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| c.1830 - Nottingham Barracks overlooking the city centre |
Today's "Tale from Watnall Hall" looks at the old military barracks at the top of Derby Road in Nottingham. It was from there, early on the morning of June 10th 1817, that Captain Rolleston of Watnall Hall leading a party of Dragoon cavalry rode out to meet the Pentrich Marchers.
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| Jeremiah Brandreth, leader of the Pentrich Marchers |
“On the morning of Tuesday 10th I went on the road towards Eastwood, where I met a considerable body of men armed with pikes; I returned to Nottingham and procured some troops from the barracks ... eighteen privates ... and a subaltern officer... . When we got as far as Kimberley, a village about four miles from Nottingham and about two miles short of Eastwood, the people told us that the mob, on hearing of the soldiers coming, had dispersed; we followed the route they had taken, and found a quantity of arms, pikes and guns, scattered about on the road.”
The local authorities were worried about an insurrection in the city but by the time Rolleston reached the rag tag remains of the marchers at Giltbrook most had become disillusioned and ran away across the fields. By the end of the day most would be locked up in the city gaol.
The picture above shows the view from the barracks c.1830 looking west across the city centre towards Colwick Woods. Horse soldiers are in the foreground, probably next to the barrack walls at the top of Derby Road, near the Derby Road entrance to the Park (Barrack Lane is still there today as a reminder of their presence). In the centre is the stumpy tower of St Mary's Church. Park Row runs across the centre of the picture and to its left is the junction of Chapel Bar and Derby Road.
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| Barrack Lane from Derby Road in 1982 |
The first stone of the barracks was laid in on Aug 21st 1792, the same year as construction of the Nottingham Canal started. The local innkeepers were most happy... "Aug. 21. The first stone of the Barracks in the Park was laid, by the commanding officer of the 7th Light Dragoons, then stationed here. By no class of his Majesty's subjects was the erection of the Barracks hailed with more satisfaction, than by the innkeepers and victuallers: these tradesmen had suffered severely, time immemorial, from the number of troopers almost continually quartered at their houses."
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| 1850 etching by CJ Greenwood depicts an idyllic scene in Nottingham Park with grazing cattle, parading soldiers and the barracks on the left of the picture |
Rebellious Town
Nottingham had a reputation for rebellious behaviour so the barracks were always kept well provisioned with soldiers in case of trouble, some of it amusingly recounted by the Nottingham date Book... "July 20th 1795. The price of corn was such, wheat selling at 100s. a quarter, that bread could not be procured by the working classes without great difficulty. "The assize of bread," set by the Mayor, provided that the eighteenpenny loaf should weigh 51b. 4oz. 6dr. Not being able or willing to trace an effect to its cause, the suffering classes attributed their privation to the "extortionate" bakers, and on the 20th, a large mob, consisting principally of women, went from one baker's shop to another, set their own price on the stock therein, and putting down the money, took it away. They were permitted to pursue this course for several hours, but the bakers becoming very clamorous for protection, the authorities at length interfered, and the riot was subdued by the assistance of the military from the Barracks, and the Gentlemen Troop of Yeomanry, who jointly scoured the streets till midnight."
Drunken Soldiers
In more peaceful times the soldiers themselves could be a handful to look after. The Nottingham Date Book has a few tales of wayward behaviour and drunken soldiers.
April 4th 1797... "An accident attended the departure of the Pembroke Fencible Cavalry from the Barracks in the Park. A quantity of loose gunpowder in an open cask, and a number of cartridges in a bag, had been placed in the barrack-master's office, and accidentally taking fire, blew the roof off, and greatly damaged the adjoining store-room. The barrack-sergeant was nearly killed, but his son, who was with him, though blown with great force against the officers' house, a distance of twenty-five yards, was comparatively uninjured."
October 1849... "Several acts of military insubordination excited great attention, and gave rise to several courts martial. It happened that Colonel Arthur, of the 8rd Dragoon Guards, whilst on parade, at the Barracks, observed that some of the horses did not appear so clean and sleek as usual, and it immediately occurred to him that the men, who had been indulged with great liberty the previous Fair week, had abused the privilege by neglecting their duty. Every one, therefore, whose horse was found in the condition alluded to, was ordered to remain in the Barracks, until it assumed an improved appearance.
