Manuscripts and Special Collections

Photographs

These photographs show enclosed courtyards of the type described in the 1845 report.

They had communal privies at the end of the yard. The inhabitants had to get water from standpipes in the middle of the yard. Slops and waste water were thrown into the open drain.

Some of these houses were not demolished until the 1930s.

Photograph Caption
Aeriel view of dense working-class housing in the Narrow Marsh area of Nottingham in 1919.
Photograph 1

Aeriel view of dense working-class housing in the Narrow Marsh area of Nottingham in 1919.

Note the 'blind backs' of some of the back-to-back houses. Windows and ventilation were only available on one side of the building.

Image courtesy of Nottingham City Council and http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/ (NTGM001896)
Lewis Square off Sussex Street, Narrow Marsh area, 1934.
Photograph 2

Lewis Square off Sussex Street, Narrow Marsh area, 1934.

This is quite a wide enclosed yard. Rubbish bins and lines of washing can be seen in the middle of the yard.

Image by courtesy of the Local Studies Library, Nottinghamshire County Libraries.
Parr's Yard, Finkill Street clearance area, c.1931.
Photograph 3

Parr's Yard, Finkill Street clearance area, c.1931.

This yard is much narrower and darker than Lewis Square, and the houses are smaller. The way out to the main street can be seen in the centre of the photograph. Finkhill Street was between the Narrow Marsh area and Nottingham Castle, roughly at the bottom end of the present-day Maid Marion Way.

Image by courtesy of the Local Studies Library, Nottinghamshire County Libraries.
Parrott's Place, off Corn Street, 1931-2.
Photograph 4

Parrott's Place, off Corn Street, 1931-2.

Like Parr's Yard, Parrott's Place was accessed through a small passageway from the main street. This photograph shows communal privies, a communal water pump, and a drain for carrying away waste water. Corn Street led north from Brook Street, towards the north-east of Nottingham town centre.

Image courtesy of Nottingham City Council and http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/ (NTGM002132)
Red Lion Street (also known as Narrow Marsh), 1919.
Photograph 5

Red Lion Street (also known as Narrow Marsh), 1919.

Red Lion Street was the main street running east to west along the northern edge of the Narrow Marsh area. The wide windows on the top floors of the buildings (which allowed as much light as possible into the rooms) indicate that the original inhabitants were framework knitters or worked in the lace industry. Like Parrott's Place, Red Lion Street has a communal water pump and a drain.

Image courtesy of Nottingham City Council and http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/ (NTGM001890)

 

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