The British Cotton Growing Association
May 13, 2025
This is a guest blog by Alejandra Ponce Martorell, an undergraduate student who completed a Conservation placement with Manuscripts and Special Collections in 2025 working on the records of the Cotton Research Corporation. The cotton collection contains the papers and library of printed material of the British/Empire Cotton Growing Corporation. Founded in 1902, the corporation …
On the Land
April 24, 2025
In celebration of our new exhibition, ‘Country Lives: Exploring the English countryside from 1800’, today we’re sharing a selection of items from our collections which can give us insight into how the countryside has been used and depicted in the past… Many documents recording property holding and the changing use of land over the centuries …
Manuscripts and Special… Experiences!
March 25, 2025
This is a guest post by Hannah Gregg, second year Classics and Archaeology student at the University of Nottingham, who recently completed a placement at Manuscripts and Special Collections. My expectations… Like going into any new environment, I was extremely apprehensive before starting, especially as I’d never had experience in the archives before. Moreover, my …
Nottingham old and new
February 21, 2025
Charles Deering’s ‘Nottinghamia vetus et nova’, which translates from the Latin to ‘Nottingham old and new’, is widely considered to be one of the earliest histories of the town. First published in 1751, the book is a key source for the early study of Nottingham’s caves. Deering was born in Germany and spent his adult …
New book shines light on seventeenth-century collections
February 20, 2025
Manuscripts and Special Collections was excited to host the launch of a new book, ‘Change and Continuity in Seventeenth-century Nottinghamshire’ by Dr Peter Seddon, last week. Attendees had the chance to hear Dr Seddon discuss his work and to purchase a copy, but in a unique twist, they also had the opportunity to view some …
The Lions’ Den: Entertainment in Nottingham’s caves
January 31, 2025
Visitors to Nottingham’s caves are often disappointed to learn that most of them were used to store goods such as ale, wine and hay; or else as wells or kilns. True, they have been a vital part of the fabric of the town for at least a millennium, but these quotidian purposes don’t exactly live …
Temples, tombs and troglodytes: the mythical origins of Nottingham’s caves
January 16, 2025
Upon encountering Nottingham’s caves, it was clear to many early antiquarians that these mysterious and little-understood structures must have deep roots, stretching back millennia into the distant past. An early proponent of this theory was the Elizabethan travel writer William Camden (1551-1623), who claimed in his landmark survey, ‘Britannia’, that the caves had been …
Unearthing the Secrets of Vesuvius
December 17, 2024
It might nearly be Christmas, but today’s blog marks a holiday of a different kind as we continue to follow Dr Edward Wrench on his European tour in 1876. Last time we saw Dr Wrench, he had emerged from the Catacombs of the Capuchins at Rome, and, having satisfied his more superstitious impulses by drinking …
Rambling around rock holes
November 26, 2024
William Parsons was a solicitor who lived between around 1809 and 1881, and who, between his legal work, his participation in the political and civic life of Nottingham and his often-rambunctious social life, was witness to major transformations to the fabric of the city due to increasing urbanisation and enclosure – a change to which …
Decoding Images in Early Modern Print
November 8, 2024
This is guest blog by Tom Nixon-Roworth, who recently undertook a three-month WRoCAH-funded Research and Employability Project (REP) on the Parish Library Collections, in which he reflects on his experience working at Manuscripts and Special Collections. It may come as no surprise to learn that as soon as the project was confirmed I was eagerly …
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