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You may find this information helpful when researching the area prior to your visit

Nottingham and Sherwood Forest

Sherwood forest is one of the physical features that enriches the natural beauty of the county and was once a royal hunting ground. The River Trent, which runs right through Nottingham has for centuries procurred the county a special strategic importance.

Whats in a name?

Nottingham's original name is unfortunate, before the Danes renamed it, the small village was called Snotta, or Snot, from Old English meaning "a place abounding with caverns or holes dug underground" and certainly prehistoric people left such dwellings at the bottom of a steep rock under this town.

The name first recorded in 1016 was Snotinghamscir, the county motto: Sapienter Proficiens ('Advancing wisely'). The County Town of Nottingham with its Tower blocks and ring road do their best to disfigure this once great centre for cotton, textiles and lace. Local boy Paul Smith opened his first shop here continuing the clothes tradition. There is a major TeleVision studio here too.

The County Rivers: Trent, Idle, Maun, Devon.

Highest point: Strawberry Bank, Huthwaite at 650 feet asl. Although Nottinghams local government looks after its own affairs the rest of the County of Nottinghamshire apart from its capital city is administered by a two-tier system: Nottinghamshire County Council and the seven Districts Councils of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark & Sherwood and Rushcliffe.

Nottinghams Water Supply and 19th Century. With a special reference to the construction and development of Papplewick Pumping Station.

When the Nottingham Council formally took over the Nottingham Waterworks company on 25th March 1880 their long interest in acquiring the company stretching back over 25 years came to a successful end. In actualfact with outstanding debts to settle and other legal details the actual date when the private company came under the control of Nottingham Corporation was 14th May 1880.

Without question the Corporation took over a highly efficient undertaking. This is hardly surprising for the chief engineer to the Company was Thomas Hawksley, widely acknowledged as the greatest English Water Engineer of the 19th Century. It was somewhat ironic that Hawksley, born in Arnold, was their chief Engineer to the private company supply his home and town whilst professionally he advised numerous civic authorities on their water suppliers; in particular Liverpool, Sheffield and Leicester.

There is very little documentary and physical evidence for the early history of the water supply in Nottingham. The unallocated common well had its hauling equipment repaired in 1396. There was a Waterleader Gate in the lower part of the town, possibly in Broad Marsh. The highly organized Waterleaders sold horse loads of water in "bushels," to local brewers. Their water was taken from the diverted River Leen.

The recorded history of supplied water in Nottingham commences just before the end of the 17th century, prior to 1696 the inhabitants of Nottingham obtained their water from the rivers Trent and Leen, private wells and natural springs. Some of the springs were reputed to process the medical properties among these were The Spaw, near the Castle; St Anne's Well; and Rag Spring, visited for the cure of sore eyes. Whilst some of the Wells provided a local landlords with the basis of the good ales for which Nottingham was famous and so judged to by Celia Fiennes the traveller and diarist in 1697. Numerous private wells supplying water for manufacturing processes survives to into the 20th century. Rainwater was often collected in barrels, and other vessels.