Interesting Stories and Notes

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Housing in Nottingham in the 1820s

In the early 1700s Nottingham was a Garden City, with well-laid out houses, surrounded by orchards and gardens in the midst of park land and open spaces. In 1721 it had a population of 10,000. By 1831 (during Walter's time there) it had risen to about 50,000, and occupied the same space. In general, expansion was prevented because the surrounding land was owned by persons such as the Duke of Newcastle and the like who refused to release any of their land. Because of the severe crowding the house owners were able to charge exorbitant rents. Lace manufacture started between 1812 and 1830 in Nottingham and skilled workers were earning as much as £4 per week. Such workers could afford the rents in the outlying areas of Nottingham offering good housing. For the vast majority of workers the wages were 6 to 12 shillings per week, a tenth of that for the lace workers. These workers were condemned to live in the congested parts of the city.

In one area of Nottingham there were 883 houses in less than 9 acres, containing 947 families, 4283 persons. Between them they had 52 privies, with 150 seats. In Lees Yard, where the 1832 Cholera epidemic broke out, there was one person every 5½ square yards of space in the buildings and court.

Between 1820 and 1831 over 3,000 new houses were built, including those at Rancliffe Street and Sussex Street. Thus Walter was living in new properties, but for all that they were terrible to live in. The layout of the houses in Rancliffe Street is shown in the diagram. The Court, where Walter probably lived might have looked like that in the photographs. The houses were typically back to back, having 11foot square floor area. This comprised a living room downstairs, with coal cellar and a provision cupboard under the stairs. A bedroom above and possibly a workshop on the top floor.

The houses on the inside, facing into the court, overlooked the privies and the common drain down the centre of the court. Often the inhabitants carried out their work in the courts. This would include such jobs as fellmongers (who prepared skins for tanners), dyers, coal-heavers, tanners, bone crushers. The remains of animal carcasses, together with the material dug from the privies were stored in the courtyards to produce manure that was sold to the surrounding farms. The lack of running water meant that cleanliness was not high on the agenda for the hard-pressed citizens of Nottingham.
 

( These facts are a summary of data that appears in a Teaching document issued by the University of Nottingham).

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