Gotham (pronounced "goat-um") is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, south of Nottingham and north-east of Kegworth. It is administered as part of the Rushcliffe district of Nottingham, and has a parish council.

It has a twelfth-century church named for St Lawrence.

The village is most famed for the stories of the "Wise Men of Gotham". These depict the people of the village as being stupid. However, the reason for the behaviour is believed to be that the villagers wished to feign madness in order to avoid a Royal Highway being built through the village, as they would then be expected to build and maintain this route.

It should be noted that the name of the village is pronounced “Goat-um”; there is no link with the Gotham City of Batman and Robin.

External link

• BBC Website on the Wise Men of Gotham (http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/nottingham/article_1.shtml)