The Sandstone Caves of Nottingham
I picked up a hard copy of Tony Waltham’s ‘Sandstone Caves of Nottingham’ last summer after seeing the caves underneath Nottingham Guildhall and thought it’d make a decent guide for what Nottingham might have to offer cave-wise. Most mapped caves are below live businesses, pubs and beneath people’s homes & gardens which limited options somewhat, but here are a few (mostly) well-trodden ones.
A PDF copy of ‘Sandstone Caves of Nottingham’ is available here and is well worth a read (if you like the idea of sandstone caves anyway).
The second study which is a more in depth look at the mines titled ‘The Sand Mines of Nottingham’ is also available to download in PDF format here from the Peak District Mining Historical Society website.
Gallows Hill Sand Mine
‘Mostly too weak to yield decent building stone, some of the Nottingham Castle Sandstone is so friable that it is easily excavated to produce loose sand. In historical times this was in demand, as building sand and for spreading on the floors of houses and public buildings to absorb the dirt, long before carpets were in use. Cleaner sand could be obtained underground where the best beds could be followed without problems of land ownership.
Records of sand mines beneath Gallows Hill are sparse but they appear to have been public sites where anyone could come and dig for their own sand, though the scale of the workings suggests that there was at least some degree of organisation and mine planning.
Around 1940 the mines were designated as air raid shelters with a new main entrance cut with a flight of stairs on Mansfield Road and three old mines linked by new sections of tunnel to create an emergency exit to the north.’
Lees Hill Air Raid Shelters
‘New purpose-built air raid shelters are distinguished by their linear form with straight tunnels mostly only three metres wide, at much greater depth than most other caves and always with at least two entrances. The Lees Hill air raid shelter cave was cut into the modified cliff at Sneinton Hermitage.’
Not really much more to be found than that, other than they were apparently last ‘open’ in the mid-90s before a fire saw them sealed up by Nottingham City Council.
Rouse’s Sand Mine AKA ‘Peel Street Caves’
‘James Rouse worked a sand mine on the west side of Mansfield Road for at least 30 years between 1780 and 1810. This was a typical hand worked pillar and stall mine which yielded between 8,000 and 10,000 tons of sand. It was entered direct from Mansfield Road and the easy drift access allowed for use of donkeys for underground haulage.
After 1810 the mine was closed and lost. The entrance was rediscovered in 1823 when houses along Mansfield Road were demolished. It was rediscovered again in 1837 during building work when a workman ventured in and was apparently lost for five hours(!)
By 1892 the mine was a tourist site, with some galleries accessible through shop basements which became ‘Robin Hood’s Mammoth Cave’. During the annual Goose Fair the mine was transformed into ‘a scene in fairyland’ illuminated by thousands of coloured lamps.
During the second world war parts of the mine were subsequently used as an air raid shelter with two new entrances being cut with flights of stairs at the north end of the mine.’
In 2018 and 2019 underground tours were offered and were well subscribed but these ended with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Took the film camera for an outing down here as well coz it's nice
I picked up a hard copy of Tony Waltham’s ‘Sandstone Caves of Nottingham’ last summer after seeing the caves underneath Nottingham Guildhall and thought it’d make a decent guide for what Nottingham might have to offer cave-wise. Most mapped caves are below live businesses, pubs and beneath people’s homes & gardens which limited options somewhat, but here are a few (mostly) well-trodden ones.
A PDF copy of ‘Sandstone Caves of Nottingham’ is available here and is well worth a read (if you like the idea of sandstone caves anyway).
The second study which is a more in depth look at the mines titled ‘The Sand Mines of Nottingham’ is also available to download in PDF format here from the Peak District Mining Historical Society website.
Gallows Hill Sand Mine
‘Mostly too weak to yield decent building stone, some of the Nottingham Castle Sandstone is so friable that it is easily excavated to produce loose sand. In historical times this was in demand, as building sand and for spreading on the floors of houses and public buildings to absorb the dirt, long before carpets were in use. Cleaner sand could be obtained underground where the best beds could be followed without problems of land ownership.
Records of sand mines beneath Gallows Hill are sparse but they appear to have been public sites where anyone could come and dig for their own sand, though the scale of the workings suggests that there was at least some degree of organisation and mine planning.
Around 1940 the mines were designated as air raid shelters with a new main entrance cut with a flight of stairs on Mansfield Road and three old mines linked by new sections of tunnel to create an emergency exit to the north.’
Lees Hill Air Raid Shelters
‘New purpose-built air raid shelters are distinguished by their linear form with straight tunnels mostly only three metres wide, at much greater depth than most other caves and always with at least two entrances. The Lees Hill air raid shelter cave was cut into the modified cliff at Sneinton Hermitage.’
Not really much more to be found than that, other than they were apparently last ‘open’ in the mid-90s before a fire saw them sealed up by Nottingham City Council.
Rouse’s Sand Mine AKA ‘Peel Street Caves’
‘James Rouse worked a sand mine on the west side of Mansfield Road for at least 30 years between 1780 and 1810. This was a typical hand worked pillar and stall mine which yielded between 8,000 and 10,000 tons of sand. It was entered direct from Mansfield Road and the easy drift access allowed for use of donkeys for underground haulage.
After 1810 the mine was closed and lost. The entrance was rediscovered in 1823 when houses along Mansfield Road were demolished. It was rediscovered again in 1837 during building work when a workman ventured in and was apparently lost for five hours(!)
By 1892 the mine was a tourist site, with some galleries accessible through shop basements which became ‘Robin Hood’s Mammoth Cave’. During the annual Goose Fair the mine was transformed into ‘a scene in fairyland’ illuminated by thousands of coloured lamps.
During the second world war parts of the mine were subsequently used as an air raid shelter with two new entrances being cut with flights of stairs at the north end of the mine.’
In 2018 and 2019 underground tours were offered and were well subscribed but these ended with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Took the film camera for an outing down here as well coz it's nice
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