Politics, Law and Society in Nottinghamshire: The Diaries of Godfrey Tallents of Newark, 1829-1839

An edition of the diaries of a Newark solicitor which throws light on the early days of the future Prime Minister, William Gladstone, when he was a local MP is being launched today.

Dr Richard Gaunt of Nottingham University has edited the diaries of Godfrey Tallents into one volume which mentions Tallent's friendship with Gladstone in the 1830s. "The diary also presents a vivid picture of local and national politics at the time of the Great Reform Act of 1832 and details some of the violently contested parliamentary elections in Newark."

Further information is available from the Nottinghamshire County Council website:

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/prarticle.htm?id=133096&Leisure=t;

Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire online

Dr Robert Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire, originally published in 1677 and re-published by John Throsby in three volumes with additions in the 1790s, has been transcribed and the full text made available on the British History website:

• www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=442

Two volumes of this edition of the book are also available courtesy of the Google Books digitisation programme:

• Volume 1 - www.archive.org/details/historynottingh00thorgoog
• Volume 2 - www.archive.org/details/historynottingh01thorgoog

Online exhibition on medieval Nottingham

Nottinghamshire Archives have put together a fascinating online exhibition on medieval Nottingham. Subjects covered include:

• the town's topography
• governing the town
• churches
• guilds
• markets
• law and order
• trades

A wide range of historic documents have been included to provide insights into life in the town. I particularly enjoyed reading the complaints to the Mickeltourn Jury in 1395: it appears that Nottingham was full of traders overcharging the townsfolk for poor quality goods and the inhabitants were being reported for flinging "ordure" all over the place! Some things never change...

• Nottinghamshire Archives

The Festival of British Archaeology 2010 in Nottinghamshire

Details of events in Nottinghamshire are now available on the CBA website. These include open days at the Besthorpe and Langford excavations to the north of Newark, sessions with Finds Liaison Officers, an open day at the Calverton Iron-Age roundhouse, behind-the-scenes visits to museums, family-orientated activities etc.

Go to the What's on page of the CBA website and type in "nottinghamshire" in the search box (the interactive map doesn't seem to be working at the moment!):

• festival.britarch.ac.uk/whatson

English Heritage research reports

Buried deep inside the English Heritage website are a handful of research reports on places and buildings in Nottinghamshire:

• The Urban Development of Newark-on-Trent : A Dendrochronological Approach (2002)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Ravens Farm, 8 Church Street, Misterton, Nottinghamshire (2002)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Manor Farm Barn, Town Street, Askham, Nottinghamshire (2003)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Teversal Manor Garages, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (2003)
• Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Riding House Roof, Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire (2004)
• The Old Hall (Manor House) at Church Warsop (2007)
• St Edmund's Church, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire : An Assessment of the Pews (2007)
• Shelford Manor, Shelford, Nottinghamshire Report on Geophysical Survey, October-November 2007 (2008)
• Nottingham: The Creation of the City’s Identity (2009)

Event: Landscape History of Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire, 11 September 2010

"This one day meeting will consider new and exciting research by archaeologists, geographers, historians and other scholars on the landscape history of Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire from the Bronze Age to the Twentieth Century. The meeting will be at The Space in the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery in the Lace Market, Nottingham."

Booking form and further details can be downloaded from here:

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B9vaVw1tjA5LOGUzMjBjZGYtNTkxMC00YTcwLWEyYTQtMjZhYmRlNTgxZDVl&hl=en

British Pathe newsreels - help wanted for Nottinghamshire collection

The archive of over 90,000 British Pathe newsreels has been digitised and made available online. Approximately 75 clips of Nottinghamshire-related material has been identified and grouped together here:

• http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=5334&display=list

British Pathe are keen to engage with local historians and experts in the county to develop a more accurate description of these clips. The attached letter from Jack Cullen, Media Officer at British Pathe, provides further information on the project:

• http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdvaVw1tjA5LZHI2Yzg4Zl8xMjY0dGQ5emZy&hl=en

Jack's contact details are:

Email: notts@britishpathe.com

British Pathé Ltd

The Media Centre

3 – 8 Carburton Street

London

W1W 5AJ

Tel: 0207 665 8349

Project to laser map Nottingham's ancient caves

Dr David Walker of Nottingham University is running a two-year project to map the exact shapes of all Nottingham's sandstone caves by using laser technology.

