Nottingham 
Contents
This once majestic permanent of the town now stands as a monument of the evil and dreadful effect of popular frenzy, and it can scarcely be supposed that its owner, His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, will again restore it to its former state. The castle is situated in the hundred of Broxtow, from which His Grace recovered £21,000 in damages. The historical events connected with this castle have been introduced in in the preceding annals of this town, to which we will add the following recapitulation.
The Danes, who frequently vexed this isle, possessed themselves of a strong tower here in 852, and were there beseiged by Buthred, the last king of the Mercians, but without success. Calling to his aid, Aethelred, king of the West Saxons, and Alfred his brother concluded a treaty between the Danes and the Saxons without taking the fortress. King Edmund, in 940, finally recovered this castle from the Danes. Immediately after the Conquest, William de Peverel, natural son of the Conquerer, erected a castle here on the summit of the rock, and had a licence to enclose ten acres of land to make him an orchard which, according to the forest measure, contains about fifty statute acres - about the quantity contained in the Old Park. William of Newborough says, this castle was made so strong by nature and art, that it was esteemed impregnable. In 1155, the castle and Earldom of Nottingham reverted to King Henry II; afterwards it was beseiged and held out against his rebellious son. From the beginning of this reign the castle has, for the most part, belonged to the Crown, neither is there (Thoroton says) "any place near, so far distant from London, that has so often given entertainment and residence to the kings and queens of England". Richard Coeur de Lion being returned from his captivity in 1194, beseiged the castle, then held by his brother John, and got possession of it, and held a parliament in it for the trial of his brother and his accomplices, but they did not appear. Here Mortimer, paramour of Queen Isabella, and governor of the kingdom during the minority of Edward III, held his court, and he was here surprised by the young king in 1330. King Edward IV, from the good will he bore to Nottingham, very much enlarged the castle by various towers, so that in manner it seemed new. Richard III held his court, and made further additions to the castle, whereby it became one of the completest fortresses in the kingdom, and said to be invincible to everything but famine. Richard mustered his forces here before marching to Bosworth Field. During the reigns of the Tudors, the place fell into a state of dilapidation, but still was a place of importance in the wars between Charles I and his parliament; for that prince erected his standard at the castle on the 22nd of August 1642, and in Hill Close three days afterwards. It was soon after in possession of the parliamentary forces, and the celebrated General Hutchinson was the governor. After standing about 600 years it was, during the protectorate of Cromwell, rendered unfit for war.
Though ruinous and neglected, some parts of it were standing at the restoration of Charles II, who gave it to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by whom it was sold to William Cavendish, Marquis, and afterwards Duke of Newcastle who, in 1674, commenced building the present edifice, which was completed in 1683 by his son Henry. The equestrian statue in front was that of the founder, and was cut by Wilson, out of a single block of stone brought from Donington in Leicestershire. Deering states the entire cost of the building to have been £14,002 17s 11d, and the name of the architect, March. The second Duke of Newcastle, dying without male issue, his property descended to the Earl of Clare, who had married his third daughter, and was created Duke of Newcastle by William III. This nobleman also dying without issue, the property went to his nephew, Lord Pelham who, in 1718, was created Duke of Newcastle by George I. At his death, in 1768, his titles of Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne , and Baron Pelham of Stanmere, descended in marriage with his niece, Catherine, to Henry Fiennes Clinton, ninth Earl of Lincoln, who died in 1794. His son, Thomas Pelham Clinton, died in the following year, and was succeeded by his son, the late Duke, who died January 12th 1851; and was succeeded by his son, the present most noble Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham Clinton. The castle had not, in the memory of man, been the residence of the family to whom it belongs, but had generally been inhabited by private families; but for two years previous to its destruction, it had ben untenanted. The great dining room was hung with a splendid piece of tapestry, which tradition says was the work of Queen Anne, who was here in 1688, before her accession to the throne. A vast quantity of cedar was used in its erection, and the perfume which was occasioned by its burning was distinctly perceptible during the night, at a considerable distance.
The castle, now a mere roofless shell, appears to the distant observer as it did before the conflagration, the exterior walls being left standing. It rests on a rustic basement, and the principal front is highly ornamented in the Corinthian order, with a handsome double flight of steps above which (over the door which led to the entrance hall) is the now mutilated equestian statue of the founder. The whole is surrounded by a beautiful terrace, with an arcade to the south side. It is 72 yards long and 20 yards broad, and was terminated by a flat monotonous roof, without any towers, turrets or embattlements, bearing no resemblance to the formidable fortress which once occupied the site, or in unison with the bold features of the lofty frowning rock on which it stands.
The castle lodge, which escapes the late fire, consists of a venerable gothic gateway, flanked by two bastions, which formed part of the outworks by which the ancient castle was surrounded. One of the bastions is occupied by a porter who, for a small fee, admits visitors into the castle yard, which commands an extensive and delightful prospect, being on the summit of the bold rock which, on the south and west, rises nearly perpendicular 133 feet above the River Leen. The deep ditch, which passed in front of the lodge and along the north side of the castle wall, was filled up in 1807, when the new road from Houndsgate to the Park was made.
This is a subterraneous passage which formerly had six gates at various distances, and is 107 yards in length, seven feet high, and six feet wide. All the way down there are broad steps cut into the rock, and openings on either side to convey light into the passage, and to serve the soldiers to shoot their arrows through upon the enemy. On the upper part are cut some regular port-holes which show that, during civil war, cannons were planted there, which had a command of all the meadows. Near the port-holes are excavations, evidently intended for the reception of balls and powder. Collins, in quoting from Drayton's Barons' War, says, "This wonderful passage had been hewed and dug during the Danish invasion, by some of the Saxon kings, for the better security in case of a siege". And, indeed, in times of peace it was useful, for it afforded a direct communication with the corn-mill, malt-kiln, and brewhouse of the garrison in the Rock yard, now called Brewhouse Yard. About seventeen yards above the lower entrance to this spacious vault is the entrance to a dark and narrow passage, which branches off to the right, and formerly led by secret doors to the keep of the old castle, in which were the state apartments. This was the passage through which Sir William Eland, in 1330, conducted King Edward when he seized Lord Mortimer, and brought him out of the castle, and was afterwards called Mortimer's Hole, in memory of that unfortunate nobleman, a name which is erroneously given to the principal vault. All the entrances to these passages are now walled up.
These are pleasantly situated at the western corner of the Park, and form the only military depot now possessed by the town. There were built in 1792, on ground given by the Duke of Newcastle. They contain convenient apartments for the officers, a sutling-house, barrack-rooms, and stabling for three troop of horse, an hospital &c. The garrison was suppied with water from a very deep well adjoining, and the water raised by the soldiers. Some years afterwards a horse was applied, and now the supply is received by pipes from one of the water companies. Captain Laing Meason is the Barrack master, and William Morrison, Barrack Serjeant.
[Last updated 19 June 1997 - Clive Henly]
© Copyright C.R.G. Henly 1997