History of Nottingham again as air raid shelters during World War II. A section of the cave network under the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre is now open as a tourist attraction, and some parts are still used as pub cellars. Another section of the caves, under the castle, is still in regular use as the indoor rifle range of the Nottingham Rifle Club. In addition, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, a pub that claims to be the oldest in Britain, is partly built into the cave system below the castle and still retains access from the beer cellars to the castle through the
Oldest town in Britain Aldwych. But neither these, nor anything that has been shown from the ruins of the abandoned Roman Colonia of Colchester, can be taken to represent the formation of a new township along distinctively early English principles. Ipswich makes that claim. Thatcham in Berkshire is often said to be the oldest town in Britain, since its occupation can be traced back to a mesolithic hunting camp, which was discovered there beside a Post-glacial rebound period lake, and there is evidence of human occupation within and around Thatcham covering the past 13,000 years or more. There is strong evidence to support the