Nottinghamshire

 

(nŏt'ĭng-əmshĭr) , county (1991 pop. 980,600), 843 sq mi (2,183 sq km), central England. The county seat is Nottingham. The land, partially reclaimed fenland, is low-lying and fertile. A southern area of moors devoted to pasturage is known as the Wolds. The principal river is the Trent. Sherwood Forest, with its legends of Robin Hood, includes the Dukeries, a district noted for its fine estates. Cereal crops and sugar beets are grown. Dairying is extensive, and sheep are also raised. The Nottinghamshire coal fields extend along the western border; Nottingham, Mansfield, and Worksop are the chief mining centers. There are small oil fields at Egmanton and Bothamsell. The mineral wealth also includes limestone, sandstone, and gravel. Hosiery, clothing, bicycles, lace, and other products are manufactured. The county was a part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. It was there that Charles I unfurled his banner (1642) and marked the beginning of the civil war. Scrooby, the home of William Brewster, was the cradle of the Pilgrims. In 1974, Nottinghamshire was reorganized as a nonmetropolitan county; a small area in the northwest was assigned to the new metropolitan county of South Yorkshire (dissolved in 1986).

Nottinghamshire
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin	Historic
Region	East Midlands
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 27th  km² ( sq mi) Ranked 24th  km² ( sq mi)
Admin HQ	West Bridgford
ISO 3166-2	GB-NTT
ONS code	37
NUTS 3	UKF15/16
Demographics
Population - Total (2006 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 17th 1,055,400 /km² (/sq mi) Ranked 10th 769,000
Ethnicity	94.1% White 2.5% S. Asian 1.5% Afro-Carib.
Politics
Nottinghamshire County Council http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/
Executive	Labour
Members of Parliament	Graham Allen (L) Kenneth Clarke (C) Vernon Coaker (L) John Heppell (L) Geoff Hoon (L) John Mann (L) Alan Meale (L) Patrick Mercer (C) Nick Palmer (L) Alan Simpson (L) Paddy Tipping (L)
Districts
Rushcliffe Broxtowe Ashfield Gedling Newark and Sherwood Mansfield Bassetlaw Nottingham (Unitary)

Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. The county town is traditionally Nottingham, at 52°57′17″N, 1°09′29″W, though the council is now based in West Bridgford (at a site facing Nottingham over the River Trent).

The districts of Nottinghamshire are Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe. The City of Nottingham was administratively part of Nottinghamshire between 1974 and 1998 but is now a unitary authority although it remains part of the historic and ceremonial county.

As of 2006 the county is estimated to have a population of just over one million. Over half of the population of the county live in the conurbation of Greater Nottingham which also spreads into Derbyshire. The conurbation has a population of about 650,000, though less than half live within the city boundaries.

History

Main article: History of Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire lies on the Roman Fosse Way, and there are Roman settlements in the county, for example at Mansfield. The county was settled by Angles around the 5th century, and became part of the Kingdom, and later Earldom, of Mercia. However, there is evidence of Saxon settlement at Oxton, near Nottingham, and Tuxford, east of Sherwood Forest. The name first occurs in 1016, but until 1568 the county was administratively united with Derbyshire, under a single Sheriff. In Norman times the county developed malting and woollen industries. During the industrial revolution canals and railways came to the county, and the lace and cotton industries grew. In the 19th century collieries opened and mining became an important economic sector, though these declined after the 1984-5 miners' strike.

Until 1610, Nottinghamshire was divided into eight Wapentakes. Sometime between 1610 and 1719 they were reduced to six — Newark, Bassetlaw, Thurgarton, Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Bingham, some of these names still being used for the modern districts. Oswaldbeck was absorbed in Bassetlaw, of which it forms the North Clay division, and Lythe in Thurgarton.

Nottinghamshire is famous for its involvement with the legend of Robin Hood. This is also the reason for the amount of tourists who visit places like Sherwood Forest, City of Nottingham and the surrounding villages in Sherwood Forest.

Nottinghamshire was mapped first by Christopher Saxton in 1576, the first fully surveyed map of the county was by John Chapman who produced Chapman's Map of Nottinghamshire in 1774.^[1] The map was the earliest printed map at a sufficiently useful scale (1 statute mile to one inch) to provide basic information on village layout and the existence of landscape features such as roads, milestones, tollbars, parkland and mills.

