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Many of Nottingham's street's have a story to tell, some related to the name itself and some to events and incidents that happened on them.

The ancient street names that have gone carry the current name in square brackets & if they had a local name it is shown in curlie brackets.
In Nottingham any thoroughfare with "Bar" in it's name denotes one that would bar or block your passage at some point or time; as in a Toll Bar, a point where you would have to pay to continue along that route.
Any thoroughfare with "Gate" in it's name denotes
"Place" or "Place of" from: C13: Old Norse, gata, path.

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When the son of the Landlord of the Bell Inn married the Widow who was the Landlady of the Trent Bridge Inn he discovered a large field to the rear of the TBI, and being interested in a New game called Cricket he used the field for his team to practice on; this led to the establishment of The Trent Bridge Cricket Ground on that site.

Back Lane [Manvers Street] MAP: G16
Image : Manvers Street
Back Lane was a short-cut to the Newark road (Carlton Road), it was later widened and re-modeled and re-named to Manvers Street.

Back side [Parliament Street] MAP: B3 TO B10
Image : Tram on Upper Parliament Street c1904 & a view down it's length.
Back side marked the line of the old Town Wall, and having been robed of the ashlar facing stones, disintegrated into a pile of sand and was used by all and sundrie as a dumping ground. When Nottingham got it's first member of Parliament it was decided that this area should be cleared and a new road established, Nottingham's first Ring Road.
And it was decided that he should go to Parliament an ask for a sum of money to clean up this area. He at first refused, saying that he was not willing to stand up in Parliament and say "he required money to have his backside cleaned".
It was resolved by him asking for money to clean up the area and build a new street called Parliament Street.

Bar Gate [Chapel Bar] MAP: B2 to C3
Images : Chapel Bar GatewayChapel Bar
Originally Bar Gate, the place of the bar, and the site one of the town gates. When this gate went out of use, one of the drum towers was converted into a small chapel for passing travellers. This was the catalist to the name change to "Chapel Bar" at a latter time.
Incidentally the other drum tower of the gateway was lived in by an individual with horticultural leanings and he grew all manner of plants and flowers on the top of it. To a point where, due to a proliferation of plants, it was locally known as "The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon".

Barker Gate MAP: F12 TO F15
Image : Old Buildings in Barker Gate
A barker was a tanner, from their use of Oak Bark for the tanning process, the term Tanner comes from the fact that putting Oak bark in water releases a organic compound called Tannin.
First the Barker would pummel the bark then pits were filled with alternate layers of cleaned and prepared skins and bark, then filled with water, they were then left for about a month.
The were then transferred to a new pit and more bark added, this was repeated many times, the tanning liqueur getting stronger each time.
A small thin skin required about 6 pits (6 months), large, thick skins could need 24 pits (2 years), the average was about 9 pits (9 months).

Bearward Lane [Mount Street] MAP: C3 to F2"
Is where the cages for the town bears were kept that were used for bear baiting in the Mkt. Square (a cruel entertainment).
A reference from the Borough Record selling the rights to "the Bull Piece" (a stone in the Market Square with a metal ring attached to tether the Bull to, shows that it was still in use).
"1814. August 30, Corporation mortgage
Attested copy of mortgage by the Mayor and burgesses to John Bullivant of Oakham, co. Rutland, gentleman, for £1200, of the Dolphin, near Chapel Bar, a messuage on Smithy Row let to George Sharpe, grocer, a close near Trent Bridge let to Joseph Armitage, the Bull Piece, the Pinder's Fee, and I acre of land in the Ryehills belonging to it."
Renamed to Mount Street to hide previous use and celebrate the raising of the standard on the Mont (1642 English Civil War).

Beck Barn [Beck Street] MAP: A12-13
Beck Street runs from the end of Heathcote Street to the beginning of St. Anns Well Road.

Beck Lane [Heathcote Street] MAP: B12 to D11
1647/8, January 29.
Feoffment by 'Mary Woolly,' of Nottingham, Widow, to William Flamsteed., of Nottigham, gentleman, and John Drewry, of Nottingham, butcher, in persuance of the will of 'Thomas Woolleye,' her late husband, of 2 cottages or tenements, 'with the appurtenances, and the yards, gardens, and backside therto belonging,' situate in Beck Lane, Nottingham, and an annuity of 40s. out of her 4 cottages in Goose Gate.....

