Things You Didn't Know About Nottingham - City of Literature

To celebrate the launch of the brand-new Nottingham City of Literature Map, we’re diving headfirst into the city’s rich literary heritage, past and present. Named an international UNESCO City of Literature in 2015, it’s no wonder Nottinghamshire’s stories by rebel authors and lovelorn poets have been intriguing visitors for many years. Including the legendary tales of Robin Hood and our famous Literary Heroes such as Lord Byron and D.H. Lawrence. This new map offers a unique perspective on the city’s literary landmarks, highlighting the places and stories that have shaped its narrative. Read on to uncover 6 fascinating literary facts you probably didn’t know before and discover Nottingham, the city of literature.

1. City of Caves

While it is a well-known fact that underneath the streets of our city runs an intricate system of 900 caves, hand carved from Sherwood Sandstone with some of the first caves dating back to c.1300, turning this into a children’s book is something entirely different. But with this fascinating piece of history in mind, Author Geoffry Trease, found a way to explore the caves’ representation of the daily work and life of communities living throughout Nottingham's history and look at it from a different perspective. The Nottingham writer based his children’s novel ‘A Flight of Angels’ on the caves, telling the story of Sheila and her friends who solve a 400-year-old mystery as they explore the caves under the historical city of Nottingham for a class project and embark on an adventure.

2. Bard House

Whereas nowadays we view reading as something that should be available to everyone, especially children, this wasn’t always the case. One of Nottingham’s “ghost libraries” tells the story of things changed. Bard House, now a student accommodation, only a short walk from Nottingham Trent University, was once a medieval building originating from the late 15th century, that historically housed the UK's first Children's Library. The classic Victorian building on Shakespeare Street opened its doors as the Children’s Free Public Lending Library and Reading Room in 1882, giving children over the age of 7 the opportunity to borrow two books a week.

3. Women’s Centre Library and Archive

Nottingham is home to one of the only remaining women’s libraries in the UK, the Women’s Centre Library and Archive. Founded in 1971 during the second wave of feminism, the library at Chaucer Street has been supporting women and fighting the patriarchy since 1985. The library and archive is currenlty home to over 4,000 books, magazines, and articles written exclusively by female-identifying authors, helping them fight for a world where women take their rightful place in a just and fair society, free from inequality, violence and oppression all through literature.

4. Bromley House Library

Hidden in plain sight on Angel Row, just off Nottingham’s Old Market Square, lies one of the last remaining subscription libraries in the country, and a must-see for bookworms and lovers of literature. From the stunning spiral staircase to the secret-garden, this historic hidden-gem is full of beautiful stories waiting to be discovered. Did you know the library, founded in 1816, is also the keeper of writer Alan Sillitoe’s personal archive? The collection was donated to Bromley House by poet Ruth Fainlight, widow of Alan Sillitoe, shortly after the poets death in 2010. The Nottingham born poet became one of the most influential new writers of the 1950s, with fis first novel, the ground-breaking and critically acclaimed Saturday Night and Sunday Morning painting a vivid picture of Nottingham life.

5. Nottingham Black Archive at Backlit Gallery

Did you know Backlit Gallery houses the Nottingham Black Archive? Founded in 2010 by Dr. Panya Banjoko, Nottingham-based poet and cultural historian, the archive has made Nottingham black history available to the wider public. Dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of people of African descent in Nottingham, the collection holds some of the earliest documents relating to the formation of Black community organisations in Nottingham and a growing archive of oral histories, including many from the  first generation of Africans and Caribbean’s to reside in Nottingham. From photographs, articles and newsletters to books and political letters dating back to the 1940s, the ever-growing collection gives us an insight into the city’s Black history, heritage and culture.

6. Nottingham Castle

Once a medieval fortress, Nottingham Castle was burned down by rioters in 1831 and rebuilt in 1875. The Castle is one of the Nottingham’s most iconic landmarks with a rich history of radical and rebel narratives, including writer Lucy Hutchinson, wife of the Governor of the castle in 1643. Lucy is most famous for her book ‘Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson’ about her husband’s time as the parliamentarian governor of Nottingham Castle during the English Civil War, recording his victories at the battlefield. It took 125 years after the death of Lucy Hutchinson for the biography to be published, in 1806, by her descendant Reverend Julius Hutchinson.

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Click here to find out more about the Nottingham City of Literature Map, or stop by the Tourism Centre to pick up a physical copy for free!