City of Caves takes you beneath Nottingham as the cave count passes 1,000

Nottingham has a secret world beneath its streets, and it keeps getting bigger. In May 2026 research by the City Archaeologist, Scott Lomax, took the number of known caves under the city to 1,000, up from 924 in April 2025.

None of these caves formed naturally. They were cut into the soft sandstone by the people of Nottingham, who have used them for more than a thousand years. The best place to experience them is the City of Caves, which offers the largest publicly available section of the network.

The tour reveals layer upon layer of local history. Two caves at the cliff face housed what is the only known underground tannery in Britain, operating from around 1500 to 1640. People lived in the caves from at least the 17th century until an Act of 1845 banned renting cellars and caves as homes for the poor. The caves sat beneath Drury Hill, once a wealthy medieval street that later became one of Britain's worst slums before it was demolished.

During the Second World War, some caves were joined and expanded to become one of 86 public air-raid shelters in the city by February 1941, and sandstone was dug out to fill sandbags.

Guided tours of the caves began in 1978, run by the Friends of Nottingham Museum, and the current attraction opened in 2004. Today the City of Caves is part of the National Justice Museum, an educational charity.

Getting there is simple. The entrance is at the bottom of the Garner's Hill Steps, next to Nottingham Contemporary, and it is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the train station, with the Lace Market tram stop nearby. The attraction is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with the last tour at 4.10pm. Adult tickets are £12, children aged 5 to 15 are £9.50 and under-fives go free, and every ticket works as an annual pass. Joint tickets with the National Justice Museum are available too.

Bring comfortable shoes and headphones for the audio guide. Because of the historic site, the caves are not accessible for wheelchair users or prams.

Tickets and visitor information are on the National Justice Museum website.