Archaeological archive and 3D laser surveys of caves in Nottingham, 2010–2020

This dataset contains a comprehensive digital archive of archaeological surveys and 3D records of sandstone caves in Nottingham, UK. The collection includes high-resolution terrestrial laser scan data (point clouds in .E57 format), GIS shapefiles, and multimedia flythroughs and provides a spatial and descriptive record of physically subterranean heritage features identified between 2010 and 2020. This desk-based assessment covers 697 of the known caves in Nottingham at the time of the study, of which 66 were LiDAR surveyed in detail, a selection of ten caves with description and analysis illustrating key themes and types is presented in the Survey Report. Each cave entry contains a detailed archaeological description, desk-based assessment, and photographic documentation. The resource provides a baseline record to support future analysis and preserves evidence of the form and context of caves in Nottingham.

Date (Creation): 2026-03-31

Citation identifier: http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608702

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Originator
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Point of contact

Maintenance and update frequency: notApplicable

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Geology

BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences

Archaeology
LiDAR
Caves
Laser surveys

dataCentre

NGDC Deposited Data

Keywords

NERC_DDC

Access constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: licenceOGL

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Language: English

Topic category

Geoscientific information

Geographic identifier: Nottingham [id=1375906]
British Geological Survey Gazetteer: OS gazetteer 2002 revision

Begin date: 2010

End date: 2020

Unique resource identifier: WGS 84 (EPSG::4326)

Distribution format

Name	Version
ESRI Shapefile (.shp)
ASTM E57
TIFF image (.tif)
Microsoft Word document (.docx)
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx)
PDF file (.pdf)
JPEG image (.jpg)

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Distributor

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/services/ngdc/accessions/index.html#item192165	Data

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Other: dataset

Conformance result

Title: INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology

Date (Publication): 2011

Explanation: See the referenced specification

Pass: No

Conformance result

Title: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication): 2010-12-08

Explanation: See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Pass: No

Statement: The data was generated through the Caves of Nottingham Regeneration Project. Initial locations were identified through a desk-based assessment of historical maps and local authority records. Terrestrial laser scanners were used to capture 3D spatial data, which was then processed into point clouds and flythrough videos. In areas with restricted access, cavity auto-scanning equipment was deployed. Spatial data were integrated to map the caves against modern topography. All archaeological descriptions were cross-referenced with documentary research and onsite physical inspections to ensure accuracy. The final dataset was consolidated and formatted for digital archiving to ensure long-term accessibility and preservation.