For the amusement of the inhabitants, a neat theatre, situated in St. Mary's Gate, an assembly room, a riding school, (this, being that of they eomanry cavalry, is only occasionally used as a circus by itinerant equestrians,) and annual races, held in July, make provision. The race-course, belonging to which is an elegant stand, is to the north of the town, adjoining on the east to the Mansfield road. Walks in great variety, and affording delightful prospects, are also among those appendages of which relaxation is a principal objcct.
As a manufacturing town, Nottingham has long rank ed high. The making of malt seems to have been be gun soon after the Norman conquest, and is yet exten sively' carried on. Till the. reign of Queen Mary the making of coloured cloths was briskly prosecuted here, but from her time it declined, and has fallen away al most entirely. Nottingham is, however, a principal seat of the manufacture of hosiery, especially of silk and cot ton stockings. It is nevertheless, remarkable, that, in the year 1641, thete were in the place only two frame work knitters. The machine now made use of, origi nally invented by William Lee, in the reign of Elizabeth, is characterized by equal simplicity and utility ; and the quantity of goods produced is very great, both for the home and foreign markets. Industry, thus directed, pervades, not the town only, but the surrounding coun try, and has even spread itself to distant places : such, For instance, as Leicester. So long ago even as the middle of last century, 1200 frames were at work in Nottingham alone, a number now, deubtless, greatly in creased ; especially as the trade is understood to be at present in a flourishing state.
'rhe making of bone lace, as it was termed, has de• dined, but that of frame lace has been introduced, and is extensively carried on. Of patent net all have heard, and it is chiefly made at Notting,ham. Mills for spin ning and twisting both silk and cotton are in considera ble number. Tanning, once so great a trade here as to have spread vats over almost all the town, in which, in 1641, there were forty-seven master tanners, has greatly fallen off ; although it is not totally gone. The making of glass has ccascd, and the earthenware manufacture is of small account. That of white lead is carried on. Cast-iron goods are also fabricated. Dyeing is not quite extinct ; bleaching is one of the branches of industry exercised; brewing also gives employment to a number of persons; and in the general shop-keeping line, Not tingham, to the tradc of which at least two Banks, the Trent Navigation, and sundry vicinal canals, afford great facilities, has the supply of a pretty extensive surround ing tract, thickly strewn with populous villages. Under
these favourable circumstances, the population of the town has kept steadily increasing for many years. In 1739, the number of inhabitants was 10,010; in 1751, 10,061; in 1779, 17,711; in 1801, 28 661; and in 1311, 34,363. See Thornton's ,Nbtes, relzublished 7vith addi tions by Throsby ; Deering's Xottingharnia, vetus et nova; Leland's Itinerary ; the Beauties of _England and Wales, vol. xv. (v. v.) NOrfINGHAAISHIRE, one of the internal coun ties of England, extends from 52° 50' to 53° 34' of north latitude, and from 0° 35' to 1° 14' of west longi tude. It is bounded on the north by Yorkshire, on the east by Lincolnshire, on thc south by Leicestershire,and on the wcst by Derbyshire. In shape it resembles an oval, gradually tapering towards the north, where, for a number of miles, it is extremely narrow. The greatest length is 50 miles, the greatest breadth 27, the medium breadth about 16; the circumference measures above 140 miles; the area is estimated at 837 square miles, or 535,680 acres. It is divided into 6 hundreds, which in clude 160 parishes; the number of market-towns being 9, and of villages or hatnlets 450. It lies in the diocess of York, and sends 8 members to Parliament.
In its external aspect this county presents an agreea ble inequality of sut face, intertnediate in character as in situation, between the mountains of Derby and the flats of Lincoln. It is generally covered with rich verdure, copiously sprinkled with trees, contains abundance of streams, and its varied scenery is enlivened by numerous mansions and cheerful farm-houses. A ridge of high ground extends from INTottitigham north-eastward to the extremity of the county, where it terminates abruptly, and appears in the eyes of some speculative geographers to have once forrned the shore of a sea, which in those distant ages yet overflowed the surrounding fens. The southern portion of the county exhibits the contrast be tween the beautiful vale of Belvoir and the Wolds, a chain of bleak hills generally uninclosed, or but partially beginning to bc covered with wood.