Nottingham the City of Caves

Unknown to many, Nottingham has the name “City of Caves.” A city sat on weakly compacted sandstone, which is easy to scoop, even today as many as 500 medieval rock dwellings and caves remain underneath the streets of the city, dating back to the Dark Ages.

The caves of Nottingham include a medieval underground tannery, the Anderson air raid shelter where thousands of people sought refuge during WWII, and the remnants of Victorian slums.

Nottingham Castle Rock

Nottingham Castle was built on top of a 35‑metre reverse strike fault which exists in the middle of Nottingham, and historically important tunnels run from top to bottom of this feature.

Since 1998, Central High Rise has been involved in helping manage this historic site. Work includes vegetation removal, removing or pinning back loose rock, installing soil nails and geotextile in order to stabilise the soil on the steep slopes.

With the approval of English Heritage, Central High Rise has developed a number of techniques for reinforcing and even reforming the caves where they are vulnerable or collapsing, helping preserve these extremely important historical structures.

The reforming works include, in particular, masking the repairs to match the cave’s inner surface so that tourists visiting the caves will not be aware of the intervention.