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The Nottingham Arboretum (1852): natural history, leisure and public culture in a Victorian regional centre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2008

PAUL ELLIOTT ,
STEPHEN DANIELS  and
CHARLES WATKINS
PAUL ELLIOTT
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, University of Derby, Kedleston Rd, Derby, DE22 1GB
STEPHEN DANIELS
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD
CHARLES WATKINS
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD
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Abstract:

This article examines the development of the Nottingham Arboretum (1852), the centrepiece of one of the most ambitious schemes of urban enclosure and improvement in mid-Victorian Britain. It contends that the provision for parks and green spaces in the town was inspired by local naturalists and sanitary reformers as well as cultural emulation and civic rivalry with other urban centres such as Derby and Manchester. Analysis of the design and management of the Arboretum and green spaces and local controversies about funding and access reveal major local disagreements concerning uses of such spaces reflecting continued divisions in Victorian urban society beneath the public rhetorical and celebratory façade.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , May 2008 , pp. 48 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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