Gotham, Nottinghamshire

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.

Gotham magistrates were said to have attempted to fence in a bush to keep a cuckoo captive, this 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. 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 James Naish of the Labour Party, elected in 2024. The constituency had previously been represented by Ruth Edwards (Conservative) and 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 two councillors. In the 2025 election, Andy Brown (Conservative) and Stuart Matthews (Reform UK) were elected with 2,241 and 1,863 votes respectively.

District council

Gotham is a part of Rushcliffe Borough Council. It is part of the Gotham ward, which elects two councillors, along with Barton in Fabis, Kingston on Soar, Ratcliffe on Soar, and Thrumpton. In the 2023 election, Gotham elected Rex Walker and Andy Brown (Conservative) with 561 and 437 votes respectively.

Parish council

The parish council has 13 members. The most recent election in 2023 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 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

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2021". Office for National Statistics.
2. "Gotham".
3. (2002). "The Oxford Names Companion". the University Press.
4. "Local Legends: Wise men of Gotham". BBC.
5. [[Francis Grose. Grose, Francis]]; ''1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue''
6. Caroline Lowbridge. (1 January 2014). "The real Gotham: The village behind the Batman stories". BBC News.
7. "Pillbox above Gotham: This is part of the information board provided as part of the Gotham Heritage Trail.". Geograph British Isles.
8. Horse rescued from Nottinghamshire wartime pill box https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-46740525
9. "Leake and Ruddington".
10. "The Rushcliffe (Electoral Changes) Order 2022 - Schedule 1".
11. "Ward boundary maps".
12. (5 May 2023). "Tory majority narrowly slips on Rushcliffe Borough Council". NottinghamshireLive.
13. "Gotham Parish Council".
14. "RETURN OF RESULT OF UNCONTESTED ELECTION".
15. (January 2004). "Hold on! Twisters in Nottinghamshire". BBC.
16. "Gotham Hill Pasture: Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981". Natural England.
17. [http://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/media/rushcliffe/media/documents/pdf/environmentandwaste/climatechange/Gotham%20Sandbanks%20Management%20Plan-BG%20land.pdf Sanbanks Gotham SSSI "Gotham Sandbanks] {{webarchive. link. (14 July 2014 . English Nature.)
18. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-26520923 "Batman fans take Gotham village sign in 'prank']. BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2015