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To reduce Nottingham Castle were sent David, Earl of Huntingdon and brother of the King of Scots, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, and William, Earl Ferrers. The sending of three earls to Nottingham may have been dictated by the knowledge that because of its position and reputed impregnability, a siege of Nottingham Castle could be difficult, absorbing time and money in its reduction. The Earl Ferrers, and to a certain extent the Earl of Chester, would have possessed invaluable local knowledge and could have called on the assistance of their tenants in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

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On 13th March 1194 Richard had landed in England at Sandwich. Howden is silent on the king's movements during the next twelve days until he arrived at Nottingham. The Histoire states that Richard left Marlborough with a large army and retinue and made straight for Nottingham. Other chroniclers give an itinerary: Richard proceeded to London via Canterbury and Rochester, and left London arriving at Nottingham by way of Bury St Edmunds and Huntingdon. He was met at Huntingdon by William Marshall.

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The size of the army in knights and men, and the number of men in the Castle, are difficult to estimate. In medieval terms, Richard's forces were quite substantial, for Howden and the Histoire both tell of a large force. Not only had Richard his own men with him, but in addition probably those forces of William Marshall who had joined the king at Huntingdon. Also those other dignitaries who are mentioned later by Howden as attending the Council which followed the termination of the siege cannot have come empty-handed: Queen Eleanor, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of Lincoln, Ely, Hereford Worcester, Exeter and Whithorn, and the Earls Warenne and Salisbury, and Roger Bigod. The only figures available are payments on the Pipe Rolls for sixty-six knights at Derby, sixty-seven knights at Nottingham, and an unknown number of horses, three of which were subsequently slain