Beest Hill [Beast Market Hill] MAP: D4 to E5
Beast Market Hill runs from the end of Friar Lane to the beginning of St. James Street.
This was the site of the animal pens on market day, from the time of the Normans.
1701-2, Thursday, March 5.
The Question being putt, whether or no the Hollow near the Beastmarkett be Arched and filled up, Itt was carryed in the affirmative by the Majority of Votes.

Bellar Gate [Bellar Gate] MAP: F14 to G14
Image : Old Butchers Shop on Beller Gate
Beller Gate runs from the end of Hollow Stone to the beginning of Barker Gate.
On the 5th of December in 1795, at his residence in Bellar Gate, Mr. John Arnold (in his 69th year) Died.
This individual was very eccentric. He was possessed of a small independency, and having nothing better to do, mixed very freely with public house society.
For small bets on any disputed point he had a particular partiality, but invariably persisted in holding the stakes himself.
Hence arose the once common inquiry when a bet was proposed, "Who shall be Johnny Arnold?" ie., Who shall hold the stakes?

Birch Lane [St. Peters Lane, St. Peters Church Walk, Churchgate] MAP: F7
Birch Lane runs from St. Peters Chuch to Low Pavement.
Originaly a narrow road, now a footpath behind a large store.

Bood Lane: See Sheep Lane MAP: B5 to C5

Blow Bladder St [Part of Fletcher Gate] MAP: F9 to G9
Originally the home of Musical Instrument makers, bladders from animals were used for the wind-bags in pipes and other such instruments.

Boot Lane [Milton Street] MAP: A8
Image : Milton Street
Boot Lane runs from the end of Mansfield Road to Parliament Street.

Bottle Lane MAP:
Bottte Lane runs from Fletcher Gate to St. Peters Gate.

Brawde Lane: See ?.

Brew House Yard MAP: J3
Image : The Trip to Jerusalem
Originally the brew house for Nottingham Castle, later an ex-parochial (outside the law) area where the sick (plague), criminals and drunks lived.
It is still in existence but much nicer now and contains one of Nottingham's oldest Inn's the Trip to Jerusalem.

Bridlesmith Gate MAP:
Image : Old View of Bridlesmith Gate
A "Bridlesmith" was a maker of snaffles, bits, stirrups and other horse, saddle and harness furniture.

Byard Lane MAP:
Just off "Bridlesmith Gate" is "Byard Lane" byard was French for collar, as in horse collar.

Carlton Street: See Swine Green MAP:

Carter Gate MAP:

Chandlers Lane [Victoria Street] MAP:
Widened and renamed for a visit of Queen Victoria.

Chapel Bar: See Bar Gate MAP:

Chepe Side: See Shoe Booths and Rotten Row

Clumber Street: See Cow Lane MAP:

Cook Stool Row [The Poultry]MAP:
Image : Image
The range of buildings that faced the south side of the old Exchange was originally called "Cook Stool Row". This was where the Ducking Stool was kept; for Cook Stool read Duck Stool, it was used to duck female scolds in the pond that was in front of the old Exchange building (replaced by the modern Council House).
The story goes that the Ducking stool had been out of use for some time (due to pressure from locals who thought it demeaning), but a dignitary decided that a notorious scold needed teaching a lesson.
During the ducking the stool broke (due to none use, it's maintainance had been lacking) and the scold was drowned.
This led to the authorities ordering the destruction and burning of the stool and the filling in of the pond.
This side of the thoroughfare, after the demise of the stool was renamed The Poultry (possibly to hid the shame of the event).

Cow Lane [Clumber Street] MAP:
Widened, the land donated by The Duke of Portland who owned Clumber Park, so street renamed to reflect this.

Fisher Gate MAP:

Fletcher Gate: See Flesshewer Gate & Blow Bladder St MAP:

Flesshewer Gate [Fletcher Gate] MAP:
Formed one side and run-off of the old Weekday Cross market place and was the original site (before the butchers Shambles were built behind the Exchange) of the Towns butchery trade, literally translated "flesh hewers" gate.

