NOTTINGHAM AND ITS REGION 31 



its spring and autumn crocuses even outside Nottingham, and it is hard 

 to believe that there are persons still living who remember such flowers 

 growing in the fields there. 



Industrial Nottingham 



Coal, of course, has played a leading part in the industrial development 

 of the region, though certain characteristic Nottingham trades such as 

 metal-working, machine-knitting, brewing and tanning date from times 

 far earlier than the era of steam power. Yet centuries ago coal was 

 obtained from shallow outcrop workings to the north-west of the town 

 in the neighbourhood of Cossall, and at the end of the sixteenth century, 

 for example, coal was bartered for freestone (Inferior Oolite) brought 

 from Ancaster for the building of WoUaton Hall, the fine Elizabethan 

 mansion now serving as the Natural History Museum. Deering, the local 

 historian, writing in 1751 remarks that coal was then the chief commodity 

 exported from Nottingham. Large scale working did not develop until 

 the following century and was naturally confined at first to the vicinity 

 of the Erewash valley where the coal measures appear at the surface. 

 Eastwood, Brinsley, Cossall and Trowell were, therefore, among the 

 earliest mining centres in Nottinghamshire. In 1859 at Shireoaks near 

 Mansfield was sunk the first colliery of the ' concealed coalfield ' in 

 which the shafts must first penetrate the cover of Permian and Trias 

 rocks before reaching the coal-bearing strata. The success of this was 

 followed especially between 1870 and 1890 by the sinking of a number 

 of important mines, notably around Mansfield (Kirkby and Sutton-in- 

 Ashfield) and along the Leen valley (Hucknall, Linby and Newstead) 

 towards Nottingham. These developments led to a particularly rapid 

 increase in the size and importance of Mansfield — a growth which has 

 not yet shown signs of abating — and also to a new conception of the 

 richness and magnitude of the Nottinghamshire coalfield. 



To the obvious benefit of local industries several collieries were sunk 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of Nottingham, in some cases (e.g., 

 Clifton, Radford and Cinderhill) within the city boundary. The valuable 

 Top Hard seam producing both good steam-raising and ' soft ' coal for 

 domestic use and the Deep Hard seam came to be worked by most of 

 the pits, while the High Hazel seam mined at Bestwood and Gedling has 

 become widely known for its excellence as an ashless house coal. In 

 addition to serving the needs of the region a great trade has grown 

 up, chiefly directed by rail towards London and the south, although to-day 

 considerable quantities from the north of the county are moved through 

 the Humber ports. 



Apart from coal and good communications it is not easy to account 

 for the growth of the textile trades to such a degree in Nottingham and 

 the surrounding district. Certain fundamental inventions made in the 

 locality played a leading role and serve to emphasize the human factor 

 in industrial progress. Lace and hosiery share a common origin in this 

 region for, in a sense, the primitive stocking-frame of William Lee of 

 Calverton was the proto-machine of both industries. Then the long series 

 of inventions and machine improvements connected with the names of 



