CaveCity Underground Festival 11-13 May 2018

Here are the details of a couple of additional events at Nottingham's CaveCity Underground Festival this coming weekend:


The Confetti Caves - #CaveCity Underground Festival - Saturday 12 May

Hear about the caves recently discovered under the Confetti site (Convent Street/ Lower Parliament Street corner). These caves - one believed to be medieval, and the other to have served the Woodlark Beerhouse - were previously unknown.

Trent & Peak archaeologists Joe and Laura, who worked on the site, will talk about the discovery of the caves, the artefacts (and beer!) found inside them, and their history. With finds and photos from the caves to view and handle.

Talks take place at 12 noon and 2pm and last around one hour, with the chance to see and handle finds and photos both before and afterwards

Venue: Newton Building, Nottingham Trent University, Goldsmith Street/ Burton Street corner, NG1 4BU.

Booking: Advance booking is required (£4, students/seniors/children £3).

Book at yat.digitickets.co.uk or on 01904 615505.

For further information contact Laura at Trent & Peak Archaeology on 0115 8967400 or at lbinns@yorkat.co.uk

For more information about the caves, and photos, see https://buff.ly/2HMP1Vu or https://buff.ly/2HQ80OS7

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Finds from the Broadmarsh Caves - #CaveCity Underground Festival - Friday 11 May, 10am-5pm

Nottingham Historical & Archaeological Society 

Formed in 1968, when Drury Hill was threatened by development, NHAS has excavated and documented a number of caves in Nottingham. See their display of photos and finds from the caves (some now lost) excavated in the Broadmarsh area. 

Members involved in the these excavations will be on hand to talk about the caves and answer questions. 

Free.

Nottingham Castle gatehouse, Lenton Road, NG1 6EL 

For more information about the group see facebook.com/NHASARCHIVE 

A full list of activities can be found on the Visit Nottinghamshire website.

Gedling Station and 'the Back Line': a talk and display

Gedling Station (properly Gedling & Carlton Station) opened in 1874 and its users included JRR Tolkien, miners travelling to and from Gedling Colliery each day and holidaymakers visiting the coast.

Friends of Gedling Station, a group of volunteers interested in exploring potential futures for this historic building, invite you along to a talk and a display at Carlton Library to find out about its history, share any family stories, photos or items connected with this or other Nottinghamshire stations that you might have.

Display: during library opening hours, Monday 8 January onwards
Talk: Thursday 1 February, 2pm. Free of charge. All welcome
Carlton Library, Manor Road, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 3AY

More information is available at https://gedlingstation.weebly.com/

Heritage Open Days in Nottinghamshire, 7-9 September 2017

Details of all 114 of this year's events and venues in Nottinghamshire are now available on the Heritage Open Days website. There are a very wide range of attractions open from a 'behind the scenes' tour of the Manuscripts & Special Collections department at Nottingham University to Mr Straw's house in Worksop.

'The Welbeck Atlas' has recently been published by the Thoroton Society

The Welbeck Atlas: William Senior’s maps of the estates of William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, 1629-1640, edited by Stephanos Mastoris with an interactive digital flashcard edited by Andrew Nicholson, is the latest volume in the Thoroton Society Record Series.

Over the previous twenty years Senior had undertaken a similar survey for Newcastle’s Cavendish cousins - the 1st and 2nd Earls of Devonshire - of Hardwick and Chatsworth in Derbyshire. For both branches of the family Senior produced outstanding examples of vividly coloured maps bound into folio ‘atlases’.William Cavendish, Earl (later Duke) of Newcastle, of Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire and Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, was one of the largest English landowners of his day. In 1629 he appointed the surveyor William Senior to map his extensive estates in seven counties.

The Welbeck Atlas contains maps surveyed between 1629 and 1640 for Newcastle’s properties in Nottinghamshire (19 maps), Derbyshire (27), Staffordshire (9), Northumberland (20), Gloucestershire (3) and Somerset (3). Together these cover over 106,000 acres of land and provide an important primary source for local historians and archaeologists of the counties involved as well as for genealogists and cartographic historians.


This ground-breaking Record Series edition incorporates two elements. Firstly this book contains a detailed Map Catalogue listing the names of all villages, fields and commons recorded on each map as well as the names of their tenants. This is prefaced by a scholarly introduction by the editor, Stephanos Mastoris, illustrated by over sixty colour plates of details from the maps.

Please see the Ordering Thoroton Society publications page for information on purchasing Record Series volumes. Secondly, a digital set of full colour reproductions of the maps is provided on an interactive USB flashcard at the end of the volume. All images are capable of being enlarged on screen to any desired scale.

