City of caves - regenerating the heart of Nottingham through 'hidden heritage'

Nottingham is one of England's major historic urban centres, but relatively little is known about its history and archaeology and many of its most important heritage assets are hidden, subterranean and unrecognised - including significant archaeological excavations telling the story of the city's Anglo-Saxon, Viking and medieval origins. It also has a unique legacy of over 870 extant or recorded sandstone caves, which are a vital part of the city's constantly evolving built heritage and are still used for a variety of commercial, community and private functions. Several groups of caves are open to the public but much remains unknown about their history and archaeology and this inhibits their development as a visitor and heritage resource.

Nottingham's 'hidden heritage' is exemplified by the Broad Marsh, a dynamic waterfront area once at the heart of the medieval townscape but controversially swept away in the 1970s for the construction of the Broadmarsh shopping centre, burying a dense cluster of medieval streets and cave networks, some of which survive and are open to the public (managed by the National Justice Museum), others of which were lost or are currently inaccessible. A major redevelopment of the city's southern quarter, including refurbishment of the Broadmarsh shopping centre, was abruptly halted by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and precipitated the key leaseholder and site developer - Intu Properties - to collapse into administration (June 2020) and forced the surrender of their lease back to the City Council. Broadmarsh is a half-demolished wasteland blighting the city centre, but from this unexpected failure arises a unique challenge and opportunity for the City Council to redevelop c.12.5 acres of brownfield land at the centre of the historic core. The City Council have the freedom to shape a new city offering of leisure, commercial, retail and cultural experiences and maximise a rare opportunity to completely transform the city's sense of place. Broadmarsh is the first shopping centre to disappear in the UK but is unlikely to be the last, and this redevelopment will be an exemplar for other cities negotiating the shift from retail to experience as the driver of the 21st-century urban economy. A Broad Marsh Advisory Board with a place-making agenda has been established to support this opportunity, chaired by Greg Nugent, former Director of Brand, Marketing and Culture for the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

The City Council published its 15-year Heritage Strategy in 2015 setting out an ambition for heritage-led regeneration to attract substantial inward investment into the city's open spaces, historic buildings and local communities. In implementing this strategy the latest and most ambitious project has been the successful transformation of Nottingham Castle (re-opened June 2021) catalysed by a major Heritage Lottery grant, underpinned by research mobilisation from the University of Nottingham. The public consultation on the future of the Broadmarsh site identified heritage as a key priority. This project is therefore designed to respond to this unique opportunity to put Arts and Humanities research at the heart of the redevelopment programme and to mobilise academic research and expertise to inform a high-quality heritage and place-making agenda in the site's cultural and visitor experience offer. The project will bring together academics across multiple disciplines and key external stakeholders to map existing knowledge of archaeological and historical resources for the Broad Marsh area and its associated caves, liaise with local communities about their memories and involvement in the Broad Marsh excavations, and use this knowledge to develop research-informed interpretive narratives that bring to the surface the historical, cultural and economic potential of 'hidden heritage' to engage citizens and visitors with an exciting and dynamic experience of Nottingham as an historic place.