The City of Caves is run as part of the National Justice Museum in Nottingham. Access to the City of Caves is from the upper floor of the Broadmarsh Shopping Center and you can buy a combo ticket for the Justice Museum and the caves. The man-made caves were hewn out of the sandstone rock in the Middle Ages and some even earlier. There is a labyrinth of more than 500 ancient caves beneath Nottingham which were used over the years for different purposes. The caves have been used as cellars, air raid shelters, workshops, dwellings and as a tannery. The section of Nottingham caves included in the City of Caves are some of the oldest in the city. Pottery shards have been found here dating back to the 13th century. It was only in 1845 that a law prohibited the use of the caves as dwellings or cellars.
On a tour of the caves you will learn about he social history associated with this underground world. You will see the only subterranean medieval tannery in the UK; the Anderson WWII air raid shelter and the remains of a cave which was part of the Drury Hill slums in the Victorian era. Unfortunately the caves are not wheelchair accessible. The City of Caves can be visited with an audio guide on weekdays and tour guide on weekends and school holidays. The tours last 45 minutes.