The men, however, ascribed the condition of their horses to the season of the year, as the animals were beginning to cast their coats, and felt themselves aggrieved. Several days after, the delinquents having presented their horses on parade in a greatly improved condition, anticipated that the Colonel would countermand his order, but found to their mortification that he had gone out of town, and would not return of several days. Unable to bear the galling restraint longer, the disaffected scaled the wall the same evening, and proceeded to “the Gate” public-house, Brewhouse-yard, where they called for ale, and drank to excess. When the muster-roll was called over, it was discovered that about thirty were missing. A picquet of ten men, armed, was despatched in pursuit, and at ten o'clock tracked the deserters to their hiding-place. The latter no sooner caught sight of them than they declared they would not be taken, and after a smart skirmish, in which the picquct drew their swords, and the men in return threw volleys of heavy stones, the deserters effected an escape. They were, however, all apprehended in the course of a few days, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. The Commander in Chief thought proper to order the instant removal of the troops to Sheffield."
My other "Tales from Watnall Hall" have more details on Capt. Rolleston's life and his crime-fighting activities in Georgian Nottingham here... https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/.../biography-of-colonel...
his biography here https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/2021/12/biography-of-colonel-lancelot-rolleston.html
and all the other Pentrich Rebellion related articles here... https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/search/label/Pentrich%20march
Sources - Nottingham Date Book, Nottingham Guardian, Pentrich website https://pentrichrevolution.org.uk/pentrich-revolution-the-revolution; The Lenton Times has done a fine article on the barracks's history Lenton Times - Lenton Listener Articles - The Story of Nottingham's Barracks. Lenton Times https://www.lentontimes.co.uk/images/gallery/barrack_lane/barrack_lane_listener_21.htm
Notes
1 - a sympathetic view of the Pentrich Marchers their aims and sad outcome can be read at another Tale from Watnall Hall article...
Local reports of the marchers entering Nottinghamshire
Information of the entrance of the insurgents into the county was conveyed to the Police Office at an early hour in the morning, by Colonel Rolleston, of Watnall, who, having ridden out on horseback, and ascertained that considerable alarm prevailed at Eastwood, and that men in bodies were out with pikes, thought it his duty to apply spurs to his steed, and gallop over to Nottingham. Securing the assistance of C. G. Mundy, Esq., one of the county justices, and of eighteen Hussars, commanded by Captain Phillips and several officers, he immediately returned, to endeavour to stop the progress of the rebel forces. [Source - Nottingham Date Book]
Rolleston and his men spent the rest of the day rounding up the stragglers over the fields between Kimberley and Langley Mill before taking a cart load of them to the Nottingham Gaol. At the end of the day Rolleston wrote a quickly penned report to the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Lieutenant of the county… “Six O Clock. My Lord Duke, We have just returned to Nottm after a most successful chase bringing 28 men prisoners and 17 stand of small arms and about 15 pikes; those taken are Derbyshire but say they were led on by the Nottm. The country people were violent against them. I hope your grace will excuse this postscript as I am in a great hurry and rather tired. Believe me to be, Your Grace’s most obedt. Serv., Lanct Rolleston.”
One cannot help but notice that the language of the hunting field is employed, and one suspects that Rolleston thoroughly enjoyed his day of glory; but it should be remembered that the gentry and the government too were genuinely worried that this might have been the beginning of a general rebellion.
Rolleston's pursuit of Brandreth lasted several more days and made use of the detective magistrate's paid informant network. The Nottingham Date Book and accounts from the Notts Archives fill in the picture...
The miserable men were actively pursued, and between Kimberley and Langley Mill, Colonel Rolleston and the soldiers with him succeeded in apprehending about thirty. Securing them in a waggon and cart, along with a quantity of pikes and guns found on the road, at six o'clock, p.m, they were lodged in our County Gaol. In the course of the next two or three days, others of the deluded
insurgents were arrested, and taken to Derby. Brandreth managed to elude his pursuers longer than most of them. On the desertion of his men, he left the highway, and proceeding over hedge and ditch, secreted his gun in the fence of a field occupied by a Mr. Green, of Kimberley. After a variety of narrow escapes, he was concealed at Bulwell, by an acquaintance named Sansom, until a reward of 501 was offered for his discovery, when it is understood he was betrayed by his treacherous friend, who informed Colonel Rolleston of his place of concealment. The result was, two gamekeepers were sent to Sansom’s house, under the pretence of searching for snares, and poor Brandreth was seized.
