Lying to the west of Nottingham city centre, Lenton is a suburb within the Nottingham district and the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. Most of Lenton falls within the electoral ward of Dunkirk and Lenton, with a smaller portion belonging to Wollaton East and Lenton Park. The suburb takes its name from the River Leen, which runs nearby, and the connection between place and river stretches back well over a thousand years.
From Village to City Suburb
Lenton was originally a self-contained agricultural village, recorded in the Domesday Book in the late 11th century. The entry notes: “In Lentune 4 sochmen and 4 bordars have two ploughs and a mill” – a reference to Lenton and its mills on the Leen. For several centuries after the Norman survey, Lenton remained largely rural. The construction of the Nottingham Canal in the 1790s changed that entirely, bringing industrialisation and rapid population growth. Between 1801 and 1831, the population rose sharply from 893 to 3,077. Lenton was formally absorbed into the town of Nottingham in 1877, when the town’s boundaries were expanded. Nottingham itself became a city in 1897, during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria.
Lenton Priory and the Medieval Fair
Lenton Priory was founded at the start of the 12th century by William Peverel. A Cluniac monastery, it housed mostly French monks until the late 14th century, when it broke free from its French mother-house, Cluny Abbey. From the 13th century onward the priory struggled financially, noted in records for its poverty and debt. Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries brought the priory to an end in 1538, after which it was demolished and its lands passed into private ownership. The Priory Church of St. Anthony is thought to incorporate parts of the original priory hospital chapel. In May 2005, Lenton marked the 900th anniversary of the priory’s founding with a festival held in the church grounds. The priory also gave rise to Lenton Fair, authorised by King Henry II on the Feast of Saint Martin, 11 November. Originally running for eight days and later extended to twelve, the fair caused regular disputes with Nottingham’s mayor and burgesses, since no markets could be held in the town while the fair operated. Nottingham residents were compensated with discounted booth hire. The fair outlasted the priory by centuries – by 1584 it was described as a horse fair, attended by servants of Mary, Queen of Scots – and by the 19th century it drew mainly farmers and horse dealers. It ceased altogether at the start of the 20th century.