Nuisance and Nuisance-Makers in Late Medieval Nottingham: the Mickletorn Jury Presentments 13 October 1407

 In late medieval Nottingham, matters of nuisance were dealt with by the Mickletorn Jury. Drawing on contextual information gleaned from the borough court rolls, this article provides a detailed spatial analysis of the nuisances reported by the Mickletorn Jury in October 1407 and biographical information on the named nuisance-makers. The roll is shown to be unusual in its arrangement and, with its emphasis on removing dung and dunghills, unusual in its content. It is tentatively suggested that this change in procedure and focus may have been prompted by an outbreak of plague in southern and western England, and perhaps indicates that Nottingham’s town authorities moved proactively to sanitize its streets in an effort to protect its inhabitants in advance of the plague’s expected arrival.