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NOTTINGHAM PAST & PRESENT: OLD INNS
THE OLD MOOT HALL, Wheeler Gate, 1896
This old building, which has now been replaced by a modern structure, stood at the corner of two interesting streets, Wheeler Gate and Friar Lane. The early name of Wheeler Gate was 'Baxter Gate', and in it were situated the town baxter, or bake houses; while Friar Lane led to the entrance to the Friary of the Carmelites, a portion of which still remains in Friar Yard. The Old Moot Hall Inn which Mr. Hammond shows us in this drawing, with its charming curved gables, was built about the time of the Restoration in the middle of the seventeenth century, and for years was known as the 'Feathers Inn'. Tradition points to the site having been occupied by the Moot Hall of the French moiety of Nottingham, but this is not certain. In the year 1689 a number of the leading men of the neighbourhood met in the 'Feathers Inn' to discuss the political situation and to decide whether they would remain loyal to King James II or transfer their allegiance to William of Orange and his wife Princess Mary. They decided on the latter course and adjourning to the Malt Cross which stood in the Great Market Place near the present site of Queen Victoria's statue, made their declaration which met with general approval.