NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Boundaries and Extent. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, an inland county of England; bounded on the north by Yorkshire and a part of Lincolnshire; on the east by Lincolnshire; on the south by Leicestershire; and on the west by Derbyshire. It is of an oval figure, with its narrowest end towards the north. Its greatest length is about 50 miles, and its greatest breadth 27. Its circumference is estimated to be 140 miles, and its contents 776 square miles, or 496,640 acres.

Divisions and Population. The county is divided into six hundreds, or, as they are usually denominated, wapentakes; three of which are to the north, and three to the south of the Trent. It contains 9 market towns, and 207 parishes. In the year 1811 the number of inhabitants

was 162,900, in 32,298 houses. The males were 79,057, the females 83,843. The families were 33,514, of whom 12,293 were employed in agriculture, 18,928 in trade and manufactures, and 2293 followed neither of those pursuits. In the year preceding the census the baptisms of males were 2407, of females 2386; the burials of males were 1791, of females 1787; and the marriages were 1372. The towns, whose population exceeds 1500 inhabitants, are the following:

The face of the county is generally level, with moderate undulations; and its beauties are of a mild description, somewhat picturesque in the vicinity of Sherwood Forest, but displaying neither the striking features of the adjoining county of Derby on its western side, nor the flat insipidity of the plains of Lincolnshire on its eastern side. From its position between these two descriptions of country, and from its moderate elevation, it enjoys a milder climate than either; partaking neither of the raw air of the one, nor the moist atmosphere of the other. The dryness of the climate is favourable to early vegetation, and is supposed to be the cause of the seed-time and harvest in Nottinghamshire commencing at the same period as in the more southern counties.

The soil of this county is very various. On the borders of Derbyshire is a stripe of land with coal and limestone, partly in wood, but mostly under arable culture. Parallel to it is a broader track including Sherwood Forest, whose soil is chiefly sandy and gravelly, which, though naturally sterile, has in some degree been brought into a productive state by the extensive cultivation of turnips, and the maintenance of considerable flocks of sheep. The track which adjoins is a clayey soil, extending to the banks of the river Trent. It is chiefly arable land, but varied with woods and meadows, and highly productive of wheat, oats, beans, and, in some parts, of hops. The lands on the banks of the Trent are very fertile, mostly devoted to pasture, on which many oxen are fattened, and some of the dairies are extensive. The arable land of this district is celebrated for both the quantity and the quality of the oats that it produces. The beautiful Vale of Belvoir in the south-easternmost part of the county enjoys some of the best soils both for pasture and arable husbandry of any part of this island. The farms are in general small, and commonly held by tenants at will; the rents from whom were generally moderate, and a

Nottinghamshire. very great proportion of the land is free from the burden of tithes. The spirit of agricultural improvement has not proceeded so far as in many other counties, though it has made considerable progress of late years. Neither the breeds of cows and sheep, nor the modes of cultivation, differ so much from those of the adjoining counties as to deserve any especial notice.

Mines. There are no mines except those of coal, which are exclusively confined to a narrow district bordering on Derbyshire; these are of good quality, very abundant, and, by means of internal navigation, diffused through the whole county. Excellent stone for building is raised in many parts, some of which has the peculiarly valuable quality of improving by exposure to the weather. Many parts of the county abound in veins of gypsum. In the parish of Gotham, it is found in strata of the thickness of three feet. At Beaconhill, near Newark, are large quarries of this substance. Although it has been much praised as a manure, the trials of it that have been made in its vicinity have not been attended with such beneficial results as to induce the continued use of it for that purpose.

Sherwood Forest. The Forest of Sherwood, formerly celebrated as the scene of the exploits of Robin Hood, whose deeds amused our nursery days, is mostly an open heathy plain, bordered with recent plantations, and upon which the plough has made very extensive encroachments. The boundaries of the forest are extensive, it being twenty-five miles in length, and from seven to nine in breadth; but a great portion of it is become the property of private individuals, and is enclosed in farms and parks; in the latter of which alone are to be found the deer with which this forest was once most abundantly stocked. The trees of most ancient date are those now remaining on the estates of the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Manvers.

