Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire, or NOTTS, an inland county of England, bounded on the N. by Yorkshire, E. by Lincolnshire, S. by Leicestershire, and W. by Derbyshire. Its greatest length is 50 miles; average breadth, 20 miles; and area, 824 sq. m., or 527,752 acres. Pop. (1801) 140,350; (1831) 225,400; (1881) 391,815; (1891) 445,823. Apart from the valley of the Trent, which is very flat, the general aspect of the county is undulating and well wooded, the highest ground—600 feet above the sea-level—being in the west, in the vicinity of Sherwood Forest (q.v.). In the south are the Wolds, consisting of upland moors and pasture-lands broken up by many fertile hollows, whilst the northern boundary for upwards of 15 miles is skirted by the Car, a tract of low-lying land, formerly a swampy bog, but since 1796 drained and brought into cultivation. The Trent, with its tributaries, the Erewash, Soar, and Idle, is the principal river; and the Fosse Dyke and Notts and Grantham canals, and Midland, Great Northern, and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln railways also traverse the county. The climate, especially in the east, is remarkably dry, and the soil varies, sand and gravel, clay, limestone, and coal-land prevailing in different districts. As regards productiveness it is not above mediocrity, except in the Vale of Belvoir to the east of Nottingham. Of the total area under cultivation, corn and green crops cover about 175,000 acres, permanent pasture over 200,000, whilst some 3000 acres are orchards and market-gardens. The cultivation of hops has been discontinued. The principal mineral products are coal—of which about 7,000,000 tons are raised annually—gypsum, iron ore, and limestone. The manufactures are noticed under the chief towns—viz. Nottingham, Newark, Mansfield, Retford, and Worksop, the two former also being the scene of most of the historical events connected with the county. Lying wholly in the diocese of Southwell, Notts is divided into six wapentakes, nine poor-law unions, and 273 parishes, and returns seven members to parliament, one for each of its four divisions (Bassetlaw, Newark, Mansfield, and Rushcliffe), and three for Nottingham (its capital and assize town). The county council consists of sixty-eight members. Of its natives the best known are Archbishops Cranmer, Secker, Sterne, and Manners-Sutton; Garnet (the Jesuit); Denzil Lord Holles; General Ireton, and his contemporary Colonel Hutchinson; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; Bishop Warburton; Dodsley, Kippis, and Wakefield (the authors); Admiral Earl Howe; Sandby and Bonington (the artists); Dr Erasmus Darwin; Edmund Cartwright; Fynes Clinton (the scholar); Kirke White and Bailey (the poets); Lord Byron; 'Speaker' Denison; and 'General' Booth. See the county histories by Thoroton (3 vols. 1797), Bailey (4 vols. 1852-55), Briscoe (1881), and White (1885).