by Joseph Earp
The Snotingas were an Anglo-Saxon tribe who took their name from a chieftain called ‘Snot’ or ‘Snod.’ Derived from the word Snottenga, meaning Nottingham (Snotengaham) signifies literally the Ham (settlement) of the people of a person called Snot. The Snotingas occupied the settlement of Snotengaham or Snodengaham.
Nottingham Anglo Saxon chieftain ‘Snot’.
SNOT ILLUSTRATION BY EVA BRUDENELL.
The earliest (British) name for Nottingham was ‘Tig Guocobauc’ which was first mentioned by Alfred the Greats Biographer Asser. Nottingham is renowned for its ancient cave dwellings and Tig Guocobauc does mean precisely ‘cavy house’ in old Welsh (British).
Around 600 AD, the Snotingas gave their name to the settlements of Nottingham, which were first recorded as ‘Snotengaham’ or literally ‘the homestead of Snot’s people.’ Over the years, the city’s name was gradually modified until it became known as Nottingham around the 12th century.
The first documentary record of the name Snotengaham is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 868. Names of this form normally represent settlements established in the 6th or 7th century and associated with tribal groupings, indicating that Nottingham was probably formed as the primary settlement of the Snotingas, whose wider territory would have formed a regio or administrative subdivision of the Kingdom of Mercia. Anglo-Saxon pottery from the 7th or 8th century has been found in Fisher Gate within a defensive ditch that can also be seen in Woolpack Lane and Barker Gate, suggesting the first Anglo-Saxon settlement took the form of a small defensive enclosure in this area.
The placename of Nottingham and the large amount of land in Royal ownership at the time of the Domesday Book probably indicate that the settlement was the Snotingas’ royal vill or administrative centre during the early Anglo-Saxon period. The remains of a large 8th-century timber hall situated in its own enclosure has been excavated in Halifax Place.
This was replaced in the 9th century by an even larger bow-sided timber hall that was at least 100 feet (30 m) long – at least as long as any hall known to have been built in England at this time. This was later replaced by a series of three halls built further to the west, which survived until the 11th century, when they were replaced in turn by a large stone-built aisle hall. These halls all fronted the street now known as High Pavement, the main street of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, and are similar to halls excavated in Northampton known to have been palaces of Mercian Kings.
Viking Nottingham (Snotengaham) was captured in 867 by Danish Vikings who had conquered North East and Eastern England. They turned Nottingham into a fortified settlement or burgh. It became one of the Five Burghs – or fortified towns – of The Danelaw. The divide was ruled by the Vikings (Danes) and called the Danelaw. It was later recaptured by the Anglo-Saxons under Edward the Eldar in 918
The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Nottingham, is the oldest religious foundation in the City, established as a minster as early as the late 7th century. The extent of its minster parish is likely to represent the original extent of the Snotingas. The church is in the Lace Market, which is known to be the oldest area of Nottingham.
Nottingham Hidden History Team 