Hockley is an area near the city centre of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England. It lies adjacent to the Lace Market area and has many well-preserved Victorian buildings. There has been a mercantile presence in the area since at least the 13th century. With many bars, restaurants and clothes shops, it is a vibrant and modern area of the city. It has been described as "the Soho of Nottingham."

History

From around 1285, the area was called "Walker Gate" after the practice of "walking" or stamping upon cloth to make it softer after weaving. Until the 20th century, Nottingham's fortunes were tied to the "rag trade" (

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

industry). From 1343 to 1345 the price of wool in Nottingham Market was taken as the standard for the whole of England. Hockley has not always been an affluent area: Sir Jesse Boot, son of the founder of

Boots the Chemist Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand a ...

and the architect of the company's modern business empire, was born in poverty in the area in 1850.

Culture

Hockley is home to many shops (ranging from design and fashion to

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

and music), as well as many galleries, bars and cafés. The area boasts an independent cinema, ''

Broadway Cinema Broadway Cinema is an independent cinema in the city of Nottingham, England in the United Kingdom. It is located in the Hockley area. In 2009, it was rated as one of the best cinemas in the world by Total Film magazine. History The site no ...

'', which was the first cinema in the United Kingdom to show Quentin Tarantino's ''Pulp Fiction'' following its premiere at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. Hockley was also home to ''

The Screen Room The Screen Room was a 21-seat, single screen independent cinema in the Hockley area of Nottingham, England. It opened on 27 September 2002. At the time it opened, it featured in the Guinness Book of Records as "the world's smallest cinema", be ...

'', which was (at the time) the world's smallest commercial cinema, as confirmed by the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

. It had 21 seats and a single screen. It opened in 2002 and closed in 2011.

Notes

External links

Broadway Cinema
{{coord, 52.954, -1.144, type:city_region:GB, display=title Areas of Nottingham

History

Culture

See also

Notes

External links