'I've helped find 1,000 city caves but I'm not done'

An archaeologist who helped discover and document 1,000 caves beneath Nottingham has said he will forever be finding more.

The city is built on soft sandstone, making caves relatively easy to carve out, which led to many being used by private households and businesses throughout history.

Scott Lomax, who works for the city council, predicted in April 2025 that by 2026 Nottingham would have "more than 1,000 caves representing 1,000 years of history".

"It's taken a couple weeks longer than I'd hoped... but no other city in Europe can rival Nottingham for the number and range of caves that it has," he told the BBC.

The exact total of known caves now stands at 1,000, up from 927 in April last year.

"A few caves have been found during development works in the Lace Market and elsewhere in the city," Lomax said.

"But most of the research has been done through documentary archival research, going through 18th and 19th Century records to locate where these caves exist."

Lomax said the milestone of 1,000 caves was "incredibly important" for understanding the heritage of Nottingham.

He said the caves were a window into how ordinary people lived and worked over the past millennium.

"If you go to places like York or Chester, they've got lots of above ground, old heritage, lots of buildings and other remains, such as walls.

"Nottingham doesn't have as much of that, but what it does have is these fantastic 1,000 caves representing 1,000 years of history."

Lomax also said the search for more caves would continue, despite the milestone.

"It will never end. There are probably still a few hundred [caves] to be identified... it's an incredibly long process and I've still got approximately 150 documents to go through.

"But those which predate the 18th Century, going right back into the medieval period, there's usually no surviving record of their existence at all.

"So surprises are also going to happen all of the time."

Megan Powell Vreeswijk, chief executive of Visit Nottinghamshire, said: "This extraordinary milestone reinforces Nottingham's position as the UK's City of Caves and highlights one of our most fascinating heritage assets."

She said the caves offered a "truly unique connection" to the city's past.

"Our underground heritage continues to be a major draw for tourists, helping drive visits into the city and county, supporting the local visitor economy, and strengthening Nottinghamshire's reputation as a destination."

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