Nottingham, New Hampshire: a town report

Nottingham is a rural town of about 47 square miles in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, about 40 minutes by car from both Manchester and Portsmouth. Its ZIP code is 03290. The town center sits where Routes 152 and 156 meet, and Pawtuckaway State Park fills much of the west. Building lots are big, and most houses heat with oil or propane.

On the map: flood zones follow the water

Most of the town is outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones, including the Town Office on Stage Road. The high-risk zones follow the rivers, wetlands and ponds, such as along Mill Pond Road. The FEMA maps date from 2005.

The town’s hazard plan describes floods in May 2006 and April 2007 as 100-year events. In 2007 the privately owned Mill Pond Dam failed; it has since been rebuilt. The town has 15 dams, two of them rated high-hazard, and the plan notes neither has ever breached.

Wells, septic and the ground

Expect a private well and a septic system. The state lists no sewer utility in Nottingham and only one small regulated water company. The ground is rocky. The federal soil survey rates nearly all of the town’s soils “very limited” for septic leach fields, so system design and age matter. Ask for the septic records and have the system inspected.

Test the well, too. Arsenic and radon occur naturally in New Hampshire bedrock. A 2003 federal study found arsenic above the drinking-water limit in about one in seven bedrock wells in Rockingham County. Radon in indoor air is common as well: 37% of New Hampshire homes tested come back elevated. The state recommends testing a well for bacteria and nitrate every year, and for the rest every three to five years. Our guide to checking a home for environmental hazards covers what else to ask for.

Winter: plowing and heat

The town plows its own 70-plus miles of roads, starting once 2 to 3 inches of snow has fallen. It doesn’t plow private roads or driveways, except private roads designated as emergency lanes, which come last. If a house is on a private road, find out who plows it and who pays. Owners may not push driveway snow onto or across the road.

There’s no natural gas. About half the town’s homes heat mainly with fuel oil, three in ten with propane, and about one in nine with wood. Ask for a year of fuel bills and the name of the delivery company.

A short history

Nottingham’s charter dates from 1722, a year after Seacoast residents petitioned for it, and Deerfield and Northwood were later carved out of it. The Square Schoolhouse is on the National Register, and a 1917 monument honors four Revolutionary War generals from the town. The town opened its recycling center in 1974.

The houses, the rules, and what’s coming

Half the homes were built after 1992, and 96% are detached single-family houses. As of 2026, zoning requires two acres and 200 feet of road frontage for each home, and three acres over the town’s aquifer. One accessory apartment of up to 950 square feet is allowed per house, as long as the owner lives on the property. The town’s 2026 draft master plan describes building slowing after 2008 and picking up again recently, to about 20 to 25 homes a year.

Commercial and industrial uses are zoned along Route 4. In 2026 a proposal to put a data center in an empty warehouse there was withdrawn. In September voters approved a one-year moratorium on data centers, 1,335 to 143. The town is working on permanent rules for the spring town meeting.

Shopping

Groceries mean a short drive: Hannaford stores in Northwood and Raymond are about 7 miles, and Market Basket in Lee about 8.5. A Walmart Supercenter and a Lowe’s in Epping are about 20 minutes away. The nearest open Costco is in Nashua, about an hour and ten minutes. Another has been proposed for the former Fox Run Mall site in Newington, which closed in January 2026. The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester is about 40 minutes, and the Kittery outlets about 26 miles.

What locals do for fun

Pawtuckaway State Park is the town’s backyard. It has a lake of about 800 acres with a beach and boat launches, around 190 campsites, a trail to a mountaintop fire tower, and a boulder field left by glaciers. The mountains themselves are the remains of an ancient volcano. Adult day use is $5. The separate town beach, for residents, was closed as of May 2026.

In winter, McIntyre ski area in Manchester is about 40 minutes away, and Gunstock and Pats Peak about an hour and twenty. The bigger White Mountain resorts, such as Loon and Waterville Valley, are two hours or more. The Deerfield Fair runs each October about half an hour away, and Hampton Beach is about 27 miles. UNH hockey, Portsmouth’s theaters and Prescott Park are within about 25. At home, the town runs summer concerts on Tuesday nights, a Halloween festival and a holiday parade in December.

Getting around

You’ll need a car; there’s no public transit. Route 4 crosses the north of town, and Route 156 reaches Route 101 in Raymond. By road from the Town Office:

• Portsmouth, about 24 miles; Manchester, about 25; Concord, about 29.
• Boston, about 63 miles.
• Portsmouth’s airport about 22 miles; Manchester–Boston Regional about 29; Logan about 69.

Government, services and taxes

• Government: a five-member Select Board, and an official-ballot town meeting with an annual vote each March.
• Fire and ambulance: Nottingham Fire & Rescue has six full-time staff plus volunteers, and two ambulances.
• Hospitals: Exeter Hospital and Wentworth-Douglass in Dover are each about half an hour by car.
• Electricity: Eversource or the New Hampshire Electric Co-op, depending on the address.
• Trash: residents take trash and recycling to the town Recycling Center, open Thursday to Saturday, or hire private pickup.
• Schools: the Nottingham School District. High school students attend Coe-Brown Northwood Academy or Dover High School under tuition agreements.
• Property tax: the 2025 rate, set in November 2025 after a revaluation, is $13.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. That’s $6,600 a year on a $500,000 assessment. In 2024 it was $20.46, so compare an assessment and a rate from the same year. Large parcels of open land can qualify for current-use assessment under state law, which taxes them at a lower value.
• Climate: at nearby Durham, about 45 inches of precipitation and 39 inches of snow a year, with frost from early October to early May. The hardiness zone is 6a.

Facts on this page were checked against town, state and federal sources on October 31, 2026.

Explore it yourself

Open the map over Nottingham with flood zones, hospital access and grocery access switched on, then add what matters to you.