2-324-012 - www.picturethepast.org.uk/Nottingham City Council /Heritage Images

Nottingham Castle before restoration, Nottinghamshire, c1870. View showing architectural detail of the steps and pillars at the eastern facade. After the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, title to Nottingham Castle passed to the Duke of Newcastle whose ambition was to erect a new and modern building. Although over 70 years old he began the project with enthusiasm. Every remaining stone of the old Castle was removed and several feet of rock itself cut away as a platform for the new house. The Duke only lived long enough to see the start of his mansion though his son carried it on to completion in 1679. With the industrialisation of the town the mansion's attraction gradually diminished and by 1750 the Duke's visits had come to an end. Converting the building into apartments, the Duke rented them off to wealthy tenants. Later used as a boarding school, the mansion slowly declined and the gardens were let off as allotments. The last residents quit the building in 1829 and it remained unoccupied. The castle was set on fire in 1831 by pro-reform rioters and gutted. In 1859 the Town Council resolved that the Castle and its grounds would be an ideal site for a Museum of Fine Art and the Duke of Newcastle granted a lease of the Castle and its grounds for a term of 500 years. On 3rd July 1878 the Prince and Princess of Wales opened the first provincial Museum of Fine Art at Nottingham Castle. The photograph seen here was taken just before the castle was restored.