There are records documenting Long Stairs dating back 500 years, but the thoroughfare could be even older than that
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06:00, 27 APR 2026
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Janine Tanner was conducting her research around the Lace Market area of Nottingham in 2017, ticking off various locations on her list.
But there was one outstanding site that she had yet to locate, unbeknownst to her that she’d already gone past it several times.
Ms Tanner eventually realised Long Stairs – a medieval thoroughfare dating back at least 500 years – were located on Malin Hill, off High Pavement.
The historic site used to lead down to Narrow Marsh – described by Ms Tanner as one of the worst slums in Europe at the time, being a hotspot for murders and other crimes.
“People who lived there used to use Long Stairs to come up to the other part of the town to go to work or see the hangings of those jailed.
“It was a well used thoroughfare until they cleared Narrow Marsh and demolished all the buildings, closing off Long Stairs in 1933,” she said.
Ms Tanner, now the voluntary caretaker of Long Stairs, continued: “It intrigued me because I was sure they hadn’t just gone completely.
“When I found them, it was so overgrown you couldn’t see them. There was rubbish, rubble, weeds up to 6ft high.
“Some of them were so thick they were like tree trunks and were growing through the stairs.
“When I first came here in January 2018, I had to battle through it all to get down to the bottom and see what was there. It was such a mess.”
The restoration works began in May 2025, after extensive efforts from Ms Tanner to raise the £20,000 needed to bring Long Stairs to where they are today.
On April 19 this year, they finally welcomed their first visitors and Ms Tanner is now hoping to host events such as gigs from local bands, poetry nights, school visits and pop-up cafés.
She said: “I love local history and this is such an important part of Nottingham’s history because so much else has been lost.
“All the other thoroughfares that led from the upper part of the city to the lower one are gone.
“This is the only one left and there was no way I was going to let it go to rack and ruin.”
Ms Tanner will pick a date each month for the stairs to be open to the public and, while entry will be free, £3 donations are encouraged – a trivial sum compared to the site’s importance to the city.
You can also donate online here
See 11 before and after pictures as Nottingham’s medieval Long Stairs reopen:
Long Stairs officially reopened on April 19 (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)1 of 11ShareComments
Long Stairs officially reopened on April 19
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Restoration works took almost a year to complete (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)2 of 11ShareComments
Restoration works took almost a year to complete
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Long Stairs date back at least 500 years (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)3 of 11ShareComments
Long Stairs date back at least 500 years
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Janine Tanner discovered Long Stairs in 2017 and is now the site’s voluntary caretaker (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)4 of 11ShareComments
Janine Tanner discovered Long Stairs in 2017 and is now the site’s voluntary caretaker
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The stairs will host events like gigs from local bands and poetry nights (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)5 of 11ShareComments
The stairs will host events like gigs from local bands and poetry nights
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Janine Tanner went to great lengths to fundraise for the restoration of Long Stairs (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)6 of 11ShareComments
Janine Tanner went to great lengths to fundraise for the restoration of Long Stairs
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A blue plaque was installed at the top of Long Stairs in 2019 (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)7 of 11ShareComments
A blue plaque was installed at the top of Long Stairs in 2019
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The 1933 Red Lion Street demolitions in Narrow Marsh, with Long Stairs on the left (Image: © Picture Nottingham)8 of 11ShareComments
The 1933 Red Lion Street demolitions in Narrow Marsh, with Long Stairs on the left
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Long Stairs in 2019 after they were cleared of all the weeds and rubbish that covered them for almost a century (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)9 of 11ShareComments
Long Stairs in 2019 after they were cleared of all the weeds and rubbish that covered them for almost a century
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Long Stairs in 1913 (Image: Picture Nottingham)10 of 11ShareComments
Long Stairs in 1913
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A view of Long Stairs, covered in overgrowth, in 201811 of 11ShareComments
A view of Long Stairs, covered in overgrowth, in 2018
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