The Garden Town - Life in the Early Marshes
Although the Marshes were sparsely inhabited in mediaeval times, there were some houses and the Grey Friars established a religious house there that gave its name to Grey Friar Gate, the western boundary of Broad Marsh. Badder and Peat's Map of Nottingham (1744), above, shows Broad Marsh and Narrow Marsh. Narrow Marsh is lined with houses and long gardens extending down to the River Leen. By the eighteenth century, Nottingham had become known as a 'garden town', with a large number of formal gardens, orchards and tree-lined streets. See Badder and Peat's map in more detail here [PDF 903KB] 
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From the mediaeval period, tanning was a major industry in the Marshes. Tanning was the treatment of animal hides for use in the manufacture of clothing and footwear. The tanning process caused pollution in the local rivers and streams. Many inhabitants of the area worked in the tanning industry and some tanners had homes in the Marshes. This deed of 1339 (right) was for two tenements of John de Hertil, a tanner in Broad Marsh (Magno Marisco), that stood opposite the wall of Grey Friar's (reference: CA 4379). See the deed in more detail here [PDF 1310KB] .
A network of caves has always existed under parts of Broad Marsh. Some were probably dug out in mediaeval times to create tanning pits, brewing sites and storage places. Some of the caves were adapted as air raid shelters during World War II. This plan (left) of caves under part of Drury Hill was undertaken in the 1930s during the course of archaeological excavations (reference: M 14838/1) See the plan in more detail here [PDF 1503KB] .
The Severn's Building was a fine mediaeval timbered structure that originally stood on Middle Pavement, on the edge of Broad Marsh. At one time it was used by a local wine merchant. In 1970 the whole building was moved from Middle Pavement to a site opposite Nottingham castle in order to make way for the new Broad Marsh shopping centre. This picture (right) shows Severn's in its new home in 1970.
