![]() Mortimer's Hole, Castle Rock © Rory Walsh RGS-IBG Discovering Britain This is Mortimer’s Hole, said to be the cave Edward used. As we will discover, Castle Rock is just one place where people have made the most of this city’s unusual geology. Under cover of darkness Edward III led his troops through a cave, snuck into the castle and seized Mortimer.Īt the base of Castle Rock, look for an arched doorway lined with brick. His father (Edward II) had been overthrown in a coup by nobleman Roger de Mortimer, who set up home in Nottingham Castle. In 1330, 18-year old Edward III gained the throne by sneaking though a cave here at night. Nottingham’s caves have affected people from all walks of life, however, even royalty. There are still caves at the top of Castle Rock where the city’s poorest people lived inside. In 868 a visiting Welsh monk named Asser described the town as ‘Tiggua cobauc’ - the ‘place of caves’. So Nottingham’s earliest residents dug out cave homes in the rock. This stone is fairly soft and easy to cut with basic hand tools. It is formed from grains of sand that have been compressed together. The rock we can see here is called Sherwood Sandstone. Can you also spot holes and doorways at various heights? These are caves and tunnel entrances. Take time to look at its dimpled surface and bands of colour. ![]() The city grew from two settlements that met along a natural ridge of sandstone - the Norman Castle based here and a Saxon town. Castle Rock is one of the largest exposed sections of the sandstone ridge and a good place to study it. This 400,000-year-old landmark is in many ways Nottingham’s foundation stone. ![]() We begin delving into Nottingham’s caves at Castle Rock.
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