This website presents original research based on the original dissertation, 'From Nottingham to Notting Hill: The Butterfly Effect of 1958', completed as part a BA Hons History Degree at Goldsmiths University in 2024. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and use credible sources, the interpretations and conclusions expressed here are the author's.
This is the first published dissertation which conducts a comprehensive historical enquiry into the events and aftermath that occurred at the St Anns' Chase Tavern, Nottingham, on August 23rd, 1958, by directly affirming how a Reprisal against racial violence in Nottingham, was the catalyst for the Nottingham and Notting Hill Race Riots of 1958.
The content is offered as a free educational and public history resource.
Trigger warning:
This research discusses anti-Black racial violence, police brutality, and racially motivated injustice, which some readers may find distressing.
We Need Your Help to Expand this Knowledge
Sign the petition to release the court documents
In the course of this research, I was advised by Nottingham Archives that key court documents relating to the 1958 Reprisal and Race Riot are sealed for 100 years, which is far beyond the standard 10 - 20 year restriction applied by the National Archives, and longer even than the 75-year sealing of records from the Notting Hill riots.
This extreme level of censorship raises urgent questions: Which truths are being withheld? What was Nottingham's involvement? Why is this history being silenced? When the Notting Hill records were finally released in 2002, they exposed the scale of institutional racism and extreme violence carried out by racist White mobs, enabled by the MET Police and Home Office - amongst other revelations that rewrote the official narrative.
Could this be the same for Nottinghamshire Police?
This website is constantly evolving and reacting to the introduction of new evidence, perspectives and analysis.
If you would like to contribute to the development and shared understanding of this history, please enquire about getting involved in future research, or message your thoughts directly through the contact page.
