ABSTRACT
the ancient town of Nottingham stands on a sandstone bluff which rises steeply from the river flats of the Trent. In 1815 the town was bounded on the north by a plateau; formerly covered by the forest trees of Sherwood, this had become the site of the town’s thirty windmills, impressive landmarks for the traveller approaching from that direction. The plateau, known as the Forest, terminated at the river in a ridge and the old town was built on the steepest crag of the escarpment. Below, the area between the foot of the cliff and the river was meadow land and running through it was the little River Leen. In his History of Nottingham which was published in 1816, John Blackner, the self-educated framework knitter, described these meadows which each spring were covered by a mass of brilliant crocuses. Situated within the borough boundaries, they were a source of beauty and enjoyment for the town dweller who would hear, if he paused there a moment, on one side
a confused sound arising from the voices of conversing thousands and the motion of their feet; and on the other … a hollow murmur, occasioned by the rolling of the Trent. 1