Gridlesmith Gate [Pelham Street] MAP:
Gridlesmith's made: pot hooks, pot cranes and other pieces of fireplace furniture, they degraded later to plowshares nails and other farm related metal items. In it's heyday the Smith's of Nottingham were held in high esteem as a oft told saying goes "the little smith of Nottingham that makes the things that no man can".
The clearing away of these assorted gridlesmiths and widening with funds donated by one of the Pelham family, thus the renaming

Long Row MAP: D4-8
Image : Long Row
Originally no more than a row of tradesmen's counters & stalls abutting the Great Market Place (6.4 acres), but as trade grew replaced by wealthy merchants houses with shops at street level.
These merchants houses grew as did their trade until Long Row was a row of 5 and 6 storied Timber Skyscraper's, each floor jetting out (1m average) above the floor below.
This meant that the top floor of the building was half way out over the street.
This was OK when they where first built but in later years when the timber had started to warp and move, the Council of the time not wanting these skyscrapers to crash down into the Market place, had a problem.
From the time of the very creation of the Market Area a law had been passed that NO building was permitted on it, but now they were faced with a dilemma.
It was resolved by them granting each occupier along the Row 2, 3 or 4 (depended on width abutting market) pieces of land each 2ft square, large enough to put the base of a long length of timber who's other end was propping up the top storey of their building.
These Free Gratis pieces of land where retained when, with the introduction of brick, the buildings were rebuilt, it meant extra floor area in the upper stories.
Even today most of the building facing on to the Market Square have a row of pillars supporting the upper floors and giving a nice colonnade beneath for their patrons.

At the Chapel Bar end of the Long Row is the site of the George & Dragon Inn (there is still a modern Inn of that name on the spot) the first building in Nottingham to have Tiles on the roof.

A tale is told of a Butcher and his lad/helper staying at the George, he had come for Market day to purchase some new Butchers knifes; he had heard tell of the local smiths skill.
Now obviously the master stayed in one of the rooms on the first floor but the lad was relegated to the attic for his bed with all of the other lad's and servants, where he got talking to another lad, who like himself, it was his first time out of the village that he was born in, and into a Town.
The lad listened in disbelief as he was told about the covering of the roof, it being Tiles.
The Bluchers lad could not be convinced, he knew that roofs are covered with reed or straw, not of these tiles, so to settle the upon the truth it was decided that they go and have a look for themselves.
In the yard behind the Inn a large ladder was found and put up against the back of the building, it just reached the eaves of the roof, the other lad footed the ladder as the Butchers lad climbed it.
Once off the ladder and onto the roof the he decided, because he thought that no one in his village would believe him, to take one of these tiles away with him.
The tiles lower down the roof would not come loose so he climbed up to the ridge where he slowly managed to extract one; he was so engrossed in this that he did not hear the other lad call him.
Down below the other lad had heard his master calling and so no one should see what they where doing he took the ladder down, calling to the Butchers boy to tell him what he had done.
A tile extracted the Butchers lad slid back down the roof, on reaching the edge he slid down to the eaves expecting to find the ladder, it had gone, and so had he, his hand both fully occupied clutching the tile.
The other lad never returned, and in the morning, when the Butchers lad was called for and did not come, a search was made for him.
He was found in the yard on his back still clutching the unbroken roof tile, stone dead; after some investigation the other lad came forward and told all.

At the other end of Long Row we have the tale of the first recorded use of Braces (for holding up trousers) in Nottingham.

A soldier in the Nottingham Militia was staying at one of the Inn's on the Long Row, and retired to his bedroom and some time later smoke was seen ensuing from beneath his door.
The door was broken in and he was found on the bed and the whole alight, the inquest into this incident reported that:
He had been wearing these new fangled braces to hold up his trousers and while trying to entangle himself, from these dangerous devices, he had fallen against the corner of the bedside table, knocking himself unconscious, tipping over the candle and both ending up on the bed.

Manvers Street [Back Lane] MAP: G16
Image : Long Row
Back Lane was a short-cut to the Newark road (Carlton Road), it was later widened and re-modeled and re-named to Manvers Street.

Market Street: See Sheep Lane MAP:

Mount Street: See Bearward Lane MAP:

Moot Hall Gate [Friar Lane] MAP:

Parliament Street: See Back side MAP:

Pelham Street: See Gridlesmith Gate MAP:

St. Peters Church Walk: See Birch Lane MAP:

St. Peters Lane: See Birch Lane MAP:

Pilcher Gate MAP:
Makers of fur garments.

Poultry: See Cook Stool Row MAP:

Rotten Row: See Shoe Booths and Rotten Row MAP:

Sheep Lane [Market Street {Blood Lane}, Organ Lane] MAP: B5 to C5
Image : Sheep Lane
Started out as a narrow alley called Sheep Lane but due to it's limited width quite a few accidents happened, pedestrians going up meeting carts coming down resulted in people being squashed against the wall. Usually resulting in blood stains on the floor and wall.
This led to the locals referring to it as Blood Lane.
When it was widened (civic improvements in 1866) the aim of the Gentry was to name it Theatre Street, because it led from the Mkt. Square to the Theatre Royal. The market people had other idea's and the night before the official unveiling some of them unscrewed the sign and replaced it with one stating Market Street.
The following day was market day and everyone, the Gentry and the market people, congregated at the bottom of the widened Sheep Lane for the opening ceremony. The Mayor pulled on the cord to revel the new sign and proclaimed the new roadway to be Market Street, even though a portion of the assembled crowd, mostly the Gentry, complained, but were heavily outnumbered, and tried to point out the Mayor's error it was too late.

