Nottingham retro: 21 fascinating photos inside Nottingham cave once used as WW2 bomb shelter

Nottingham’s nickname as the City of Caves is a pretty good indicator of what lies beneath the streets thousands of people walk every day.

The city has the largest network of caves in the UK, with more than 800 hidden under buildings, roads and paths across the city.

Nottingham’s caves have had a wide range of uses over the centuries, including as tanneries and pub cellars.

Some of these caves are now open to the public for tours, but during the mid-20th century they performed a far more serious function.

By 1941, with the Second World War raging, more than 80 of the city’s caves were being used as air raid shelters.

In the post-War era, many of these once-vital bomb shelters were either sealed shut or simply abandoned.

The Peel Street Caves, which could accommodate up to 200 people during the Second World War, have been largely closed to the public since the 1970s, other than very rare guided tours.

However, the Urbex No Limits Facebook page, which documents urban exploration across the East Midlands, visited the Peel Street Caves back in 2022.

Their journey inside provided a rare glimpse into a site which has been largely untouched since the 1940s.

Scroll down to see photos of inside the Peel Street Caves.

Nottingham World does not encourage readers to copy the actions of urban explorers, who sometimes visit potentially dangerous sites.