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NOTTINGHAM PAST & PRESENT: THE CASTLE
TERRACE STEPS, THE CASTLE, 1892
This picture represents a very charming and well-known view in the Nottingham Castle grounds, showing the ascent from the Castle Green to the Terrace which commands such a glorious prospect of the vale of the Trent.
The history of Nottingham Castle is full of interest, but unfortunately very little of the mediaeval fortress remains visible. After a long history as a royal palace and garrison it eventually accomplished its final work when it was held by the Parliamentarian forces under Colonel Hutchinson during the wars between King Charles and his Parliament. At the conclusion of hostilities it was 'slighted', and its usefulness as a place of arms was destroyed in the year 1651. Before the outbreak of hostilities it had been granted by James I. to the Earl of Rutland, and upon the Restoration it was inherited by the Duke of Buckingham who sold it in 1674 to the first Duke of Newcastle who at once commenced the erection of a great palace, the main portion of which remains to us to-day as Nottingham Castle Art Museum. The building was completed in 1679 and remained intact until 1831 when it was burned by the Reform Bill Rioters. The architectural details shown in this picture were part of the pleasure grounds of this Palace, and it is interesting to remember that it was completed in the same year that witnessed the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act.
In 1875 the building was acquired by the Nottingham Corporation on a long lease and restored and remodelled to its present condition, after which it was opened in 1878 by the late King Edward and his Queen Alexandra.