Nottingham: City of Creativity, Talent and Enterprise
Nottingham is a vibrant city, known around the world as the home of the legendary Robin Hood. From its bloody history as the start and end point for the English Civil War, to being crowned the lace capital of the world during the Industrial Revolution, Nottinghamshire boasts a rich heritage of which it is fiercely proud.
Nottingham boasts an unrivalled central location and excellent facilities.
The Nottingham in Parliament Day provides the ideal opportunity to showcase the people, businesses and institutions that make Nottingham and the wider county great and show it as a highly desirable place to locate businesses, pursue careers and spend leisure time.
For more images of Nottinghamshire landscape and popular attractions, please check the album created by Experience Nottinghamshire.
Nottingham was the scene of Parliament meetings several times during the 1300s. Again in 1397 the castle was made the place of a State council, when the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick were impeached for high treason. Some Nottingham tour guides are lead to believe that this reoccurrence of Parliament could mean that Parliament could still be held at the Castle today.
Today, redevelopment plans are underway for a £24 million development to transform it into a major heritage attraction and bring its amazing 1,000 history to life. The transformation is expected to be completed by 2019.
Parliament Street is one of the main streets in Nottingham City Centre, connected to the Old Market Square by lots of narrow passages and alleyways.
The stretch was originally called 'The Back Side' and was a poor area of the city, overlooked by the old prison known as 'The House of Correction'. The thoroughfare was renamed in 1770 when William Rouse stood for Parliament and put up new street signs so that the other MPs didn't know he was a member for such an unsavoury district.
In the heart of the city centre, Nottingham’s Old Market Square is the largest pedestrian square of its kind outside of London’s Trafalgar Square.
Nottingham is well-known for its ground-breaking research: from the discovery of Ibuprofenand the MRI scanner, to advanced textiles and carbon capture, Nottingham is known as the home of innovation. It is home to two world-class universities – the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.
Since Jesse Boot formed his pharmaceutical company in Nottingham over one hundred years ago, the city has become known as an international centre of excellence for life science and medical science.
One of Europe’s largest bioscience business incubators, Medicity, is based on the site where Ibuprofen was discovered.
Nottingham's £25m Centre for Biomolecular Sciences brings together the expertise of over 300 world-leading scientists in drug discovery, cancer research, stem-cell science, bacteriology and regenerative medicine. Other key industry sectors include biotechnology, gaming, film and design.
Nottingham has a heritage of high-growth knowledge industries: it has been involved in life sciences since the 1950s, big data since the 1970s and is now a national centre for fintech, healthcare technology, and advanced manufacturing research. It is home to a number of household names including Speedo, Raleigh, Games Workshop, Capital One, Experian and world-renowned fashion designer Paul Smith. The city has a rapidly growing enviro-tech sector and launched its Creative Quarter in 2013 to help creative industries establish and grow in the city.
The city and wider county is well known as a destination for culture, shopping, sport and the arts and in 2015, the city was proud to be recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature. Its legends and stories have inspired storytellers for centuries, including rebellious writers such as DH Lawrence, who was born and raised in Eastwood Nottinghamshire; Alan Sillitoe, Nottingham’s most famous contemporary writer; and Lord Byron, whose ancestral home was the beautiful and historic Newstead Abbey and his remains now rest in the St Mary Magdalene Church, Hucknall.
The city is buzzing with events and attractions all year round at its inspirational arts, entertainment and heritage venues, including the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Contemporary, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham Playhouse, the Galleries of Justice Museum and the New Art Exchange to name but a few.
The world’s first cultural centre for gaming, the National Videogame Arcade opened in Nottingham in 2015, bringing hands-on experiences of videogames and videogame culture under one roof in a way that’s never been seen before.
Some of the country’s top sportsmen and women are from Nottingham, including the legendary Torvill and Dean, Rebecca Adlington and Para-Olympian Richard Whitehouse.
Nottingham has a world class transport infrastructure with strong transport links by road, rail and air, connecting it with major cities in the UK and Europe. East Midlands Trains operate out of Nottingham train station and provide a direct route into London St Pancras in just over 90 minutes.
In the past three years, £1bn has been invested into the city’s transport system, including a £570m extension of the tram network; a £150m widening of the A453 key route between the city centre, the M1 and East Midlands Airport; £100m of rail infrastructure improvements; £60m refurbishment of Nottingham Railway Station; £16.2m ring road, cycling and pedestrian facilities improvements and the future High Speed Rail (HS2) site.
Nottinghamshire's Attractions
- The UK's first ever National Civil War Centre opened in Newark in 2015. The centrepiece theme of this £5.4m centre is the deadly struggles for power in 17th century Britain during the British Civil War. The struggle to control Newark, a staunchly Royalist town, was one of the defining events of the Civil War. It was near here that King Charles I surrendered to the Scots Army which was allied to the Roundheads. Also in Newark, the Newark International Antique & Collectors Fair, held six times a year, is the largest in Europe.
- Southwell, where the first Bramley apple was cultivated over 200 years ago, is also home to the 12th century Southwell Minster, a superb Cathedral and Minster Church which features spectacular medieval carvings and a Norman Nave which is one of the finest in Europe.
- North Nottinghamshire is the setting for grand Ducal estates and rural countryside, including the historic limestone gorge and caves of Cresswell Crags, which is home to some of the most important Ice Age finds in Britain, including the country’s only known Ice Age Rock Art.
- Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest is an awe inspiring nature reserve of ancient oak trees - including the world famous Major Oak which was once the hideout of the legendary Robin Hood and his band of merry men.
- Each August, Sherwood Forest hosts the Robin Hood Festival with jousting tournaments, story tellers, comedy acts.
- Plans are underway for a proposed new Sherwood Forest visitor centre to be built and managed by a consortium led by the RSPB from early 2018.
-
On 22 August 1642, Charles I effectively marked the beginning of the Civil War in Nottingham. The king raised his royal standard as a signal for his supporters to rally to his side on Derry Mount (later named Standard Hill) just outside Nottingham Castle, where a plaque now commemorates this historic event.
- During the Civil War, royalist stronghold Newark Castle came under siege by the parliamentarians no less than three times. Finally in 1646, after conditions in the castle became unbearable, the king travelled in disguise to nearby minster town Southwell, where he surrendered himself to the Scots Army.
-
At over 1000 years old, Parliament Oak is thought to be the oldest tree in Sherwood Forest and is found at the edge of Clipstone Forest, between Edwinstowe and Mansfield. King John is said to have taken counsel with his advisers under the ancient oak in the 13th Century which is the most likely explanation for how the tree earned its name.
-
Nottingham's council house has one of the best set of clock bells in the country. So good in fact, that the hour bell Little John could be used a substitute while Big Ben undergoes significant repair work.
-
Nottingham's bell is the 5th heaviest in the UK, with the deepest E-flat tone that can be heard up to seven miles away, making it the ideal candidate for the job of chiming the hour from Westminster.
-
The latest 2015 report shows the value of tourism in Nottinghamshire is worth £1.68 billion to the local economy and generates 21,781 jobs. The number of visitors in 2015 reached over 34.2 million.
What's on for 2017?
- Over 8,000 participants from all over the country are expected to take part in the UK Corporate Games. The majority of the games will take place at the University of Nottingham’s brand new £40m David Ross Sports Village.
- The Dinosaurs of China exhibition is coming to Europe for the first time at Wollaton Hall. Featuring fossils and specimens never before seen outside of Asia, Dinosaurs of China will bring to life the story of how dinosaurs evolved into the birds that live alongside us today.