Having escaped the Light Dragoons at Gilt Brook, on the morning of Tuesday 10 June, Brandreth made for Bristol, where he twice boarded, and was turned off, ships destined for the United States. Returning to Nottinghamshire, he was re-united with his wife at her father’s house in Sutton. But with a 50 guinea reward on his head, he needed a safe house in which to hide. Where better than the home of his old friend and fellow committee-member Henry Sampson? When two gamekeepers subsequently called at the house, in Bulwell, [on July 20th] under the pretence of searching for snares, they proceeded to take the biggest catch of their lives. Stevens, pp. 76-7. A £100 reward was given to Constable Benjamin Barnes and his four assistants.
Constable Barnes is famous as the arresting officer in the Bessie Shepherd murder case just a few weeks earlier on July 8th. He arrested the suspect Charles Rotherham in Bunny, south Notts. Rotherham was hanged for the crime. Brandreth was tried for High Treason in Derby in an echo of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion...
The Special Commission convened at Derby between 16 and 25 October illustrates the government’s determination to exact the harshest and most exemplary form of punishment from the Pentrich Rebels, starting with Brandreth. The prosecution secured a press blackout throughout the trials and brought the men up on the severest possible interpretation of High Treason, both as to ‘levying war against the King’ and maturing ‘plans and measures to subvert and destroy the Constitution’. It was the first time that the charge of ‘levying war against the King’ had been brought against anyone since the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 – a fact which was not lost on the residents of Derby, which was occupied by Scottish rebels in that year
The prosecution, which was led by the Attorney General Sir Samuel Shepherd, empanelled a Grand Jury of the well-to-do and brought in 300 specially chosen jurymen, largely comprised of farmers from the heart of the county. Charles Mundy, one of the magistrates who had ridden with the 15th Hussars to Gilt Brook, had previously advised the prosecution to avoid selecting jurymen from areas bordering Nottinghamshire. The government also made sure to delay proceedings until the harvest was over, for fear of aggravating farmers called up for jury-service.665 For the government’s case against the rebels, see TNA, TS 11/131-134; for memories of the ’45, see Gurney, I, pp. 190-3
The Trials of Jeremiah Brandreth are available online here and include Rolleston's word for word testimony...
2 - Background on the barracks (from Lenton Times article and Mike Crew Facebook page)
The Duke of Newcastle had leased a portion of land to the army board of ordnance and the barracks were built in the north-western corner of the Park. The exact position can be seen from the present day road plan on which we have superimposed the plan of the barracks. The open space at the centre of the barracks was a huge cobbled yard around which a variety of brick buildings were constructed, the whole surrounded by tall brick, walling. The buildings consisted of officers' quarters, a huge building containing more than eighty rooms and of barrack rooms for the ordinary soldiers, a small hospital and surgery, a sutling house in which provisions and supplies were kept, a magazine, and stabling for three troops of horse.
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| Map of 1851 to 1861 shows the barracks |
An interesting aside: when the foundations of the barracks were being laid, the soil dug out was carried across the Park to the fish ponds at the foot of the Castle Rock and used to fill them in. These pools, formerly well stocked with fish for the use of the occupants of the Castle, had been let to a waterworks company for use as a reservoir in about 1720, but the company failed to prevent silting and the ponds deteriorated into a boggy swamp. Once filled in, the area was turned into allotments and called 'Fishpond Gardens', and then later developed for housing. The name of one of the roads, Fishpond Drive, within the Park Estate, just off Castle Boulevard, is the last reminder.
For a variety of reasons, in the last quarter of the eighteenth century rioting broke out in Nottingham with monotonous regularity; whenever the justices of the peace and local police force were unable to contain the disturbances, troops were called in to restore the peace. This continued need for the presence of military in the town may well have contributed to the decision to build permanent quarters here. The most well-known occasions when troops from the barracks were called out, along with volunteer yeomanry and local militia men were the troubled times of the Luddites, and the riots surrounding the failure of the Reform Bill in 1831. During the seventy years the barracks were used as military quarters, they housed a great variety of different cavalry regiments, but always ones brought from distant parts, never local regiments. These regiments rarely seemed to stay for long in Nottingham, which might suggest that the military authorities wished to prevent the men from becoming too 'familiar' with the local populace.