Manufactures. Nottinghamshire is, for its population, one of the greatest manufacturing counties. The frames for making hosiery were the discovery of a clergyman of this county named Lee, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who, finding but little encouragement in England, repaired to Paris, and commenced his work under the auspices of Henry the Fourth. The murder of that monarch having deprived him of a patron, he died in France of chagrin, and the workmen returned home, when, after many fluctuations, the machinery was introduced in this county. The making stockings, caps, pantaloons-pieces, and other similar articles, has long given employment to the great mass of the labouring population; and of late years, the making of lace, upon a similar principle, has been introduced, and created additional employment. Although the riotous conduct of the workmen, under the denomination of Luddites, has driven some of the large capitalists to other parts of the kingdom, yet the hosiery business is by far the most important means of employment throughout the whole county. The spinning of cotton-yarn, from its natural connection with hosiery, has been introduced, and very widely extended; and the establishments at Nottingham, at Mansfield, at Newark, at Southwell, and several other places, are upon an extensive scale. There are also several large manufactories for spinning worsted yarn. Malting and brewing are carried

on to a considerable extent; and the beer of Nottingham and of Newark rivals that of Burton upon Trent. There are potteries at Sutton Ashfield; starch is made near Southwell; and sailcloth and candlewick at Retford.

The foreign trade of this county is mostly conducted by the mercantile houses of London and Liverpool; but some of the larger manufacturers export their own goods, both to the Continent of Europe, and the more distant parts of the world.

The river Trent, the fourth in magnitude of the English streams, passes across the county, and is navigable for barges through the whole of it; but its deficiencies of water and its shoals are such great impediments, that a canal by the side of it, ten miles in length, is found of great use to the intercourse. The other rivers are not navigable, but are beneficial for the purposes of irrigation. They are the Erwash, the Soar, the Maun, the Meden, the Wollen, the Worksop, the Idle, the Lene, and the Dover or Dare. These all discharge their waters into the Trent. The canals are the Nottingham, the Grantham, the Idle, and the Chesterfield. The last of these is about forty miles in length; the others about ten. By means of these and the Trent, the intercourse by internal navigation is extended to almost every district of the county.

The titles derived from this county are, Marquis of Granby; Earl of Mansfield; Viscount Newark; and Barons Pierrepont and Carrington. Eight members are returned from it to the House of Commons, viz. two for the county, and two each for the boroughs of Nottingham, Newark, and East Retford. The whole county is in the diocese of York.

The remains of Roman and Saxon antiquities are numerous. Amongst the former are the camps at Barton hill, at Combes farm, at Gringley, at Hexgrave, and Wenny hill, and a Roman villa near Mansfield; among the latter are the Castle of Newark; the Abbeys of Newstead, Rufford, and Welbeck; the Priors of Mattersey and Worksop; and the Churches of Bingham, Blythe, Southwell, and Balderton.

The most distinguished natives of this county have been, Archbishop Cranmer, Dr Erasmus Darwin, Sir Martin Forbisher, Denzil Lord Holles, Ireton, the son-in-law of Cromwell, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Paul Sandby, Archbishop Secker, Gilbert Wakefield, and Bishop Warburton.

The seats of noblemen and gentlemen of the first class are as numerous as in any county of England; of which the most remarkable are the following, viz. Annesley Hall, J. W. Chaworth, Esq.; Babworth Hall, Honourable J. B. Simpson; Bunney Park, Lord Rancliffe; Clifton Grove, Sir Gervas Clifton; Clipstone Park, Duke of Portland; Clumber Park, Duke of Newcastle; Colwich Hall, John Musters, Esq.; Grave, A. H. Eyre, Esq.; Holme Pierrepont, Earl Manvers; Hurgarton Hall, G. D. L. Gregory, Esq.; Kelham House, J. M. Sutton, Esq.; Langold, H. Gally Knight, Esq.; Lenton Priory, William Stretton, Esq.; Muskham, J. Pocklington, Esq.; Newstead Abbey, late Lord Byron (lately sold to Major Wildman); Norwood Park, Sir Richard Sutton, Bart.; Osberton, F. F. Poljambe, Esq.; Ossington Hall, J. Denison, Esq.; Rufford Abbey, Honourable J. L.

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Saville; Stanford Hall, C. V. Dashwood, Esq.; Stappelford, Sir John Borlase Warren; Thoresby Park, Earl Manvers; Welbeck Abbey, Duke of Portland; Wollaton Hall, Lord Middleton; Work-sop Manor, Duke of Norfolk.

See Dickinson's Antiquities in Nottinghamshire; Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire; Lowe's Survey of the Agriculture of Nottinghamshire; Rooke's Sherwood Forest; and Brayley and Britton's Beau-
ties of England and Wales. (w. w.)

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