|
Nottingham Caves
|
One Wednesday evening, a party of 20 members and visitors organised by Mary Holborow assembled in Listergate outside Nottingham's Broadmarsh Centre in to await the arrival of Tony Waltham, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Geology at Nottingham Trent University. He arrived on cue to lead us at 7.30 into the centre and we were greeted by a formidable barrage of 'Big Brother' loudspeaker instructions asking us to '[eave at once'. Unperturbed, Tony tackled the security services for their errors and returned to lead the trip. We entered through the reception where the public can visit the caves.
Tony explained the origin of the 'caves'. All of them are manmade, either for shelter or industrial purposes, later Air Raid Shelters were made by joining up old caves with new tunnels. They are cut in the Nottingham Castle Sandstone Formation, itself the upper part of the Sherwood Sandstone Group of the Triassic. The rock itself is a poorly sorted quartz-based sandstone with a clay cement. Its reddish buff colour comes from iron oxide. It is about 60 metres thick and forms much of the base of the city from the Forest in the north to the Castle, the Market Square, the Lace Market and Broadmarsh in the south.
Originally, the River Leen bounded it to the south, where cliffs overlooked the meadows towards Trent Bridge. Thus the sandstone formed a basis for the settlement above the flood plain of the River Trent. We first entered the Pillar Cave, following the public tour route. Here we could see how the rock could be excavated without support for a width of several metres. Tony explained how the pebbles and mud flakes indicated the conditions of deposition. The pebbles from flash floods, the mud flakes from dried up lakes, freshly flooded. Tony said that although the sandstone appeared weak, it had very good rock mass strength as it has very few fractures and joint spacing in excess of 10 metres. This soft rock is thus ideal for cave excavation. In the Tannery Caves, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries, we could see wells filled to the level of the water table. Besides easily making holes for vats, the caves also gave a constant temperature for the tanning, especially during the mini 'ice age', which meant that the various unsavoury liquids used wouldn't freeze. Tony showed how, once exposed to weather by an open door, the stone quickly crumbles to sand. This means that caves often had to be recut ,causing further recession of the cliffs. Moving through the outside of the Centre, off the tour, we then entered the magnificent Willoughby House caves. We imagined the uses the upper classes may have made of these secret places as well as the mundane storage of wine or ale. Tony showed us newly opened caves and even a niche that had had gold coins stashed in it (found by one of his students who was 6" taller than him and able to see the old bag in it.) We met the enthusiasts who regularly dig here and they showed us their night's haul of pot shards (no gold). We returned to reception underneath the remains of the old Drury Hill which I can remember as much like the present steep hill in Lincoln. Drury Hill was demolished when the Broadmarsh Centre was built in the 1960's. We all escaped without loss after a fascinating evening and the company of an indefatigable enthusiast. It certainly whets your appetite for more. Thanks to Tony Waltham and Mary Holborow .
The book 'Sandstone Caves of Nottingham' by Tony Waltham is available from the East Midlands Geological Society.
One of the attendees had a particular interest in The Caves of Nottingham - Margaret Clark tells us why.
‘‘My interest in geology began in Nottingham - not in the outcrops of Castle Rock or the exposures on Mansfield Road - but under a dirty trap-door in a factory where lay 'The Caves'!
In the forties and fifties certain things were considered unsuitable for girls, amongst them geology in general and caves in particular, so most of my knowledge was acquired second-hand from my father's tales or from peering longingly into holes. However Alan Turrier, who worked with my father, was luckier, so I have used information from him to supplement my own meagre offerings.
Sometime just before the war the Company of Wilson Ford Ltd moved to premises at the south end of Commerce Square, which led off High Pavement on the opposite side of the road to St. Mary's Church. Their trade was electrical rewinds, mainly for large industries, particularly coal-mining. The work involved inflammable materials, which posed a constant fire risk. In the building there was a large oven for baking out the completed coils. The directors, the staff and the local fire brigade lived in fear of a major incident. Indeed on one occasion the oven did blow up, fortunately without major damage. A sister firm, Arthur Ford Ltd, were next door and above; they specialised in wiring, both domestic and industrial. In 1956 the chance arose to move both companies to safer premises in Old Basford, and everyone breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. I am told that the factory has now been converted to luxury housing.
The south end of Commerce Square marked the line of the old Nottingham wall, which crowned a high cliff overlooking a marsh (Broad Marsh). The wall, or at least its foundation, was believed to be incorporated within the factory. The north side of the building had, I think, three stories whilst the south side had at least seven with the lower floors backed by the cliff. The marsh had been filled with slums. Towards the base of the cliff were former cave dwellings used for centuries as doss houses. I can remember the rings on the walls to which the beds were tied. There were a number of fireplaces with their flues cut into the rock but one particular fireplace had a wide unlined chimney fitted with staples for climbing. (Another of the forbidden pleasures!) Of course these may have been for the sweep's boy but the tale goes that persons wishing to enter the city in medieval times without passing the gates could climb, for a fee, from the doss houses up to a fireplace in a cottage just inside the walls. Alan was allowed to climb but did not get very far before meeting a blockage.
A large cave lay under the yard of the square which could be reached from the trapdoors that had intrigued me and had five other tunnels leading from it, four of them bricked up, so that it could be used as an air-raid shelter. The fifth exit ran into the cellar of the company fronting High Pavement. This had a grating through which it was possible to read the time from St. Mary's clock. The caves within the factory were used for storage and for moving machinery from floor to floor. The bricking up cannot have been very thorough because they were used literally as rat runs. Before the walling up was done my father had done some limited exploration but had not found anything of significance. He was convinced, however, that the tunnels probably joined up with an extensive system underneath the city. I have never found a mention of the square in histories of the city and wonder if anything was found when the buildings were converted. Fifty years on 'The Caves' still intrigue me!’
|
|
|