and in the patronage of Earl Manvers; the church is
a spacious and elegant cruciform structure, in the later
style of English architecture, with a beautiful tower
rising from the centre to the height of two stages, ana
crowned with battlements and pinnacles: the west
front, which has been modernized,, presents a striking
contrast to the rest of the building, which is of beautiful
design and of elaborate execution; the south porch
is highly enriched with panels and fan tracery, depending
from the roof, which is finely groined; the interior
is lighted by ranges of noble windows of exquisite
tracery, and under the end windows of the north and
south transepts are two monuments of elegant design.
It has received an addition of three hundred
free sittings, in consequence of a grant of £500 from
the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of
churches and chapels. The archbishop holds his triennial,
and the archdeacon, his annual, visitation in
this church. The living of St. Nicholas' is a discharged
rectory, rated in the king's books at £2. 16. 8., endowed
with £ 600 royal bounty, and in the patronage
of the Crown: the church was rebuilt in 1678, the
former structure having been taken down during the
parliamentary war: it is a neat edifice of brick, with
quoins and cornices of stone, and was enlarged in 1756
and in 1783, by subscription, and the churchyard endosed
with neat iron palisades in 1824. The living of St.
Peter's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books
at £8. 7 6., endowed with £400 private benefaction, and
£600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown:
the church is a spacious edifice, in the later style of
English architecture, of which it retains some few good
portions, though the greater part of it has been modernized;
it has a lofty spire, and has lately received
three hundred and eighty additional sittings, of which
two hundred and sixty-four are free, at the expense of
the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches
and chapels, who granted £800 for that purpose; the
spiritual courts are held in this church. St. James
church, or chapel, was erected in 1808, on Standard Hill,
which is extra-parochial, and within the county of Nottingham;
it is a neat edifice in the later style of English
architecture, with a low square embattled tower:;the
-living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the subscribers,
for a certain number of years, with reversion to
"the Crown. St. Paul's, a chapel of ease to the vicarage
of St. Mary's, was erected in 1822: it is a handsome edifice
in the Grecian style of architecture, with a portico
-of the Doric order. There are four places of worship
each for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists,
one each for the Society of Friends, Huntingtoaiians,
Sabellians, Sandemanians, and Unitarians, a synagogue,
and a Roman Catholic chapel, .which last is a
handsome edifice in the Grecian style of architecture.
The free grammar school was founded, in 1513, by
Agnes Mellors, but had nearly fallen into disuse prior to
1807, when the corporation made some regulations for its
better government; the property with which it is en-
-dowed produces about £500 per annum: there are nearly
one hundred scholars instructed in the classics gratuitously,
and in writing and arithmetic, on payment of
ten shillings per annum. The Blue-coat school, for the
clothing and instruction of children, is supported by
an- income arising from property in land, and by
subscription; there are sixty boys and twenty girls in
this establishment:, the school-house, a neat building,
was erected on land given for that purpose by Mr.
William Thorpe. A National school, established about
twenty years since, is supported by subscription; and
in 1815 a Lancasterian school was opened, which is
supported by subscription, chiefly among the dissenting
congregations, who maintain a similar institution for
girls; there are Sunday schools in connexion with the
established church and the dissenting congregations, in
which more than three thousand children are instructed:
an infant school has also been established.
Plumtree hospital was founded, in 1392, by John
de Plumtree, who endowed it for two chaplains, of
whom one was master, and thirteen aged widpws; in
1751, a descendant of the founder built four new tenements,
to which two more were added by his son,
who also repaired the old buildings: in 1823, John
Plumtree, Esq., the late trustee, obtained an act of
parliament to dispose of part of the trust property,
and rebuilt the hospital. Exclusively of the widows
who reside in the hospital, and receive each a weekly
allowance of six shillings, a ton of coal, and a gown
annually, there are thirty out-pensioners, who receive
each £10 per annum: the premises are neatly built
of brick, coated with cement, and in the ancient style
of English architecture. Collins' hospital was founded,
in 1704, by Mr. Abel Collin, who bequeathed an estate
for its erection and endowment: there are in this
institution twenty-four aged widowers and widows, who
have each a tenement consisting of three rooms, a
weekly allowance of four shillings, and two tons and a
half of coal annually. Willoughby's hospital, in Fishergate,
founded in 1525, and comprising nineteen tenements,
has at present but a very trifling endowment,
which is expected to be considerably augmented on the
expiration of the present leases in 1831. Handley's
hospital, in Stoney-street, comprising twelve ancient
tenements for aged persons, who receive at present a
quarterly sum of sixteen shillings and eightpence, is
endowed with some estates, of which the produce is
likely to be augmented. Bilby's almshouses, in Coal
Pit lane, founded in 1709, comprise eight tenements for
aged persons, who have each a sixpenny loaf weekly,
and two tons of coal yearly, with a gratuity at Christmas.