Physical geography

Nottinghamshire, like Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, sits on extensive coal measures, up to 900 metres (3,000 feet) thick and occurring largely in the north of the county. There is an oilfield near Eakring. These are overlaid by sandstones and limestones in the west and clay in the east^[2]. The north of the county is part of the York plain. The centre and south west of the county, around Sherwood Forest, features undulating hills with ancient oak woodland. Principal rivers are the Trent, Idle, Erewash and Soar. The Trent, fed by the Soar and Erewash, and Idle, composed of many streams from Sherwood Forest, run through wide and flat valleys, merging at Misterton. The highest point of the county is Newtonwood Lane, Newton (grid reference SK456605) at 204 m/669ft.

Nottinghamshire is sheltered by the Pennines to the west, so receives relatively low rainfall at 641-740 mm (25-29 in) annually^[3]. The average temperature of the county is 8.8-10.1 degrees Celsius (48-50 degrees Fahrenheit).^[4] The county receives between 1321 and 1470 hours of sunshine per year.^[5]

Politics

Nottinghamshire is represented by members of parliament, of which nine are members of the Labour Party, and two are Conservatives. Geoff Hoon, representative for Ashfield, is a front-bench member of the government. Kenneth Clarke of Rushcliffe is a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The County Council is Labour controlled. There are 67 councillors, of which 36 are Labour, 26 are Conservatives and five are Liberal Democrats.^[6]

Economy and industry

In 1998 Nottinghamshire had a GDP per-capita of £12,000, and a total GDP of £12,023 million. This is compared to a per-capita GDP of £11,848 for the East Midlands, £12,845 for England and £12,548 for the United Kingdom. Nottingham has a GDP per-capita of £17,373, North Nottinghamshire £10,176, and South Nottinghamshire £8,448^[7]. In October 2005 the United Kingdom had 4.7% unemployment, the East Midlands 4.4%, and Nottingham travel-to-work area 2.4%^[8]. Along the Trent on the county's eastern edge, close to the former coalfields, are two large power stations of Cottam and West Burton. High Marnham is now closed. South of Nottingham, again near the Trent, is the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station and near Newark there are plans for a gas-turbine power station at Staythorpe, next to the Trent, on the site of the former Staythorpe A & B coal-fired power stations. There are two current coal mines at Thoresby between Edwinstowe and Ollerton, and Welbeck at Meden Vale near Market Warsop.

Education

The county has comprehensive secondary education. Results at GCSE of the percentage who get 5 grades A-C, including Maths and English, varies considerably across the district councils. Rushcliffe, the most wealthy council district in the East Midlands, gets the second highest GCSE results in the East Midlands (Derbyshire Dales gets the highest). The highest achieving school at GCSE is the Minster School in Southwell with 72% — the average for England is 45.8%. The lowest achieving is the Queen Elizabeth's Endowed School in Mansfield with 12%. At A level, the highest achieving school is the West Bridgford School, followed by the Minster School then the Carlton-le-Willows School in Gedling.

Average score at GCSE by district council (%)

• 1. Rushcliffe 58.8
• 2. Gedling 45.2
• 3. Broxtowe 42.9
• 4. Newark and Sherwood 40.7
• 5. Ashfield 34.4
• 6. Bassetlaw 32.6
• 7. Mansfield 30.1
• (City of Nottingham Unitary Authority 28.5)

Culture

Nottinghamshire contains the ancestral home of the poet Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey, which he sold in 1818. It is now owned by Nottingham City Council and open to the public. The author D. H. Lawrence was from Eastwood in Nottinghamshire. The North of the County is also noteworthy because of its connections with the Pilgrim Fathers. William Brewster, for example, came from the village of Scrooby and was influenced by Richard Clyfton who preached at Babworth church.

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is a first class cricket club who play at Trent Bridge in West Bridgford. They won the County Championship in 2005. Nottingham Forest is a League One football club and Notts County and Mansfield Town are in League Two. Other notable teams are Nottingham Rugby Football club and Nottingham Panthers Ice Hockey Club.

Settlements and communications

See also: list of places in Nottinghamshire.

