Why Nottingham's Market Square is so much more than an Emo concentration camp...
1. At 5.5 acres, it’s the largest open market space in England.
2. Little John, the big clangy thing in the Council house, is the Barry White of British belldom, as it has the deepest tone of any bell in the UK.
3. It was originally cast as a replacement for Big Ben when it broke around the turn of the century, but they managed to fix it, so we nicked it for ourselves.
4. Oh, and its sound also travels further than any bell in the UK – up to seven miles on a clear day.
5. The stone used for the Council House was left over from the building work of St Paul’s cathedral in London.
6. The four statues on the top of the Council House represent Commerce, Civic Law, Prosperity and Knowledge, which are meant to be the hallmarks of the City of Nottingham. Stop laughing.
7. The Black Boy Hotel, designed by Watson Fothergill, was considered to be one of the finest examples of late 19th Century modern gothic revivalist architecture, and was so impressive that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert nobbed off the royal chambers in the Council House and dossed there instead. Then it was pulled down by 1960’s town planners and is now, erm, Primark.
8. The Lions, named Menelaus and Agamemnon, supposedly roar with delight whenever a virgin passes by. Enter punchline of your own devising here.
9. The favourite opening line by music hall comedians at the Theatre Royal? “I went past this enormous building on the way here tonight, and I asked the cabbie what it was. ‘The Council House’, he said. I said Cor! If that’s what the council houses are like in Nottingham, I’m putting me name down for one”.
10. There’s a tunnel under the Council House that runs up to The Park, built by an extremely arrogant Victorian Lord Mayor who wanted to avoid mixing with the plebs on his way home. However, it got clogged up with said peasantry’s piss and shit, and was abandoned a few years later. Ha ha!
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
