England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Nottingham St Nicholas

The Parish

The city of Nottingham is one of England's premier Midlands cities and the county town of its own county of Nottinghamshire. Nottingham is located around 125 miles northwest of London and sits largely on the northern banks of one of the country's major rivers, the Trent. Nottingham is divided into 3 parishes of which that of St Nicholas covers the western portion of the city. Nottingham has a long history, founded during Saxon times it became a major administrative centre under the Normans. Their castle dominates the city's skyline and takes advantage of the sandstone cliffs which underlies the city. These cliffs are dotted with caves which led the Saxon's to name the city Snotingham (apparently the place of caverns). AS well as being a major administrative centre Nottingham was the principal market for much of England's East Midlands and with the Industrial Revolution became a major manufacturing centre, a major industry being that of Framework Knitting which dominated the city's economy. The Trent drains the parish to the east, eventually reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. St Nicholas' church stands at around 30 metres above sea level dominated by the castle to its immediate west on a bluff 20 metres higher. St Nicholas parish covered much of the western quarter of the city, a few tens of acres at most, it & St Peter were by far the junior partners in the structure and St Nicholas probably held a population of around 5,500 parishioners by the end of this transcript period. Despite it's size Nottingham is not specifically detailed in Domesday Book although it was undoubtedly a substantial market town by that date.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands on the eastern side of the dual-carriageway of Maid Marion Way which forms Nottingham's inner ring-road and is very busy with traffic at all times. The original mediaeval church was destroyed during the Civil War and the present building is a replacement of the late 17th century, being built between 1671 & 1682. The building was augmented a century later when aisles were added to accommodate the growing population. In common with many English cities the western parish served the wealthier community of the city (upwind of noxious industries). The building has little in the way of architectural interest for Pevsner who covers its detail in a short paragraph. The church sits directly to the road, its western face separated merely by pavement, there are quite a few trees around its site which restrict somewhat the photographic angles available.