Street Tales: Drury Hill

Illustration: Mike Driver

If it still existed, Drury Hill would most certainly have rivalled York's very own Shambles as one of the most important and picturesque examples of a medieval thoroughfare. However, despite many protests, the ancient passageway was demolished in the sixties to make way for ‘progress’, ie the shopping mecca that is Broadmarsh.

This part of the town's old medieval business thoroughfare, which came down Narrow Marsh and passed north along Bridlesmith Gate, with its narrowness, congestion, and curiously haphazard buildings, would have given a good impression of what medieval Nottingham looked like.

A mere 4ft 10in wide at its narrowest point, signs were posted to alert traffic and it was said that people from the two adjacent buildings could reach over and join hands. Although pretty steep, the gradient of Drury Hill was comparatively slack when compared with either Long Stairs, Malin Hill or the Hollowstone of its day.

To get an idea of how steep Drury Hill was, take a ride on the escalators in Broadmarsh Centre that run from the City of Caves to the Low Pavement entrance. Although a modern way to take on the incline, and almost impossible to picture the medieval buildings, you can really get a feeling of how steep and narrow the medieval thoroughfare actually was.

Known as Drury Hill from 1620, it became Vault Lane and then Parkyn Lane, probably because of a member of the Parkyn family of Bunny who lived there. The Drury to which the name refers was a certain Alderman Drury, who was something of a figure in Nottingham in the days of King Charles I. He bought the house that occupied the site of numbers two and four Low Pavement, under which are enormous rock-hewn cellars with a fascinating history.

Drury Hill must have been a very important route in its heyday, for when the town was fortified in Henry II's time, there was provision for a gateway, which Thoroton refers to as a postern, made on the summit. J Holland Walker (1926) commented, “I don't think that this postern is a postern in the ordinary acceptance of the term as just a mere undefended opening in the wall. It is shown in Speed's map as a little, square tower through which the road passed and it was probably defended by gates and a portcullis.

“It appears to have been pulled down in 1735, but a portion of it was left standing, for Deering in 1745, refers to it as being partially standing in his day. It was protected by a gatehouse which was on the site later occupied by the Postern Gate Inn, or the Bull's Head as it was earlier called. In making alterations to this inn in 1875, a portion of the old gatehouse was exposed and when the inn was pulled down in 1910, a sharp look-out was kept and the ground plan of the ancient building was recovered and details of it were published by Mr. Dobson in 1912. It appears to have been a roughly squared building, 17ft by 19ft.”

A postcard in our collection, dated 1904, shows an 'Old property at the bottom of Drury Hill, Nottingham, c1890s'. The message on the back of the postcard reads, “How do you like the picture on the other side, looks a bit ancient, does it not?” If Drury Hill was described as ancient by someone in 1904, it only shows how old some of its buildings must have been.

Drury Hill’s demolition caused a lot of anger back in the day – an anger that can still be felt today. Perhaps it would have been one of Nottingham's most popular shopping streets, or even incorporated into a living history museum akin to Beamish in Northumberland. But if wishes were horses…

The only object marking the site of Drury Hill is the original road sign which can still be seen on the wall to the right of the entrance to the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.

For more on Nottingham history, check out the Nottingham Hidden History website.

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