Everything about Nottingham Castle totally explained
Nottingham Castle is a
castle in
Nottingham,
England. It is located in a commanding position, with 130 foot cliffs to the south and west.
Mediæval history
There is some uncertainty whether a
castle existed on the site before the
Norman Conquest. If there was it would have been smaller and far less elaborate in design than the one that stood there afterwards, keeping in line with
Anglo-Saxon architectural tradition.
The first
Norman castle was a wooden structure and of a
motte-and-bailey design, which was built in
1067, a year after the
Battle of Hastings, on the orders of
William the Conqueror. This wooden structure was replaced by a far more defensible stone castle during the reign of
Henry I (1100-1135), and was imposing and of a complex architectural design.
For centuries the castle served as one of the most important in England for
nobles and
royalty alike. It was in a strategic position due to its location near a crossing of the
River Trent; and it was also known as a place of leisure being close to the royal hunting grounds at
Tideswell, which was the “Kings Larder” in the Royal Forest of the Peak, and also the royal forests of
Barnsdale and
Sherwood Forest.
Whilst
Richard the Lionheart was away on the
Third Crusade, and a great number of English noblemen were away with him, it was said that Nottingham Castle was left derelict and it was occupied by the
Sheriff of Nottingham. In the legends of
Robin Hood, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the final showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw in many tales.
In
1194, a historic battle took place at Nottingham castle when the supporters of
Prince John captured it. The castle was the site of a decisive siege when King
Richard I, returned to England and besiged the castle with the siege machines he'd used at
Jerusalem. Richard was aided by
Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester, and
David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon.
Shortly before his 18th birthday,
Edward III, with the help of a few trusted companions, staged a coup d'état at Nottingham castle (19 October 1330) against his mother
Isabella of France, and her lover,
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Both were acting as Regents during Edward's minority following their murder of his father
Edward II at
Berkeley Castle. The young king entered the castle via a secret passageway and arrested both Isabella and
Roger Mortimer. Mortimer was sent to the
Tower of London, and hanged a month later.
Isabella of France was forced into retirement at
Castle Rising Castle. With this dramatic event, the personal reign of Edward effectively began.
The castle was expanded by many of the following monarchs until rendered obsolete in the 16th century by
artillery. A short time following the break out of the
English Civil War, the castle was already in a semi-ruined state after a number of skirmishes occurred on the site. Towards the end of the Civil War,
Charles I chose Nottingham as the rallying point for his armies, but soon after he departed, the castle rock was made defensible and held by the
parliamentarians. Commanded by
John Hutchinson, they repulsed several
Royalist attacks, and they were the last group to hold the castle. After the execution of Charles I in
1649, the castle was razed to prevent its re-use.
The present 'Ducal Mansion'
After the restoration of
Charles II in
1660, the present 'Ducal Mansion' was built by
Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle between
1674 and
1679 on the foundations of the previous structure. Despite the destruction of the keep and fortifications, some rock cut cellars and mediæval pointed arches survive beneath the mansion, together with a long passage to the bottom of the rock, commonly known as
Mortimer's Hole.
The mason for the Mansion was Samuel Marsh of Lincoln, who also worked for the Duke at
Bolsover Castle. His designs are generally thought to have been strongly influence by
Rubens's published engravings of the
Palazzi di Genova. The Duke's mansion is a rare surviving example in
England of
Artisan Mannerist architecture.
However, it lost its appeal to the later Dukes with the coming of the
Industrial Revolution, which left
Nottingham with the reputation of having the worst
slums in the
British Empire outside
India. When residents of these slums rioted in
1831, in protest against
the Duke of Newcastle's opposition to the
Reform Act 1832 they burned down the mansion.
The original exterior stairs on the eastern facade of the mansion were subsequently demolished to create a parade ground for the
Robin Hood Rifles.
The mansion remained a derelict shell until it was restored in
1875 by
Thomas Chambers Hine, and opened in
1878 by the
Prince of Wales, (later
King Edward VII) as Nottingham Castle Museum
(External Link
), the first municipal art gallery in the
UK outside
London. The new interiors ignored the original floor levels and
fenestration to accommodate a top-lit picture gallery modeled after the
Grande Galerie of the
Louvre. The obtrusive new pitched roofs gave rise to adverse comment, and the walls were subsequently raised and topped by a pierced stone
balustrade a few years later, changing the proportions of the facades. Behind the balustrade was a boardwalk above the leads, which originally allowed visitors to promenade around the roof to enjoy views over the city and the Trent valley.
Some tourists are disappointed to find a mansion house expecting to see a mediæval castle instead. There have been suggestions for many years to demolish the mansion house and build a replica of the original castle but there has never been any serious funding sought for such a scheme.
On
Christmas Day 1996 a landslip, caused by a leaking water main, led to 80 tonnes of earth and retaining wall from the Restoration terrace next to the Mansion falling to the bottom of the Castle rock. This revealed some remains of the original castle foundations and the bedrock. After a lengthy controversy on the best conservation/restoration approach, the terrace was reinstated in
2005 with a traditional stone facade. This conceals a concrete structure which allows the mediæval masonry to remain accessible to visitors.
The mansion is still used as a museum today. In
2005, the Castle was the only venue outside the
USA to host the 'Waking Dreams' touring exhibition of
Pre-Raphaelite art. The show attracted visitors from all over Europe and brought the Castle Museum to international attention as a gallery space.
A drawing of the Ducal Mansion appeared on millions of packets of rolling tobacco and cigarettes made by
John Player & Sons, a Nottingham firm. Most packets had the phrases
Nottingham Castle and
Trade Mark bracketing the image of the unfortress-like structure. This led the novelist
Ian Fleming to refer to "
that extraordinary trademark of a dolls house swimming in chocolate fudge with Nottingham Castle written underneath." in
Thunderball in the knowledge that his British readers would be familiar with the image.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Nottingham Castle'.
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