The traditional county town, and the largest settlement in the historic and ceremonial county boundaries, is Nottingham. The City is now administratively independent, but suburbs including Arnold, Carlton, West Bridgford, Beeston and Stapleford are still within the administrative county and West Bridgford is now home of the county council.

There are several market towns in the county. Newark-on-Trent is a bridging point of the Fosse Way and River Trent, but is actually an Anglo-Saxon market town with a now ruined Castle. Mansfield sits on the site of a Roman settlement, but grew after the Norman Conquest. Worksop, in the north of the county, is also an Anglo-Saxon market town which grew rapidly in the industrial revolution with the arrival of canals and railways and the discovery of coal. Newark, Mansfield and Worksop have suffered from the decline of mining since the 1984-5 miners' strike. Other market towns include Arnold, Bingham, Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and Retford.

The main railway in the county is the Midland Main Line which links London St Pancras Station to Sheffield via Nottingham. The Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Worksop serves several villages in the county. The East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Doncaster, Leeds, York, Hull Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Scotland serves the eastern Nottinghamshire towns of Newark and Retford. The M1 motorway runs north-south through the county, connecting Nottingham to London, Leeds and many other towns and major roads.

The A1 road follows for the most part the path of the Great North Road, although in places it diverges from the historic route where towns have been bypassed. Retford was by-passed in 1961 and Newark-on-Trent was by-passed in 1964, and the A1 now runs between Retford and Worksop past the village of Ranby. Many historic coaching inns can still be seen along the traditional route.

The East Midlands Airport is just outside the county in Leicestershire, while the Robin Hood Airport lies within the historic boundaries of Nottinghamshire but is just inside South Yorkshire. These airports serve the county and several of its neighbours. Together the airports have services to most major European destinations, and the East Midlands Airport now also has services to North America and Caribbean countries. As well as local bus services throughout the county, Nottingham and its suburbs have a tram system, Nottingham Express Transit.

Places of interest

• Clumber Park
• Creswell Crags
• Rufford Country Park
• Southwell Minster
• Sherwood Forest
• Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
• Hawton Church
• Nottingham Castle
• Newstead Abbey

References

1. ^ Chapman's Map of Nottinghamshire 1774. Nottinghamshire County Council ISBN 0-902751-46-8.
2. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911. "Nottinghamshire, Geology". Accessed 2005-12-11.
3. ^ Met Office, 2000. Annual average rainfall for the United Kingdom.
4. ^ Met Office, 2000. Annual average temperature for the United Kingdom.
5. ^ Met Office, 2000. Annual average sunshine for the United Kingdom.
6. ^ Nottinghamshire County Council, 2005. Since the council was last elected in 2003 there have been two By-Elections in Hucknall (Conservative Win) and Sutton North (Liberal Democrat gain from Labour) Election Results.
7. ^ Office for National Statistics, 2001. Regional Trends 26 ch:14.7 (PDF). Accessed 2005-12-24.
8. ^ East Midlands Observatory, 2005. Labour Market Statistics for October 2005. Accessed 2005-12-24.

External links

• Visit Nottinghamshire
• Find property for sale or rent in Notts
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• BBC Nottingham
• Nottinghamshire Indymedia
• Visit Nottinghamshire
• Nottinghamshire Police
• Flickr Nottingham A collaborative blog from the members of the Nottingham Flickr Group, covering the county as well as the city
• Nottingham Nightclub Guide
• Nottinghamshire only search

Ceremonial counties of England

Counties of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 Bedfordshire • Berkshire • City of Bristol • Buckinghamshire • Cambridgeshire • Cheshire • Cornwall • Cumbria • Derbyshire • Devon • Dorset • Durham • East Riding of Yorkshire • East Sussex • Essex • Gloucestershire • Greater London • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Herefordshire • Hertfordshire • Isle of Wight • Kent • Lancashire • Leicestershire • Lincolnshire • City of London • Merseyside • Norfolk • Northamptonshire • Northumberland • North Yorkshire • Nottinghamshire • Oxfordshire • Rutland • Shropshire • Somerset • South Yorkshire • Staffordshire • Suffolk • Surrey • Tyne and Wear • Warwickshire • West Midlands • West Sussex • West Yorkshire • Wiltshire • Worcestershire

Historic counties of England

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