Welcome To the e-travelguide to Hotels, guest houses and attractions in Nottinghamshire

Make the most of your time in Nottinghamshire, use the information provided on this web site by clicking on the links above to plan your visit.

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, and shares borders with its neighbours Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Its county town is of course Nottingham, although since 1998 the city of Nottingham has been a unitary authority, and is now only part of the county for ceremonial purposes. Like its neighbour Derbyshire, most of Nottinghamshire’s population is concentrated within a relatively small area, with over half of its inhabitants living within Nottingham and its surrounding towns. The importance of Nottinghamshire became apparent during the Roman occupation of the British Isles, when the key road The Fosse Way, which ran between Lincoln and Exeter, was built passing through the county; the later Great North Road, which linked London with Edinburgh and is now described in part by the route of the A1, was also built through Nottinghamshire.

During the Anglo-Saxon era, the region now known as Nottinghamshire was part of the Kingdom of Mercia, but after the Norman Conquest the area was assigned a Sheriff; under the rule of the Sheriff of Nottingham, one of Nottinghamshire’s most famous sons is said to have emerged – the legendary Robin Hood. Little if any evidence has been recorded of who Robin Hood actually was, but tales of the English folk hero and his band of Merry Men have been passed down through generations, and he is still an enduring and iconic character; the county of Nottinghamshire, the city of Nottingham and his supposed home of Sherwood Forest owe much of their modern day popularity with tourists to his legend.

In later years, Nottinghamshire grew into a major industrial force, with textiles and lace making being particularly important industries. Much of Nottinghamshire lies above the East Midlands Coalfield, and from the 19 th Century onwards this precious reserve was exploited as mechanisation, and in particular the growth of the railways, demanded increasingly large amounts of coal. It was in Eastwood – one of Nottinghamshire’s many colliery towns – that poet, novelist and controversial playwright D.H. Lawrence was born in 1885. As with many troubled artists, it was not until well after his death in 1930 that Lawrence’s works became truly appreciated, although perhaps his most famous work ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ was still causing concerns for the censors more than 30 years after his death.

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