In September 1855 the lease of the barracks expired and the duke preferred not to renew it so that the site could be included in the housing estate being designed by the architects, Hine and Evans. The Duke did agree that the troops could stay on until an alternative site was found. On the 30th of May 1860 the 11th Hussars left the barracks for new quarters at Burnley and the Army transferred its East Midlands Command from Nottingham to Sheffield. Thereafter the barracks never again housed troops on a full time basis, but were probably used for soldiers passing through Nottingham on their way to their barracks. In a few years almost all the barrack buildings had been pulled down and the large houses now standing on the site built soon after. A few of the nearby buildings were retained as private residences but these too have now gone.
Robert Mellers in his In and about Nottinghamshire (1908) relates that it was once proposed to build barracks on a site at Bagthorpe, once the name for an area just to the north of Sherwood. Eighteen acres of land had been purchased for this purpose, but there was such an outcry from the residents in the area that the idea was dropped and barracks were erected near Derby and Leicester instead and Bagthorpe subsequently became the site of Nottingham prison. Mellers mentions no dates, so it is difficult to decide how this relates to the closing of Nottingham's barracks.
Little has so far come to light as to life and conditions within these barracks. Local newspapers reported the comings and goings of the various regiments, but rarely devoted space to anything else. This is probably a reflection of a general indifference as to what was happening within the barracks. It was only the publicity given to the sufferings of the British troops in the Crimea that eventually aroused public concern for the living conditions of the forces. In the 1850s a variety of commissions and committees investigated Army affairs. Among them, a committee on Barrack Accommodation, found that conditions in barracks were frequently wretchedly bad, with overcrowding, poor sanitation and little ventilation. Married quarters were virtually non-existent. A married couple were often just given a bed in the corner of the barrack room and children had to sleep alongside them. (The Army actually tried to restrict the number of married men to a maximum of six per hundred men. The wives of 'unapproved' marriages were obliged to live separately from their husbands in lodgings outside the barracks}. Later committees examined the conditions at every barracks in the British Isles and outlined what improvements should be made. At about this time, for reasons made clear later, the Nottingham barracks were closed down and so no mention of them appears in any of these official reports.
3 - Which regiments were stationed at the Barracks? The Nottingham Date Book mentions a great deal of the Barrack's comings and goings...
1792
Aug. 21. The first stone of the Barracks in the Park was laid, by the commanding officer of the 7th Light Dragoons, then stationed here. [By no class of his Majesty's subjects was the erection of the Bar-racks hailed with more satisfaction, than by the innkeepers and victuallers: these tradesmen had suffered severely, time immemorial, from the number of troopers almost continually quartered at their houses.]
1796
May 4. The 12th Dragoons left the town, and were succeeded at the Barracks by six troops of the Clydeshire Fencible Cavalry.
Oct. 14. The Clydeshire Fencibles succeeded at the Barracks by the
Royal Irish Horse Guards, or 3d Dragoons. On the 23d, two troops of the Dragoons left for London, and were succeeded by two of the Somersetshire Fencible Cavalry.
In the following month, the Essex Fencible Cavalry marched into town for the winter.
1797
April 4. An accident attended the departure of the Pembroke Fencible Cavalry from the Barracks in the Park. A quantity of loose gunpowder in an open cask, and a number of cartridges in a bag, had been placed in the barrack-master's office, and accidentally taking fire, blew the roof off, and greatly damaged the adjoining store-room. The barrack-sergeant was nearly killed, but his son, who was with him, though blown with great force against the officers' house, a distance of twenty-five yards, was comparatively uninjured.
Oct. 16. News arrived of Admiral Duncan's great victory over the Dutch fleet. The enthusiasm of former days had subsided, and almost the only public demonstration of joy was given by the Scotch Greys, then stationed here, who fired three volleys in the Market-place, and at night, illuminated the Barracks.
1798
May 1. The Royal Scotch Greys were succeeded at the Barracks by the Third, or King's Own Heavy Dragoons.
1799
June 11. The King's Own Regiment of Dragoons left the Barracks for Windsor, and the Fourth, or Queen's Bays, succeeded them.
Aug. 30. The Fourth, or Queen's Own Dragoons, succeeded at the Barracks by five troops of the Oxford Blues.'
1801
Oct. The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards were succeeded at the Barracks, by the King's Regiment of Dragoon Guards.
1803
June. The Inneskillen Dragoons, after a protracted stay, succeeded at the Barracks, by the 6th Dragoon Guards, or Carabineers.