Labray's hospital was founded, in 1700, for six poor
frame-work knitters, who have a weekly allowance of four
shillings each. The Lambley hospital, a neat building,
consisting of a centre and two wings, with a grass-plot
in the front, comprises twenty-two tenements for decayed
burgesses, or their widows, who are nominated
by the corporation. Wartnaby's hospital was founded,
in 1665, for six aged persons, who have a weekly
allowance of one shilling, and an annual supply of
clothes and coal. Warser-gate hospital, Wooley's almshouses,
and St. Nicholas' White rents, comprise each six
tenements: there are also the Charitable Society, patronised
by the Society of Friends, and several similar
establishments, together with numerous charitable bequests
for apprenticing poor children, and for distribution
among the infirm and indigent. The general hospital,
a spacious and commodious building, consisting of a
centre and two projecting wings, was erected in 1781, on
the highest part of Standard Hill, on a site given by
the corporation and the Duke of Newcastle; it is supported
by funds arising from liberal donations, and by
annual subscription, and is under the direction of a
president and committee, being open to invalids from
any part of the country; near it is a house of recovery
from fever, under the same management. The lunatic
asylum, a large and well-arranged building, erected in
1812, at an expense of nearly £20,000, in an airy
situation in the parish of Sneinton, about a quarter of
a mile to the north-east of the town, is under the inspection
of the town and county magistrates; it is adapted
to the reception of three classes of patients; namely,
such as are in circumstances to- pay a full remuneration,
the poor who are admitted on very moderate terms, and
paupers who are paid for by the county; it comprises
distinct wards and separate airing-grounds for the
classification of patients, according to their rank and
degree of malady, and is partly supported by donations
and subscription.
Some fragments of the town walls are visible on
the side of the hill above Narrow Marsh; and of
the ancient castle, the gateway, repaired some years
since, and some portions of the outworks, are still
remaining: a subterraneous passage, called Mortimer's
Hole, is still an object of interest; and there are numerous
caverns and galleries excavated in the rock, which are
of great antiquity, and attract much notice. The mansion
erected by the Duke of Newcastle in the seventeenth
century, on the castle hill, a noble edifice in the Grecian
style of architecture, with a handsome facade of the
Corinthian order, in front of which is an equestrian
statue of the founder, has been for many years divided
into separate dwellings. Thurland Hall, formerly called
Clare Hall, an ancient brick mansion faced with stone,
of which the great room, is still used as a dining-room
on public occasions, was the temporary residence of
James I., during his frequent visits to Nottingham. In
the northern part of the town was an ancient hospital,
dedicated to St. John the Baptist, founded about the
reign of John, for a master, warden, two chaplains, and
several sick persons, the revenue of which, at the dissolution,
was £5. 6. 8. In the reign of Henry III., there
was a cell for two monks in the chapel of St. Mary, in the
rock under the castle, in which latter there were also a
house of brethren of the Holy Sepulchre, and a college
of Secular priests. To the west of the town was a
convent of Grey friars, founded by Henry III., in 1250;
and in the parish of St. Nicholas was a convent of
Carmelite friars, founded in 1276, by Reginald, Lord
Grey de Wilton, and Sir John Shirley, Knt. At Babbington
colliery, near Nottingham, a saline chalybeate
spring has been recently discovered, the- properties of
which, according to an analysis by a medical gentleman
in the town, are such as to render it one of the most
valuable mineral springs in this country. Near the
Forest of Sherwood, on the spot formerly used for the
execution of criminals, a great quantity of human
bones was lately discovered. Among the eminent natives
of this town were, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Kippis, a celebrated
biographer, who was born in 1725; the Rev.
Gilbert Wakefield, distinguished for his acquaintance
with classical literature, born in 1756; and the poet,Henry
Kirke White, who was born in 1785, and died whilst
pursuing his studies at Cambridge, in 1806. Nottingham
gives the title of earl to the family of Finch-Hatton.