THE STORY OF NOTTINGHAM

Nottingham is a city in the Midlands (the central area of England), about 120 miles north of London
and with a population of around 300,000. There are pictures of the Market Square and the Council
House in the center of the city on page 9 below and at:
http://www.britannia.com/tours/rhood/nottingham.html
Our family lived in a suburb called Sherwood two and a half miles
further north (see aerial photo below) but I went to a secondary school
on the bank of the River Trent a couple of miles south of the centre. I
had to take two buses to get to school and I caught the second one
in the Market Square, just to the right of where the pictures were taken.

Nottingham's original name was `Snotengaham', which means in old English `the settlement of Snot's
people'. Snot and his followers perhaps founded a village there in around 600 A.D. Before this time the
Trent had probably formed the boundary between lands conquered by the English, who had recently
arrived in Britain from mainland Europe, and the original Celtic inhabitants, who remained
independent in the north and west of the island. Possibly Snot's people lived for some time on the south
bank of the Trent and crossed over when Celtic power was weakening. The site of their new home was
attractive because it was on the top of a sandstone cliff near the first point where the Trent was shallow
enough to be forded. It was easy to tunnel into the sandstone and for many centuries some of the
inhabitants made caves to use as houses and as workshops. You can read about these caves and see
pictures of them at: http://www.nottinghamhistory.co.uk/local/caves.htm
A 9th. century writer says that Nottingham's name in Welsh was `Tig Guocobauc' (`House of Caves').
Welsh is just a later form of the old British Celtic language (do you remember reading about that in
`English and Other Languages'?) so perhaps Nottingham had that name before Snot's time. In any case,
the Celts (and even earlier peoples) must have made homes in the cliffs just as the English did.

The first precisely dated event in Nottingham's history was its capture by Danish invaders in 868 (see
the text on pg.8). Some of the streets around the Market Square still have `gate' (the Danish word for
`street') in their names but the town was soon back under English control. One of the English kings
then built a bridge over the River Trent on the main route south from the town. There is still a bridge in
the same place, very close to Nottingham Forest's football ground. After the French-speaking Normans
conquered England in the 11th century they built a castle to the west of the English-settlement (see the
picture of the old castle on pg. 6 below and a photo of the present-day castle, which was built in the
17th. Century, on pg. 9 or at http://www.theguide-uk.com/nottingham/ ). Next to the castle there
is still a pub called `The Olde Trip to Jerusalem', whose oldest part was carved out of the hill in 1189
(picture below from: http://www.geocities.com/puckrobin/rh/robpics.html )
 The Norman and English towns had separate
local governments until about 1300 but their
inhabitants came together to buy and sell in
the area which is now Market Square. It was
probably the Normans who changed the name
from `Snotingham’ to `Nottingham’ since the
combination `sn’ is difficult for speakers of
French to pronounce. The change was a
lucky one for all the people of the town because in modern English slang the word `snot’ means
secretions from inside the nose!

To the north of the town Sherwood Forest was kept in the medieval period as a special hunting area for
the king but it was also a convenient hiding place for outlaws. There are many legends about one
outlaw called Robin Hood, who protected the ordinary people against the cruelty of corrupt officials.
The legends are probably not true but Robin is still treated as a local hero. You can find information
about him at: http://www.geocities.com/puckrobin/rh/robnew.html

In the 17th century Nottingham was still quite small, with perhaps only four thousand inhabitants. This
is a map of the town in 1611 (http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities21.htm):
The castle is at the bottom left-
hand corner and St.Mary’s
Church (labeled A), which was
built at the centre of the old
English settlement, is just to the
right of the centre of the map.
See below for a picture of St
Mary’s today
(http://www.geocities.com/
puckrobin/rh/robpics.html)
When the map was made, most of
the area of present-day Nottingham
was still countryside and my own
home district was either still part of
Sherwood Forest or was farmland.
Thirty years later, in 1642, the
English Civil War started at
Nottingham when King Charles I
raised his flag just outside the town
and called for men to join him in fighting against parliament. Parliament’s army captured the town
shortly afterwards and later pulled down the medieval castle (picture below). The Duke of Newcastle
then built another castle on the site. This was just as a home for himself and not for military purposes.

After the Industrial Revolution, Nottingham expanded rapidly during the 19th and 20th centuries. In
1831 many citizens were angry that parliament had rejected a proposal to allow more people to vote in
elections so they burned down the castle. It was finally restored and opened as a museum and art
gallery in 1875. In 1897, six years before my father was born, Nottingham officially became a city
instead of a town. The River Trent, which used to flood its banks frequently, was controlled with
embankments, in the same way as has been done with the Shing Mun River in Shatin. By now the town
had become famous for lacework and later for various kinds of light industry. The best-known
companies were Raleigh's, Player's and Boot's, manufacturing bicycles, cigarettes and medicines
respectively. My grandfather on my father's side was the manager of a lace factory and until I was born
my mother worked in Boot's department store, just to the east of the Market Square. The founder of
Boot’s, Jesse Boot, gave money in the 1920s for the development of Nottingham University, where
many students from Hong Kong have studied in recent years.

