Plans to use Nottingham's ancient caves to regenerate city

The city has hundreds of caves beneath its streets

A £100,000 project to use a city's ancient cave network to help regeneration plans has been launched.

The University of Nottingham said the city could rank alongside York and Chester as a place of historical interest.

Nottingham has hundreds of caves and an existing visitor attraction is located beneath the site of its half-demolished 1970s Broadmarsh shopping centre.

The area is the site of a planned major redevelopment.

'Amazing history'

The team of archaeologists and historians said it would deliver a report on how the city could put history and archaeology "front and centre" of the regeneration, which would feed into wider plans for the area.

A team of researchers will carry out extensive work on historical records and maps, archaeological data, photographic archives, and existing 3D laser scans of the caves that could be used in a new immersive VR caves experience.

The team said they hope the caves will put Nottingham on the map for historical tourism

Dr Chris King, from the university's department of classics and archaeology, said: "We're very excited to start this project and hope our input in the regeneration will put Nottingham firmly on the map as a centre of historical interest like York or Chester.

"The caves will be a major focus of our work as we will be advising the developers on new ways to present the Broad Marsh's history to residents and visitors."

Hidden history

Some of the city's caves remain in use

• According to estimates, Nottingham has about 870 caves, which are believed to date back to at least medieval times and are still used for commercial and community functions to this day

• These were carved into the soft sandstone underground and used as dwellings, workplaces, and storage spaces for many centuries

• The medieval "Broad Marsh" was an important and busy waterside zone with a Franciscan friary and burial ground, but it later declined into an area of slum housing

Source: University of Nottingham

A spokesperson for the National Justice Museum, which operates the City of Caves attraction, said they were thrilled to be working with the university.

"We are committed to ensuring that we are able to uncover the amazing history of the caves and use this to offer a great experience for visitors to our city, not just to the caves we open to the public, but giving them the information to set them in context with the extensive network of caves which sits below ground across the city," they said.

Researchers hope their work will feed into wider regeneration plans

The project is due to submit its findings in January 2023.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which is funding the research, added: "City of Caves will help put Nottingham's heritage at the heart of a major redevelopment."