Lotto cash could turn bricked-up cave into a cafe
HISTORY GROUP HOPES THAT OLD COBBLER’S SHOP COULD BE A TIME CAPSULE
A BRICKED-UP cave in the Lace Market where a cobbler sold shoes more than 250 years ago could be brought back into use as a cafe and visitor attraction.
Historians hope to secure Heritage Lottery funding to examine and uncover more information about the cave, described as a “hidden gem”.
Janine Tanner, the organiser of a group called Notts History – Honour Our Heritage, said there were several ideas on how to use the site but one possibility is for the reopened cave to be used as a cafe.
Mrs Tanner, 46, said: “It’s just somewhere out of the way if anyone wanted to just come and have a quiet drink, enjoy the view and relax – especially on nice, sunny days it would just be really nice to do.”
Speaking about the site, she said: “It’s been bricked up since about the 1870s so no-one’s been in it to have a look at it and see what’s in there.
“We don’t know what we’re going to find.
It’s a total mystery.
“We were imagining it’s probably a large room that was used as a shop but we don’t know if there are any other rooms leading off it.
“All we’ve got is the cave shape with the brick wall in it.”
She added: “Depending on what we find on the other side and, as long as everything is structurally sound, then there should be no reason why she shouldn’t be able to use it for visitors.
“I’m hoping it’s a time capsule – there might be things still in there from the shop that they just bricked up and walked away.
“It would be wonderful if we could have some good finds in there when we open it.”
The cave is located off the medieval Long Stairs, off High Pavement, between Commerce Square and Malin Hill.
The walkway was once a notorious spot for murders and crimes – and Mrs Tanner and her team have spent the past few years restoring and maintaining the walkway.
Subject to a successful application for Heritage Lottery funding, work needs to take place to ensure the steps are structurally sound and the area is safe.
The hope is the stairs can be opened to the public for special heritage days and for schoolchildren to learn more about the history behind them. Mrs Tanner submitted a funding application last year but explained other projects were being prioritised.
She has been advised to reapply for lottery funding later in the year.
City archaeologist Scott Lomax previously explained that the cave was “unique” because of what is known about its past.
He said: “We’re really quite fortunate because it’s one of those rare examples where we do actually know who created it and even down to the month in which it was made.
“It was created in September 1750. To be able to say right down to the very month in which it was created it’s almost unique really in the city.
“It was created by a man called William Merrin – his profession is described as a cordwainer: that’s basically a name for a shoemaker.
“So he’s mentioned in 1750 for creating this cave.”
The cave was also used as a workshop but it is thought to have been bricked up towards the end of the 19th century.
It would be wonderful if we could have some good finds in there when we open it
Janine Tanner