Nottingham

Nottingham, the capital of Nottinghamshire and a county in itself, is a parliamentary and municipal borough on the N. bank of the Trent at the S.W. extremity of Sherwood Forest, 15 miles E. of Derby and 126 N.W. of London by railway.

Originally a Roman settlement, it became the Mercian Snotingaham or "home of the Snotings." During the reigns of Etbelred I. and his successors it was frequently occupied by the Danes, who were finally expelled in 940. In modern times the progress of the lace and hosiery manufactures has given Nottingham a leading position amongst commercial towns. At University College (1879-81) instruction is given in connection with the University Extension scheme; the building also includes a free library and a natural history museum. The cruciform church of St. Mary is a fine specimen of Perpendicular architecture; The grammar-school, founded 1513, was reorganised as a high school in 1882. Nottingham possesses the largest market-place in England (5J acres). The arboretum (17 acres) forms an attractive pleasure-ground. Nottingham Castle occupies the summit of a precipitous sandstone cliff overlooking the

Trent; the original Norman fortress was in 1674 replaced by the mansion in classical style of William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, much injured by fire during the Reform riots 1831, restored in 1878, now used as the municipal museum and art-gallery..