30 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



Derby, left the Fosse at Vernometum, a station thirteen miles from 

 Leicester. Lying within the fork so formed, Nottingham remained un- 

 developed and unconnected with the great road system which carried the 

 traffic of the country during the Roman period. 



It is unlikely that settlement dwindled however, for by the sixth century 

 Saxon occupation had become firmly estabhshed in the region and 

 the foundations of the first township had been laid. The place took its 

 name from the descendants of Snot, i.e., Snotingaham, whence Notting- 

 ham, who settled there. The Danish incursions which followed brought 

 a new significance to the place in the ninth century. These invaders pene- 

 trated southwards from the Humber and those who made headway up 

 the Trent in their ships found that at Nottingham the river passage con- 

 verged upon the overland route from York by the Rufford road taken 

 by their brethren. Although the Danes carried their plunder beyond the 

 river, Nottingham became established as the virtual head of navigation, 

 a distinction which, though now of small importance, has been held ever 

 since. The contact of land and water routes was consohdated in the 

 year 924 by the building of the first bridge across the river. The present 

 Trent Bridge dates only from 1871 though it was widened in 1926. At 

 the end of the bridge on the south bank may still be seen one of the 

 many arches of the ancient structure in brick and stone which it super- 

 seded. 



In Norman times the development of Nottingham took a further turn 

 and there grew into being a dual township involving difl'erences of plan 

 and function which remain to this day among the most interesting features 

 of the city. In addition to the original Saxon quarter, the strategic value 

 of the site was signalised by the building of a castle upon the massive 

 crag half a mile to the west. The Norman fortress not only held the line 

 of the Trent but also dominated the older township and sheltered a rival 

 community. As the two developed, the one with its civil population of 

 Saxon descent and the other a disciphned military centre, their respective 

 interests and activities became sharply divided. There was indeed a 

 strict partition of the territory that lay in a broad hollow between them. 

 This formed a natural meeting ground where markets could be held and 

 was also reached by the road coming from the Trent. Here was estab- 

 lished the Great Market Place of Nottingham, the largest open square in 

 the country. (See sketch-map on page 28.) A wall was built at one time 

 to separate the English and Norman markets, a division which is clearly 

 shown in the inset plan on Speed's well-known map of Nottinghamshire, 

 1611. Portions of the wall remained until much later but the distinction 

 between the two townships possibly survives to-day in the contrast between 

 the street names of the districts on either side of the square. The Saxon 

 town particularly is recalled by such thoroughfares as Bridlesmith Gate, 

 Hollowstone and Weekday Cross. These are in contrast to such names 

 as Friar Lane, Chapel Bar and Angel Row. 



It was only during the latter part of the nineteenth century that 

 Nottingham spread towards the Trent although in 1839 the first railway 

 had been built to the south of the Leen. In the crowded district known 

 as the Meadows will be found Crocus Street, a locality once famou§ for 



