Nottingham Castle is actually a 17th Century Ducal Palace. Though the location has been the site of a castle since 1067. The castle sits on a sandstone cliff standing 40 metres above the surrounding landscape. This cliff is riddled with caves, as is the rest of the sandstone bedrock in Nottingham. One particular cave, Mortimer’s Hole, was tunnelled through the rock from the castle down through the cliff to exit at the base in Brewhouse Yard. Brewhouse Yard is a space of land between the base of the cliff and the surrounding buildings. It is bordered by Cliff Cottage; a Victorian house built into the cliff itself, a building also referred to Brewhouse Yard; which now operates as the Museum of Nottingham Life, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem; a pub which claims to be the oldest in Britain and is partially built into caves in the cliff, more buildings owned by the museum, and south of the road New Castle House; a modern office block. Further south of the office block is the NottinghamBeeston Canal, linking Castle Rock to Wollaton Hall in the West. Where the canal narrows there is a lock-gate, meaning a change in water level above and below the gate.
West Elevation of Nottingham Castle
Brewhouse Yard
Castle Rock and New Castle House from the South-West
New Castle House and the Canal Lock-Gate
Site History
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem and the original brewery on the site.
The caves surrounding the site have previously been used as beer cellars, living space and air raid shelters.
Brewhouse Yard before and after building clearance.
Castle Rock before and after the removal of trees and plants that had weakened the cliff.
Base of Castle Rock; Looking Up
Canal Waterside; Castle in Background
Site Render, showing Mortimer’s Hole and Superimposed Bastion Defences
Site Render, with History of Significant Buildings
Site Model A preliminary site model, made from laser cut greyboard, shows the site at a 1:2000 scale. At this level of detail, Nottingham Castle is clearly pronounced above the surrounding landscape, and its position in relation to the Nottingham-Beeston canal is illustrated.
Site Model
A larger site model at 1:200 shows the complete dominance of the site by Castle Rock, the sandstone cliff that the castle sits on. The land at the base of the cliff is enclosed by the surrounding buildings and the cliff-face, forming what is almost a courtyard. Pitched roof vernacular architecture is evident within the context, with the two flat roofs of the Castle and New Castle House contrasting with this.
Double Exposures of Mortimer’s Hole Travelling through Mortimer’s Hole is a shallow descent through the layers of sandstone sediment. While adequately lit by electric lights, the space is still punctuated by windows and doors cut through to outside the cliff. Through the layering of photographs taken within this space, elements such as windows, doors and handrails are emphasised. Even in such an unusual context, these elements are still recognisable as domestically scaled.