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 fifty miles, and its greatest breadth twenty-seven. Its circumference is estimated at 140 miles. According to the statement of Mr Rickman, the extent is 837 square miles, or 535,680 acres.

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 river Trent. It contains nine market-towns, and 207 parishes. The annual value of all the real property of the county, as taken in the year 1815, for the purposes of the property-tax, was found to be L737,290. The number of inhabitants at each of the four decennial enumerations amounted, in 1801 to 140,350, in 1811 to 162,000, in 1821 to 186,873, and in 1831 to 225,400. The burials in the ten years from 1821 to 1831 appear to have been one in fifty-four of the inhabitants then living. The illegitimate births were one in twenty of the whole births.

The occupations of the inhabitants in 1831, according to the arranged returns of Mr Rickman, were as follow:

Occupiers of land employing labourers.............. 2,643 Occupiers of land not employing labourers........... 2,414 Agricultural labourers............................... 11,799 Employed in retail trades and handicraft............. 14,683 Capitalists, bankers, and professional men.......... 2,093 Labourers not agricultural.......................... 5,628 Employed in manufactures and machinery............. 14,260 Other males under twenty years of age.............. 56,582 Male servants of all ages............................ 1,132 Female servants..................................... 7,886

The number of inhabited houses was 44,996, occupied by 47,117 families. Of these, 13,831 were employed chiefly in agriculture, 25,578 in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, and 8188 belonged to neither of the foregoing classes.

The towns and villages containing more than 1500 inhabitants, and the numbers in each, were, in 1831;

Nottingham.................. 50,650 Lenton.......................... 3,077 Newark.......................... 9,557 Bulwell......................... 2,611 Mansfield...................... 9,426 Retford......................... 2,491 Bastford....................... 6,325 Hucknall-Torkard............. 2,300 Worksop....................... 5,566 Clareborough............... 2,106 Sutton Ashfield.............. 4,805 Kirby Ashfield.............. 2,032 Greasley....................... 4,583 Carleton....................... 1,784 Arnold......................... 4,054 Bingham....................... 1,738 Southwell..................... 3,386 Stapelford.................... 1,638

The face of the country 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 there is a stripe of land with coal and limestone, partly in wood, but mostly under arable culture. Parallel to it is a broader tract, including Sherwood Forest, the soil of which is chiefly sandy and gravelly; but though naturally sterile, it 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 tract 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, being 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 both for the quantity and the quality of the oats which 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 taken from whom are generally moderate; and a very great proportion of the land is free from the burden of the 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.

There are no mines except those of coal, which are exclusively confined to a narrow district bordering on Derbyshire; the coal is of good quality, very abundant, and, by means of internal navigation, diffused throughout 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, there 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.

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, being twenty-five miles in length, and from seven to nine in breadth; but a great portion of it has become the property of private individuals, and is enclosed in farms and parks; in the latter of which is 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.

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 IV. The murder of that monarch having deprived him of a patron, he died of chagrin in France, and the workmen returned home, when, after many fluctuations, the machinery was introduced into this county. The making of 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 to 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 throughout 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 Erewash, 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 each. 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 those of Marquis of Granby, Earl of Mansfield, Viscount Newark, and Barons Pierrepont and Carrington. For election purposes, the county has been divided into two districts, the northern and the southern. Each of them returns two members. The election for the northern division is held at Mansfield, and the polling places are, that town, East Retford, and Nottingham. The election for the southern division is held at Newark, and the other polling places are Bingham and Southwell. The three boroughs, Nottingham, Newark, and Retford, return each two members, as before the passing of the reform bill. The whole of the county is in the diocese of York, and it is on the midland circuit of the judges.

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 at Wenny Hill, and a Roman villa near Mansfield. Amongst the latter are the Castle of Newark, the abbeys of Newstead, Rufford, and Welbeck; the priories 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 Frobisher, Denzil Lord Holles, Ireton the son-in-law of Cromwell, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 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 these, 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.; Musham, J. Pocklington, Esq.; Newstead Abbey, late Lord Byron (now the property of Major Wildman); Norwood Park, Sir Richard Sutton, Bart.; Osberton, F. F. Foljambe, Esq.; Ossington Hall, J. Denison, Esq.; Rufford Abbey, Honourable J. L. Saville; Stanford Hall, C. V. Dashwood, Esq.; Stapleford, Sir John Borlase Warren; Thoresby Park, Earl Manvers; Welbeck Abbey, Duke of Portland; Wollaton Hall, Lord Middleton; Worksop Manor, Duke of Norfolk.