Festival of Archaeology 2017 in Nottinghamshire

A wide range of activities and attractions in the county are available this weekend as part of the national Festival of Archaeology 2017.

They range from graveyard recording at St Helena's Church in Thoroton to an illustrated talk on the history of  knitting industry in the East Midlands.

Further details can be found on the Festival of Archaeology website.

Events at St Martin's church, Bilborough, during June 2017

Latest edition of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society published

The latest edition of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society has been published. Ordering information is available on the Thoroton Society website.

Table of contents:

• Archaeology in Nottinghamshire 2016 by Chris King
• The Portable Antiquities Scheme in Nottinghamshire 2016 by Alastair Willis (with contributions by Richard Davies)
• The Newark Iron Age Torc by Rachel Atherton (kindly supported by the Vernon Radcliffe bequest)
• The use of gypsum plaster and lime-ash for flooring in medieval east Midlands: evidence from Bingham, Nottinghamshire by Peter Allen and Anthony Cooper
• Landscape surveys at Kelham, Nottinghamshire by Matthew Beresford
• 'By floating and watering such land as lieth capable thereof: recovering meadow irrigation in Nottinghamshire by Jonathan Hillman and Hadrian Cook
• The Northward Expansion of the Boundary of Sherwood Forest in the Sixteenth Century by David Crook
• The dating of the completion of the composition of the Memoirs of Colonel John Hutchinson: the evidence of the imprisonments of Captain John Wright and Lieutenant Richard Franck, by P.R. Seddon
• Victorian Gardening, Horticulture and Arboriculture in the Midlands: John Frederick Wood (1806-1865) of Nottingham and the Midland Florist and Suburban Horticulturist by Christine Drew and Paul Elliott
• Mapping the Robin Hood Rifles in Mid-Nineteenth Century Nottingham by Lucie Sutherland
• The Nottingham Exhibition of 1903-1904: An amusement Park by Keith Fisher
• Nursing the wounded in the First World War: the Nottinghamshire VAD hospitals, by Jill Oakland
• The Scientific Community in Nottingham: Bromley House to the University College by John Beckett

Archaeology talks at St Martin's church, Bilborough, in May 2017

Posters for two archaeology talks at St Martin's church in Bilborough this month:

Talk on the social and political context of the Pentrich Rising, 13 May 2017

BBC Radio Nottingham Big Day Out 2017

BBC Radio Nottingham's Big Day Out is on Sunday 30 April 2017 and is offering FREE entry to Nottinghamshire museums and heritage attractions.

Full details are on the BBC Radio Nottingham website.

Heart of Nottingham Heritage Action Zone

Central Nottingham is among the first wave of Heritage Action Zones announced by Historic England. According to Historic England:

'The objectives of the HAZ are to use the historic environment of Nottingham to reveal the city's history and in turn secure its future conservation. We'll achieve this through various means from research and listing, through to innovative conservation area management and grant assistance.'

Further information is available on the Historic England website.

Coal mining in the Leen Valley: talk by Dr David Amos, 12 April 2017

The History Festival 2017, 5-7 April at Nottingham University

Nottingham University's first History Festival will take place across various locations and all the events are free. Activities include:

• behind the scenes at Manuscripts and Special Collection
• lecture by Dr Nick Barratt of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? fame
• find out about the history and heritage of University Park Campus
• walk in the footsteps of the Nottingham 1831 Rioters
• find out more about the history of Nottingham’s Green Spaces and the
  First World War in Nottinghamshire
• step back into the past with living history and reenactment displays

Full details are available in the History Festival Flier.

The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair, 7 May 2017

Sneinton Pride of Place Project, 4-18 March 2017

'Council Housing in Nottingham: The biggest collective leap in living standards,' a talk at Nottingham Mechanics on 21 January 2017

The Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Labour History Society's next meeting on Saturday 21st January 2017 at Nottingham Mechanics will include a talk by Chris Matthews and Dan Lucas entitled 'Nottingham Council Housing: The biggest collective leap in living standards.'

Halfprice sale of Nottinghamshire local history books

Nottinghamshire Archives and Libraries are selling some of their local history stock at half-price. There's a wide range of subjects: railways, the English Civil War, pubs, the Stone Age, Raleigh bicycles etc.

They are listed on the Inspire website:
https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/heritage/local-studies/books-sale/

Martinmas Fair in Lenton, 22 October 2016

The Martinmas Fair returns on Saturday 22 October, celebrating Nottingham's medieval heritage and sharing the story of Lenton's lost medieval priory. It's taking place on Saturday 22 October, at 11-4pm (grand opening 12 noon), at Priory Park and Priory Church of St Anthony, Old Lenton, NG7 2NW.

