Gotham, Nottinghamshire

Gotham ( ) is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of about 1,600, measured at 1,563 in the 2011 census. It is in the borough of Rushcliffe, and has a parish council.

The name Gotham comes from the Old English for "goat home".

References to Gotham in literature

The village is most famed for the stories of the "Wise Men of Gotham". These depict the people of the village as being stupid. However, the reason for the behaviour is believed to be that the villagers wished to feign madness to avoid a Royal Highway being built through the village, as they would then be expected to build and maintain this route. Madness was believed at the time to be highly contagious, and when King John's knights saw the villagers behaving as if insane, the knights swiftly withdrew and the King's road was re-routed to avoid the village.

One of the mad deeds seen by the knights was a group of villagers fencing off a small tree to keep a cuckoo captive from the Sheriff of Nottingham. One of the three pubs in the village is known as the "Cuckoo Bush Inn".

Reminded of the foolish ingenuity of Gotham's residents, the American writer Washington Irving gave the name "Gotham" to New York City in his '' Salmagundi Papers'' (1807). In turn, Bill Finger named Batman's pastiche New York Gotham City. The existence of Gotham, Nottinghamshire in the DC Universe was acknowledged in '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' No. 206 (and again in '' 52'' No. 27), although the connection between two names ''within'' the DCU has not been fully explained. In a story titled 'Cityscape' in '' Batman Chronicles'' No. 6 it is revealed that Gotham was initially built for the purpose of housing the criminally insane, and Robin reads a journal that tells of how Gotham got its name; "I even have a name for it. We could call it 'Gotham' after a village in England – where, according to common belief, all are bereft of their wits."

Responding to the connection between the Gotham in Nottinghamshire and Gotham for New York City, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani wrote that it was "a pleasure to have this opportunity to acknowledge the cultural and historical link" between the two places.

Second World War

There are few remaining physical examples of Gotham's wartime past. The word Gotham was removed from the face of the school building and from all signs and direction posts during the Second World War to confuse any enemy troops that may have invaded. The pillbox pictured is the only remaining structure dating from the Second World War in the village. It was one of two pillboxes erected to form a defence for the village and also to serve as a searchlight battery. The damage to the pillbox was caused after the war and was not due to enemy action.

''See also British hardened field defences of the Second World War''

On 31 December 2018, a horse had to be rescued by the fire service after becoming trapped in the pillbox.

Transport

Although Gotham has never been served by a passenger railway station, it does lie at the end of a branch line about 2 miles in length that leads westwards from the Great Central main line, opened in March 1899. The branch used to serve a plaster factory and gypsum mines, but was closed in the early 1960s. The main line itself closed to regular services in May 1969, but the section from Loughborough to Ruddington was reopened and is now owned and operated by the Nottingham Heritage Railway, giving access to the railway heritage centre at Ruddington. The closest main line station today is East Midlands Parkway railway station which opened early in 2008 at Ratcliffe-on-Soar providing links on the Midland Main Line.

Gotham was home to the South Notts Bus Company, which provided a bus service between Nottingham and Loughborough running through the village. The South Notts trading name is still used by Nottingham City Transport, which took over the service in 1991.

Local government and elections

Parliamentary elections

Gotham lies in the Rushcliffe constituency. The Member of Parliament for the seat is Ruth Edwards, of the Conservative Party, who has held the seat since 2019. She was elected with 28,765 votes. The constituency had previously been represented by Kenneth Clarke, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, from 1970 until 2019.

Local government

County council

Gotham lies in the Leake and Ruddington ward, which elects 2 councillors. In the 2021 election, Matt Barney and Reg Adair (both Conservative) were elected with 3,451 and 3,337 votes respectively.

District council

Gotham is a part of Rushcliffe Borough Council, Kingston on Soar, Ratcliffe on Soar, and Thrumpton. In the 2019 election, Gotham elected Rex Walker (Conservative) with 540 votes.

Parish council

The parish council has 13 members. The most recent election (2019) was uncontested.

Churches

The village has a twelfth-century church, St Lawrence's, dedicated to the martyr Lawrence of Rome.

Other points of interest

On 2 August 1984, as rain storms lashed the county, Gotham was hit by a tornado at approximately 5:50 pm, uprooting trees, blowing garden sheds onto power cables, destroying greenhouses and severely damaging houses, roofs and chimneys; however, no one was injured.

Gotham is home to a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) listed as Gotham Hill Pasture.

Gallery

File:Gotham, England.jpg, In 2014, the Gotham sign had been stolen three times in four years by Batman fans"Batman fans take Gotham village sign in 'prank'
BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2015
File:View From The Square, Gotham - geograph.org.uk - 4250.jpg, The Square
File:Gotham Legends wind vane.jpg, Wind vane in the centre of town displaying the legends of Gotham
File:The Cuckoo Bush Gotham - geograph.org.uk - 1337305.jpg, The Cuckoo Bush Inn
File:The Star Inn Gotham - geograph.org.uk - 1298920.jpg, The Star Inn
File:Thatched cottage - geograph.org.uk - 1771849.jpg, Thatched house on Nottingham Road
File:Gotham Church from the north east - geograph.org.uk - 748093.jpg, St Lawrence's Church
File:The Manor - geograph.org.uk - 1771844.jpg, Gotham Manor
File:Old gypsum workings on Gotham Hill - geograph.org.uk - 739109.jpg, The old gypsum workings on Gotham Hill
File:Gotham Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1305645.jpg, Woods on Gotham Hill
File:Old railway line - geograph.org.uk - 1771852.jpg, The Gotham branch of the Great Central Railway, now converted to a footpath

References

External links

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Official Gotham Village Website

Gotham Memorial Hall

The Gotham and District Local History Society

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Villages in Nottinghamshire
Rushcliffe