Shoe Booths and Rotten Row [Chepe Side] MAP:
These two elements formed the other side of the thoroughfare and faced the Poultry. The Shoe Booth's were originally a range of stalls dedicated to production and selling of footwear and as the town developed a row of shoe shops replaced the original stalls.
On 13th October 1800, upwards of two hundred pairs of shoes were seized by the authorities, pursuant to Act of Parliament, at different "Cheap Shoe Wharehouses" in the town, and the owners thereof convicted in the penalty of 3s. 4d. per pair, "for exposing shoes for sale made of improper leather." They were made of sheepskin instead of cowhide.
Rotten Row continued on from the end of The Shoe Booths and, as the name hints at, was a quagmire, a very muddy area. These two names where dropped when the Council House replaced the old Exchange and that side of the thoroughfare became "Chepe Side" from the French "Chepe" meaning "Market", so it was not where all the cheap items where found but rather the Side of the Market.

South Parade: See Timber Hill MAP:

Swine Green [Top of Carlton Street] MAP:
Originally the Pig Mkt. but latter moved, due to congestion and complaints and renamed as part of the insuing clean-up. If followed it would eventually lead you to Carlton.

Theatre Square MAP:
Named after the theatre it contains, the Theatre Royal.
On the day it opened it's doors for it's first show, it hadn't been quite finished. The joiners and painters where still finishing the inside, the patrons of the first performance though may have though that this was part of the production, as the show was entitled "The House That Jack Built".

Timber Hill [South Parade] MAP:
Until the tidying up and re-levelling of the Mkt. Square there was a line of trees along one side, it was here that the local sawyers had their saw-pits and timber merchants plied there trade.

Toll House Hill [Derby Road (bottom of)] MAP:
Until about 1855 the lower portion of Derby Road was know as Toll House Hill.
The following item is from the "1648-9 Chamberlains Account"
"Item, paid William Smalley for buildinge the Toll-house at Chappell Barre..... £02 00s 06d
Allthough the above states Chapel Bar the building was on Toll House Hill, just out side the gateway (Bar).
Forty years on it is not in a very good state:
On Tuesday, September 16th 1690: "It is this [day] ordered, that wereas the Toll-house on the outside of the barr is falne downe, and the toll-house in the market-place out of repair, that the present Sheriffes shall build up the one, and repair the other, and be repaid by the Sheriffes, onely loseing 20s.; and so the Sheriffes successively loose Tenne shillings a peice, as it was customary, in payment of the Maces and staffes."
Toll's were still collected, but not everyone was willing to pay.
In 1753 a William Birch of Snenton refused to pay toll for his Carrage loaded with goods comming into the Manor of Nottingham by the Chappel Bar.
The Toll House finaly met it's end on Friday, 30th December 1757:
"Ordered that Edward Spurr shall have Liberty to pull down the Toll House on the out side of the Chappell Barr and Sell the Materials for his own benifit he having paid five pounds to Mr. John Foxcroft Chaberlain as full price for the same for which sum Mr. Foxcroft to be accountable to this Corporation."
After the dimise of the Toll House on May 20th 1761:
"..to Joseph Newton, vitualler, and Joshua Fox, frameworkknitter, of a piece of waste ground outside Chappell Bar, near the side of Toll House Hill (on part of which the late lessee, Joseph Finch, erected a weighing machine, and on another part of which a new weighing machine has been since placed); for thirty-one years from 25 March last, at a yearly rent of 5s."
In January 1772 it was aggred to repair and widen the road to Derby (Toll House Hill formed the Nottingham end of it).
In December of 1782 the "Publick Well", outside Chappell Bar, had a pump fitted costing 12 guineas.

An original unamed hill, that ran up and joined Back Lane (now Wollaton Street) was named on "Staveley and Wood" map of 1831 as Toll Street and this still exists today (it ran parallel to Toll House Hill both converging on the Chapel Bar Gateway).

Victoria Street: See Chandlers Lane MAP: