TO THE READER.
The Author of the additions to this work thinks it expedient (although,
perhaps, not very material) not to follow, exactly, the arrangement of Dr.
Thoroton, as in the old edition, in which that gentleman concluded his
Nottinghamshire labours with an account of the Town of Nottingham, and the
Forest adjacent; but rather chooses to follow the description of the Hundreds
of Rushcliff, Bingham, and Newark with that of Nottingham instead of Broxtowe hundred, which strikes him as a more regular way of passing over the
county. In this opinion he has been seconded by a friend or two from casting their eyes over the map of the county.
And as the additions to the Town of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest are
intended to form a regular and copious series of events, down to the present
time, the account of these places, given by Thoroton, could not, with any
degree of utility and convenience, be given as heretofore, at the head of the
additions, respectively. In consequence what that gentleman has done towards the history of Nottingham and Sherwood. Forest, is incorporated in the
following history of these places; but in such a manner that not a sentence
he has written is omitted.
The principal events most worthy notice, respecting the history of the town
of Nottingham and its relative, Sherwood Forest, are classed under the following Sections.
Section I.
The origin of the Town of Nottingham, and occurrences down to the
Conquest,
Section II.
Its History and Antiquities 'till it became chartered, or governed by Mayors.
Section III.
Its History and Antiquities, &c. under the government of mayors, successively, down to the present time.
Section IV.
Religious Houses, Churches and Hospitals.
Section V.
The Earls of Nottingham.
Section VI.
Its present state.
Section VII.
Sherwood Forest.