Nottingham was also an important centre for coal mining, although many of the mines have now closed
down. D.H.Lawrence, one of the most famous English writers of the 20th century, was the son of a
coalminer and grew up in a mining village just north of Nottingham. One of his novels, Sons and
Lovers, is based on his own experiences as a young man and gives a glimpse of life in Nottingham one
hundred years ago. Here is an extract describing a walk the hero of the novel took with his girlfriend:

The big bluff of the Castle rock was streaked with rain, as it reared above the flat of the town.
They crossed the wide, black space of the Midland Railway, and passed the cattle enclosure that
stood out white. Then they ran down sordid Wilford Road.

She rocked slightly to the tram's motion, and as she leaned against him, rocked upon him. He was
a vigorous, slender man, with exhaustless energy. His face was rough, with rough-hewn features,
like the common people's; but his eyes under the deep brows were so full of life that they
fascinated her. They seemed to dance, and yet they were still trembling on the finest balance of
laughter. His mouth the same was just going to spring into a laugh of triumph, yet did not. There
was a sharp suspense about him. She bit her lip moodily. His hand was hard clenched over hers.

They paid their two halfpennies at the turnstile and crossed the bridge. The Trent was very full. It
swept silent and insidious under the bridge, travelling in a soft body. There had been a great deal
of rain. On the river levels were flat gleams of flood water. The sky was grey, with glisten of
 silver here and there. In Wilford churchyard the dahlias were sodden with rain -- wet black-
crimson balls. No one was on the path that went along the green river meadow, along the elm-tree
colonnade.

There was the faintest haze over the silvery-dark water and the green meadow-bank, and the elm-
trees that were spangled with gold. The river slid by in a body, utterly silent and swift,
intertwining among itself like some subtle, complex creature

Nottingham's other famous writer is the poet Lord Byron, who was born at Newstead Abbey in
Sherwood Forest in 1788. Although he belonged to a wealthy, aristocratic family, he supported
democratic and revolutionary ideas and he died at the age of 36, helping the Greeks fight for
independence from Turkey. This is one of his best known poems, `She Walks in Beauty' :

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

I must admit that Nottingham is not one of places you should visit first in Britain, but, if you have a lot
of time to spend in the country, there are some things worth seeing. You can look round the castle,
which is now an art museum, see the `Tales of Robin Hood’ exhibition and also go down one of the
caves which has been turned into an exhibition on Nottingham's history. You can also combine a visit
to Newstead Abbey with a walk in Sherwood Forest to the hollow oak tree which people say Robin
Hood and his gang used as their storeroom. You can see a picture below (from
http://www.geocities.com/puckrobin/rh/robpics.html )
If you just want to explore Nottingham from Hong Kong, there are lots more
interesting photos of the old city on the site:
http://www.nottinghamhistory.co.uk/nafs/nafs.htm

John Whelpton
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Robin Hood as imagined by Louis Rhead in 1912
http://www.
The figure of Robin Hood is often used as a
symbol of the city and also its best-known
football club, Nottingham Forest.

Trent Bridge in 1904 - homepages.which.net/~shardlow.heritage/ shwppcards.htm

Nottingham Castle in the 16th century http://www.cthulu.demon.co.uk/swinnerton1910/chapter25.htm
The castle was originally built of wood in 1067 and later rebuilt in stone. It was pulled down in 1651
and replaced by the present building (see picture on pg.9)

Newstead Abbey, painted around 1880 (at http://www.oldprints.co.uk/prints/notts/69075.htm)

Aerial view of Sherwood today (my family’s house was on the road running past the tennis courts
(coloured orange) (from www.multimap.com)

The Earliest Recorded Reference to Nottingham

868 Her for se ilca here innan Mierce to Snotengaham, 7 þær wintersetl namon; 7
Burgræd Miercna cyning 7 his wiotan bædon Æþered b Westseaxna cyning 7 Ælfred his
broþur þæt hie him gefultumadonb, þæt hie wiþ þone here gefuhton; 7 þa ferdon hie mid
Wesseaxna fierde innan Mierce oþ Snotengaham, 7 þone here þær metton on þam
geweorce, 7 þær nan hefelic gefeoht ne wearþ, 7 Mierce friþ namon wiþ þone here;
(from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a year-by-year account of English history written
in Old English and begun in the late 9th. Century)

(868 In that year the same[i.e Danish] army went to Snotengaham [i.e. Nottingham] in
Mercia [a kingdom in central England] and took up winter quarters there. King Burgred,
of Mercia and his council asked Ethered, king of Wessex [the southern English kingdom]
and his brother Alfred to help them fight against that army. They entered Mercia with the
forces of Wessex and came to Snotengaham where they found the Danes inside the
fortress. There was no serious fighting and the Mercians made peace with the invaders.)
Nottingham and surrounding area in 1836, painted by T.Allom and W.Watkins. Nottingham Castle and
the tower of St Mary’s Church can be seen on the hills in the distance, in line with the windmill on the
nearby ridge and overlooking the plain stretching down to the Trent. This flat land is now all built-up
but part of it is still called `The Meadows’. Perhaps the painters were a little inaccurate or the river has
shifted its course, because there is now some flat ground between the river and the hills on the left of
the picture. This is where my old secondary school is situated.
http://www.oldprints.co.uk/prints/notts/90761.htm
 The Council House (Town Hall) in the Market Square (from
http://karlsruhe.de/Magazin/Partnerstaedte/nottingham.fr.htm)

Nottingham Castle today (from http://roselli.org/tour/06_2000/073.html)