City in Nottinghamshire, England
Nottingham
Nottingham has a pub carved into a castle's rock, two European Cups and a goose fair that began in the 13th century. It also has a bell named after Little John.
Key information
- County
- Nottinghamshire
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 323,700 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Robin Hood, lace, Boots, Raleigh bikes, caves, Goose Fair
- What locals are called
- Nottinghamians
- Famous people
- Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Alan Sillitoe, Jesse Boot
- Football clubs
- Nottingham Forest and Notts County
About Nottingham
The city with a pub in a cave
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem claims to be England's oldest inn, with a date of 1189 painted on its wall. Half of it is burrowed into the sandstone beneath Nottingham Castle, and its snug rooms and chimney-like passages are cut straight out of the rock. It is not a one-off. Nottingham sits on soft sandstone, and over the centuries people dug more than 800 man-made caves beneath it. They were used as cellars, tanneries, pub storerooms and wartime shelters. That is why the city is nicknamed the City of Caves. It also answers to Queen of the Midlands, a Victorian nickname from when it was one of the region's grandest, richest towns.
Robin Hood's postcode
Nottingham is where the Sheriff of Nottingham lives, and nobody has been able to evict him from the legend. Robin Hood's outlaw band hid in Sherwood Forest, just north of the city, and a bronze statue of Robin stands below the castle walls. The original castle was a wooden fortress raised by William the Conqueror's men in 1068. In 1642 Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham, the traditional start of the English Civil War. The Council House in Old Market Square has a bell called Little John, installed in 1928. It is one of the largest city squares in England, and locals still say 'meet you by the lions', meaning the two stone lions at the Council House steps.
Lace, bikes and a chemist's empire
Nottingham got rich by making things. Its Lace Market district was the centre of the world's lace trade in the 19th century, and its tall red-brick warehouses still stand. Machine-breaking disputes in the Nottinghamshire hosiery trade in 1811 and 1812 helped shape the Luddite story. Raleigh began making bicycles in a small workshop in 1887 and grew into one of the biggest cycle makers on earth. Jesse Boot, born in the city in 1850, turned his family's herbalist shop on Goosegate, opened in 1849, into the Boots chemist chain. Player's cigarettes were also made here, and the city's wealth paid for parks, libraries and the University of Nottingham. Today Nottingham has two universities, and in 2015 it was named a UNESCO City of Literature.
Two clubs, one river and a lot of firsts
Notts County, founded in 1862, are the oldest professional football league club in the world. In 1903 they sent a set of black-and-white striped shirts to Turin, and Juventus have worn stripes ever since. Across the River Trent, a few hundred metres away, Nottingham Forest have their own claims. Forest players helped give Arsenal their red shirts in 1886. Sam Weller Widdowson, a Forest man, is credited with inventing the shin pad in 1874. Under Brian Clough, Forest won the European Cup in 1979 and again in 1980, a remarkable feat for a club from a city this size. Cricket fans know Trent Bridge, one of the great Test grounds. The National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont is a major rowing venue, and the Nottingham Panthers play ice hockey at the National Ice Centre. That rink is fitting, as Nottingham produced Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, whose Bolero won Olympic gold in 1984.
Goose Fair, 'ay up me duck' and what to eat
Goose Fair is Nottingham's great tradition. It grew from a market that was chartered in 1284, when geese were walked into town to be sold. It is now a huge funfair held every October, and locals still call it simply 'Goose Fair'. Nottingham dialect brings its own greetings. 'Ay up me duck' is a friendly hello, and 'mardy' means sulky. Natives are Nottinghamians, and Forest fans sometimes call their side the Tricky Trees. Food from around the city includes Stilton, one of the cheeses that Nottinghamshire dairies are licensed to make. The Bramley apple, Britain's classic cooking apple, grew from a pip planted in Southwell in about 1809 by a girl called Mary Ann Brailsford. The writer Alan Sillitoe set Saturday Night and Sunday Morning in the city's factories and pubs, giving the world Arthur Seaton and one of the great angry young men of British fiction.