12/28/2022 0 Comments Nottingham castle![]() Royal accounts record expenditure of £1,737 at Nottingham, a vast sum that would have funded substantial upgrades including construction of a Shell Keep. The castle was rebuilt in stone by Henry II and the Outer Bailey was probably added at this time. Town Walls, constructed from earth-and-timber, were built to protect the enlarged settlement. This became known as French Borough and eventually supplanted the original burh as the commercial hub of Nottingham. ![]() Despite the separation between castle and burh, a new settlement grew up outside the castle's walls that linked the two sites. The River Leen was diverted to provide additional protection for the fortification with the associated loss of fishing for the local (Saxon) residents. This early castle was probably an earth and timber structure and would have consisted of Inner and Outer (now Middle) baileys. This seems to have been for purely military reasons as the location chosen was on top of rocky headland which offered strong natural defences. Unusually, Nottingham Castle was constructed some distance to the west of the existing settlement. He entrusted the castle to William Peveril, a Norman Knight who had accompanied William on his Conquest of England and had been granted lands in the Hope Valley (with the caput being at Peveril Castle). It was constructed by William I during his 'Harrying of the North', a campaign to suppress resistance against his rule. ![]() The settlement at this time occupied an area on top of a cliff to the north of the River Leen and was protected on its east side by the River Beck.Īlthough not mentioned in the Domesday survey, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the foundation date of Nottingham Castle as 1068. Nottingham was seized by them in AD 868 and they founded the first (fortified) settlement on the site - a good reminder that burhs were not exclusive to the Saxons! However, the town was captured by King Edward the Elder in AD 918 who upgraded the defences. The site became incorporated into the Kingdom of Mercia but, during the ninth century AD, this domain was coming under increasing pressure from the Danes. It was also in proximity to the Trent's confluence with the Rivers Leen and Beck. Nottingham was a key nodal point in medieval England for it was located on the banks of the River Trent at a point where that waterway, which provided access to the sea via the Humber, was both navigable and fordable. ![]()
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