11/10/2026
On this day 10th October 1831. The burning ofNottingham Castle.
Nottingham Castle was an important medieval royal fortress and occasional royal residence. King Richard I once laid siege to it to take it back from agents of his brother, Prince John.
Construction of the castle was started in 1068 soon after the Norman Conquest. Originally wood and earth before stone walls were added. The original medieval castle, except for its walls and outer gate, was demolished after the English Civil War in 1651.
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, started to build a mansion on the site in the 1670s; it was completed by his son, the 2nd Duke of Newcastle.
It was this ducal palace that was burnt to the ground by angry mob of Nottingham rioters in 1831.
It was then left as a ruin until renovated in the 1870s as an art gallery and museum, which remain in use today. Little of the original castle survives other than the gatehouse and parts of the ramparts, but sufficient portions remain to give an impression of the layout of the site.
It is NOT the great medieval fortress depicted in the Robin Hood movies.
It was NOT the home or base of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
