Long Stairs: The ancient Nottingham steps with more than 1,000 years of history

A piece of history can be found on every corner of Nottingham. From the cobbled streets of the city's Lace Market to the pubs frequented by Robin Hood.

But one piece of history that often gets overlooked is Long Stairs, the city's ancient walkway that dates back more than 1,000 years.

Once a passageway for residents of Narrow Marsh working in the Lace Market factories, Long Stairs dates back to much earlier than Nottingham’s industrial heritage, possibly even to before the 15th century.

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The historic walkway closed to the public in 1933 and has since fallen into disuse becoming overrun with vegetation and falling victim to the erosion of time - but people are trying to save it. The stairway is thought to have been designed strategically to defend against armies planning to invade the town from the south.

Where the majority of the town was well-defended thanks to its position on top of the sandstone cliffs, some passageways were necessary to allow access from the marshland below.

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Those that had to be left open were made easy for citizens of the town to pass through but hard for heavily armed soldiers to climb, leading to the narrow, one-sided design of Long Stairs.

Centuries later, as the town grew into a city, Long Stairs fell out of use. With the addition of new streets such as Cliff Road, completed in 1933, the ancient stairway was eventually abandoned altogether. You can read more about the work that is being done to save the ancient staircase here.