1811
The Luddite Riots - Nov 18 - The Nottinghamshire Local Militia were called up at this alarming period on permanent duty, and the military at the Barracks was strengthened by a detachment of the Scotch Greys from Lichfield, and a squadron of the 15th Hussars.
1817
9 June the Pentrich Rebellion - Special constables were enrolled in great numbers, and the 15th Hussars, at the Barracks, were ordered to be ready to act at a moment's notice. The county magistrates were also assembled in conclave, and the 95th Regiment of Foot, and the Holme and Newark troops of Yeomanry Cavalry, were on duty close at hand. And as if this formidable force were not sufficient, the Leicestershire Yeomanry were up in readiness to reach Nottingham on a very short notice, by forced marches.
1820
Feb. 7. The accession of George IVth to the throne, was publicly celebrated in the Market-place. The Mayor and Corporation, in deep mourning for the late Monarch, drank the new Sovereign's health out of their gold cup, and then passed it to the officers of the 9th Lancers. Two six-pounders were brought from the Barracks by a detachment of the Royal Artillery, and at one o'clock, a Royal salute of 21 discharges, was accompanied by a feu de joie of pistols, from two troops of Lancers on horseback.
1826
May 8. The 10th Hussars removed to Manchester; and were succeeded at our Barracks by four troops of the Ist Life Guards. The dazzling appearance of the men, who were encased in steel body-armour, attracted thousands of spectators, by whom they were accompanied into the town. Major General the Hon. H. Cavendish, M.P. for Derby, rode at their head.
1836
Nov. 26. Alarming and destructive fire at the Exchange. :Order being maintained by 1836. special constables, assisted by a detachment of the 6th Carbineers, from the Barracks.
1842
Battle of Mapperley Hills 20th Aug - The latter part of this month was distinguished by an attempt of several hundreds of the working classes, in common with associates in other districts of the country, "to promote a general strike, or cessation from labour, until the document known as the People's Charter become the law of the land." They were intercepted, however, in their progress to the pits, by two troops of the Queen's Bays. The mob, about 500 strong, no sooner got a glimpse of the glittering helmets of the cavalry, than its members attempted to escape across the fields in the wildest confusion; but by a dexterous movement, 140 of them were soon inclosed between the ranks of the soldiers, and marched off as prisoners to the Barracks.
1847
Balloon Ascent - Aug. 19. The veteran Green made a balloon ascent, his 370th, from the Barrack-yard, Nottingham Park. The balloon was composed of 12,000 yards of silk, in alternate stripes of crimson and yellow; measured 120 feet in circumference; contained 220,000 gallons of gas; and, with the car attached, was 68 feet high.
Mr. Green was accompanied in the car, by Mr. Foxeroft, solicitor, and Captain Forster. The majestic vehicle rose at half-past five, and took a direction over Beeston, south-westerly, but hung in sight for a long time. The shops in the Market-place and principal streets were closed; and the Park and house-tops and every elevated scite were thronged with spectators. The voyagers descended at a quarter to nine, and alighted on the lawn in front of Staunton Harold Hall, the seat of Earl Ferrers, where they met with a very hospitable reception.
1848
April. The early part of this month was a season of great public alarm. The tide of revolution had overrun the Continent, and threatened to extend its ravages to England. Wednesday, the 12th, was to have been "the great day," and some of the Chartists were wild enough to imagine that it would usher in "the English republic." The pre-parations on the part of the authorities were of the most energetic and powerful character. Two troops of the Fourth Royal Irish Dragoons, under the command of Colonel Chatterton, and the Pen-sioners, under Major Campbell, were kept, ready for action, at the Barracks. Four troops of the Yeomanry Cavalry were under arms, and were stationed at the Trent-bridge, at Gamston, at Wollaton, and at Gedling. Thirteen Pensioners were posted within the walls of the Town Gaol, and others from the country at different places. Re-eruiting parties, viz., two of the Guards, two Artillery, two Marines, three of the 45th, and three of the 50th, were also in the town
1849
Oct. Several acts of military insubordination excited great attention, and gave rise to several courts martial. It happened that Colonel Arthur, of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, whilst on parade, at the Bar-racks, observed that some of the horses did not appear so clean and sleek as usual, and it immediately occurred to him that the men, who had been indulged with great liberty the previous Fair week, had abused the privilege by neglecting their duty.
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