Luddites: Gangs of Loughborough?
November 3, 2025
Not a fan of AI? People might describe you as a ‘Luddite’, a term which is widely used today to describe people who are resistant to new technologies, but which actually has its roots in the early 19th century, as textile workers took action against mill owners who had acquired machines which threatened their status …
Researching historic documents of climate, weather, and health
October 28, 2025
This is a guest blog by Jamie Wright, a second year Archaeology student undertaking a paid placement with Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham in the summer of 2025. As a part of the Faculty of Arts, Summer Research Placement Project, I got to spend four weeks working in the Manuscripts and …
Death of the Author: Newspapers in the French Revolution
October 20, 2025
Did you know that Manuscripts and Special Collections holds a collection of over 3500 printed works relating to the French Revolution? While there are a range of dates covered by the material, pamphlets from the revolutionary period itself are particularly well represented. These publications can give us valuable insights into the unfolding of the revolution: …
Charlotte Sutton’s Scrapbook
October 16, 2025
Meet Charlotte Sutton, nineteenth-century nature enthusiast, though the intricate pages of her scrapbook… Although scrapbooking has its origins in the commonplace books of the fifteenth century, in the nineteenth century, several factors combined to bring about an explosion in the popularity of this delightfully eclectic hobby. The Industrial Revolution led to the widespread availability of …
The Leen: Nottingham’s River
September 25, 2025
Ask anyone to name a river they associate with Nottingham, and they will likely say the Trent. Our latest exhibition at Lakeside Arts puts the lesser-known River Leen at the centre of the story and examines its role in shaping modern Nottingham. Co-curated by Dr David Beckingham and Dr Rachel Dishington of the School of …
Back to School with Dinah Holt
September 22, 2025
Following on from our previous blog, which explored the arduous process of midwifery training in the mid-20th century through the letters of Dinah Holt, nurse and midwife extraordinaire, as she undertook her examinations in 1948 and 1949, today we’re stepping even further back in time to Dinah’s first term of nursing training in 1944… In …
Forest Town: the town in the countryside
September 2, 2025
The coal mining boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had a lasting impact on the countryside. In 1920 over a million people were employed in coal mines across the United Kingdom, and many of them lived in purpose-built colliery villages like Forest Town. Housing in colliery villages Like many other aristocratic families, …
Botanists and Businessmen: meet the residents of Highfield House
August 21, 2025
Although it is today part of the university campus, when Highfield House was built at the end of the 18th century it would have been surrounded by pasture, and home to little more than a herd of cattle. Although the area would soon become well known as the site of luxurious homes for the wealthy businessmen …
Results Day Special: Midwifery Exams in the 1940s
August 14, 2025
Dinah Holt trained and then worked as a nurse and midwife between 1944 and 1986, working at various hospitals in the East Midlands and as far afield as Switzerland. A lot has changed about nursing education since she undertook her training – the NHS would not come into existence until part way through her training, …
Croquet Lawns and Coach Houses: Echoes of Lenton Mount
August 7, 2025
Today known as The Hemsley, the building originally called Lenton Mount is named for its original owner: William Sidney Hemsley. Hemsley was a prosperous lace manufacturer in Nottingham who purchased the plot of land on which his house was built from the Lenton Hall estate in 1904. The property was designed by Nottingham architect William …
Find, follow, join us