Organised this year by the community, the Martinmas Fair brings to life the unique history and identity of our area, past and present. Discover Lenton Priory, the magnificent monastery destroyed by Henry VIII, and its famous medieval fair. With falconry, re-enactment, swordplay, have-a-go archery, crafts, music, storytelling, a closing lantern procession, tree decorating, archaeology, and local history, plus market stalls and food from Veggies (vegan/vegetarian) and a barbeque, there's something for everyone.

Heritage organisations involved include Access Artefacts (medieval object handling), the Galleries of Justice (medieval crime & punishment activities), the English Companions (Anglo Saxon life), Nottingham Hidden History (medieval Nottingham), Lenton Local History Society (Lenton Priory), Trent & Peak Archaeology (artefacts from recent excavations at Lenton Priory), the NLHA, and the Nottinghamshire Historic Churches Trust. English Combat in Dunkirk re-enactment group will be performing, and the lovely Polly demonstrating medieval spinning.

Short talks will be given by the English Companions (Anglo Saxon life in Lenton and Nottingham), Nottingham Hidden History (medieval Nottingham then and now), Trent & Peak Archaeology (the archaeology of Lenton Priory), and the Vicar of Lenton. Trent & Peak will also give several guided tours of Lenton Priory's (lost) precincts.

The fair will partly take place inside the historic Priory Church of St Anthony (with 13th-century chancel), and for one day only the small railed park housing the one surviving pillar from Lenton Priory will be open to the public. Holy Trinity Lenton, newly reopened after 2 years of roof work, and a very short walk from the fair, will similarly be open from 10.45 to 11.45 for those want to see the 12th-century font from Lenton Priory or other features inside the church (including memorials to Albert Ball VC, Samuel Adams, and WWI nurse Dorothea Crewdson).

NCMG's Friar Tuck will also be delivering a guided walk along the historic footpath linking Nottingham Castle and Lenton Priory, running through the site of the medieval royal hunting park, via Lenton Hermitge (a cell of Lenton Priory) and stopping at Holy Trinity to see the font (this is a separate activity and needs to be booked through NCMG).

There's a full provisional itinerary at http://martinmasfairlenton.weebly.com/whats-on.html or get in touch with Alison: 0115 8967400, or amontgomery@yorkat.co.uk

The event was made possible by funding from the Dunkirk & Lenton ward councillors, the NLHA, and the Area 4 Grants.

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For one day only, join Nottingham Castle's Friar Tuck and friends as he leads visitors from the town of Nottingham to Lenton Priory

Follow the historic footpath from Castle Rock, through the royal hunting park, and along the ancient route of the River Leen, to Lenton Priory.

En route you will encounter Lenton Hermitage, the priory's outpost in the caves beneath the Park.

Call in at Lenton's Holy Trinity and gaze in wonder at Lenton Priory's unequalled 12th century carved font, still in use today.

And finally, arrive at the home of Lenton Priory for its Martinmas Fair, where your procession will be greeted by musical fanfare as you arrive at 12 noon.

​The walk is free of charge and is approximately 1 mile in distance.

​For more information, and to book a place, please contact Friar Tuck at Nottingham Castle (nottingham.castle@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or 0115 8761400

Nottingham Heritage Partnership launch event on 26 November 2016

Last year stakeholders throughout Nottingham launched a Heritage Strategy for the City. As part of the strategy there is a plan to establish a heritage partnership/forum for the City that will be open to all those groups and individuals who have a stake in heritage within Nottingham. The first meeting of the partnership will be on the 26 November, 9.30-4 at the Council House Ballroom.
Booking is through an eventbrite website (which is live now at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nottingham-heritage-partnership-launch-tickets-27928281241 ) or contact Alice Ullathorne by email (alice.ullathorne@nottinghamcity.gov.uk) or phone (0115 876 1993).

Explore a virtual 19th century Nottingham textile factory at Sneinton on 9 July

Image courtesy of the Backlit Gallery

The Backlit Gallery in Sneinton is hosting a 'immersive Virtual Reality experience' on 9 July. By wearing a VR headset visitors will be able to explore the sights and sounds of the textile factory of I&R Morley as it looked in the late 19th century.

The VR experience is part of a day of events at Backlit on 9 July, from 12 noon to 5pm, which will be devoted to Sneinton and the life and legacy of Samuel Morley (1809-1886), a Nottingham MP, textile manufacturer, social reformer and philanthropist.

The Backlit Gallery is at Alfred House, Ashley Street, Sneinton, Nottingham NG3 1JG.
www.backlit.org.uk
www.morleythreads.com