The plan is to produce an online virtual tour of all 450 caves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8682000/8682884.stm

The project website is here:

http://nottinghamcavessurvey.org.uk/

Transactions of the Thoroton Society, vol 113 (2009)

The latest Transactions of the Thoroton Society - the journal for Nottinghamshire history and archaeology is now available. Contents include:

• A Late Third-century Coin-hoard from Little Morton, Babworth, Nottinghamshire by Malcolm J. Dolby, Jen Eccles, Daryl Garton, Ruth S. Leary and Gwladys Monteil
• Excavations outside Church Hole, Creswell Crags: The First Three Seasons (2006-8) by Paul B. Pettitt, Roger M. Jacobi, Andrew T. Chamberlain, Alistair W.G. Pike, Danielle Schreve, Ian Wall, Robert Dinnis and Rebecca Wragg Sykes
• The Nottinghamshire History Lecture 2009. Stevenson Revisited: A Fresh Look at Nottingham's Borough Records, 1400-1600 by Judith Mills
• Timothy Pusey of Selston Hall, Nottinghamshire (c. 1560-1647) by Clive Leivers
• Landlord and Tenants: The Impact of the Civil Wars on the Clare Estates in Nottinghamshire, 1642-1649 by Peter Seddon
• Early Nineteenth Century Weather Records taken at Bromley House, Nottingham by John Wilson
• A Nottinghamshire Historian: Arthur Cossons (1893-1963) by Neil Cossons
• The Thoroton Society and the Victoria County History by John Beckett
• Archaeology in Nottinghamshire 2009 edited by Christopher Robinson

Further information on the Thoroton Society website.

World War 2 Heritage at Wollaton Hall

Having just revisited the Trent & Peak Archaeology Trust website I was interested to learn of their recent project to explore the WW2 history of Wollaton Park in Nottingham. I was aware that the elite 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the US 82nd Airborne Division was based there in 1944 prior to taking part in D-Day but hadn't realised that a POW camp for 4,000 German prisoners had been built in 1945.

A report, brochure and podcast can be downloaded from here: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/tpa/news_and_events/index.htm

Heritage Day in Jacksdale, 24 April 2010

Spent an interesting hour or so wandering around the stalls at Jacksdale's Heritage Day this lunchtime. It was a fascinating mix of themes and periods: from medieval finds uncovered by Channel 4's Time Team at Codnor Castle a couple of years ago to lengths of late 18th/early 19th century iron rails (for transporting coal from pit to canal wharf) discovered locally a few weeks ago. It was delightful to see so many people milling about!

Robin Hood Month, May 2010

The county and city councils are busy promoting a wide range of Robin Hood-related events planned for next month. 'Robin Hood Month' is designed to tie in with the release on 14 May of the blockbuster movie, starring Russell Crow and Cate Blanchett.

There are talks on Nottinghamshire in the middle ages, the medieval architecture of the county, medieval herbs, a day school organised by Nottinghamshire Archives, story walks in Sherwood Forest, archery lessons and much, much more:

• Nottingham City Council: The Home of Robin Hood


• Nottinghamshire County Council: Robin Hood Month

Evelyn Gibbs and the Murals at St Martin's Church, Bilborough (14th April 2010)

Robin Hood in The Guardian

There's an very interesting and entertaining article in today's Guardian newspaper about the Robin Hood legend. Among the several experts the journalist talks to is David Crook, editor of the Thoroton Society Record Series publications and former assistant keeper at The National Archives. David is currently writing a book about Robin Hood and thinks he has traced him to Yorkshire in 1225 (not music to the ears of Nottinghamshire's tourist industry!). He has discovered a character called Robert Hod (described as 'an outlaw and evildoer of our land') who may be the same person as Robert of Wetherby who was hunted down by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his men.

Fascinating stuff so I recommend you take a look at the whole article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/14/robin-hood-russell-crowe

Pentagon Local History Society exhibition at Elston: 8-9 May 2010

Over the weekend of 8th and 9th May, the Pentagon Local History Society will be holding a second exhibition to display the results of their Lottery-funded heritage project. The exhibition will include a photographic archive, oral history from the last 100 years, the history of the parish church and details of burials, and a computerised archive containing details of a wide range of historical material and press releases from 1900 to today which are relevant to Elston. The Society would particularly welcome visitors from other local history societies in the county.

The exhition will be held at Elston Village Hall between 10.00am and 4.00pm. For more information contact Stan Firth, Secretary of the Pentagon Society, on sfirth7@talktalk.net.

The Pentagon Society covers the following villages in south-east Nottinghamshire: East Stoke, Elston, Shelton, Sibthorpe, Syerston, Flawborough, Kilvington, Alverton and Staunton.