Here’s what the Project Team has been up to over the past few weeks:
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Great news! We have
procured DBA Consulting as Activity Planners for the Project. Work can now
start in earnest to prepare an activity plan rich in consultation, public
interaction and outreach opportunities – we’ll be in touch with details over
the coming months.
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The internal Content Development Team has been working
closely with Casson Mann, the exhibition designers, to finalise the Exhibition
and Interpretation brief for the Project. The stories for individual galleries
and the site as a whole have now been developed, and key objects have been
identified. Over the next few months these stories will be fleshed out and
object selection will be completed. It’s
a really exciting and creative element of the project!
- We’ve also just held a number of fascinating Focus Groups
sessions with local teachers, parents, adults, and potential visitors from
London, to explore their responses to initial exhibition and interpretation
plans. Their comments were really
helpful in giving different customer perspectives on the exhibition plans so
far and we’ll be using their feedback to develop the plans further.
- The Project Team had a meeting with Historic England at the
Castle earlier in September to go over the stage 2 design ideas from Purcell,
the project architects. Historic England
is the public body responsible for looking after England’s historic
environment, and we have to work closely with them to ensure that the proposals
for Nottingham Castle meet their rigorous requirements to conserve the
buildings and the site. They gave their
views on the plans – this is prior to formal applications for Listed Building
and Scheduled Monument consents which will be made later on during the
development stage of the project.
- A special meeting was held on site to discuss the
feasibility of the proposed lift which will enable visitors to travel through
the Castle Rock. The Marriott Drilling Group, based in Chesterfield, were
accompanied on a site visit by representatives from Bergteamet, a specialist
Swedish drilling company who are currently investigating the technology
required for this proposal. Obviously,
creating a lift through the Castle Rock is very ambitious and a unique
challenge, so we have international specialists to help advise us.
 Investment in East
Midlands’ heritage
So far, the Nottingham Castle project has secured round 1
funding from the HLF (Heritage Lottery Fund).
We will submit our round 2 application in June 2016, and will hopefully then
secure the full £12.98m from HLF for the project to proceed.
This update from Jeremy Fenn at Heritage Lottery Fund East
Midlands shows the range of HLF investment across the East Midlands, which is
providing a massive boost to the region’s visitor offer and economy.
“With the
unprecedented scenes on the streets of Leicester for the reburying of King
Richard III and Lincoln Castle reopening to coincide with Magna Carta’s 800th
anniversary, these last few months have truly demonstrated the interest and
importance of heritage to people in the East Midlands.
What’s more, the
Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a hat-trick of major grants to three superb new
projects in May. Support for the Derby Silk Mill (pictured), Great Central
Railway in Leicestershire and Lincoln Cathedral now mean that there
is at least one large project in development in each county in the region.
All this means that
the East Midlands is fast becoming a major heritage destination, bringing more
people to the area and delivering a huge economic impact. This can only help to
provide further benefits for the conservation, celebration and sustainability
of the region’s heritage.
We are still
interested in hearing about new projects, big and small, so do get in touch
with your ideas.”
Jeremy Fenn, Casework Manager at Heritage Lottery Fund East
Midlands
JeremyF@hlf.org.uk
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 National award for
Museum of Nottingham Life volunteers
Volunteers who help to bring Nottingham’s history to life at
Brewhouse Yard recently gained regional and national recognition for their
efforts.
The regional and national Marsh Award for Museum Leaning,
which recognises best practice and the innovative ways in which volunteers work
in museums and galleries to engage the public, has been awarded to the Museum
of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard volunteers.
The aim of the ‘Volunteers for Museum Learning’ award is to
recognise those volunteers who work directly with museum visitors in any
capacity. This could involve leading a school group, staffing an information
desk, helping with family activities, running a guided tour or any number of
other ways in which volunteers provide such excellent service to museum
visitors.
The volunteers were judged on how their work makes a
difference to their museum, how they have improved the visitor experience and
also on what both the staff and the visitors from the museum had to say about
them.
The volunteers travelled to London on Monday 28 September to
pick up their regional award at an award event held at the British Museum,
where it was announced they were also national winners.
Jo Kemp, Learning, Engagement & Collections
Manager for Nottingham City Museums & Galleries, said: “We are so chuffed
that the hard work and dedication of the volunteers has been recognised with
yet another award! And this one comes with money too; £500 for the regional
award and £2,000 for the national award.
Volunteers are also playing a valuable role in the Nottingham Castle
Transformation project, so please contact us if you’d be interested in getting
involved: call 0115 8762205 or email us at
volunteer.programme@nottinghamcity.gov.uk”
 Nottingham Castle
Trust
The Nottingham Castle Trust is an independent, non-profit
organisation with a remit to raise £3 million towards the £24 million project
total. All monies raised are held by an
independent Charitable Trust and can only be used to support the Castle site.
If you would like to get involved with the Nottingham Castle
Trust, by volunteering, donating, or sending in ideas, please contact them
through the Trust’s website: http://www.nottinghamcastletrust.org/
 Object of the month
Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry designed this embroidered
Coming Out Dress for a performance that marked his emergence as a transvestite
to the art world. The piece recently
featured in The Dreaming House, a temporary exhibition at Newstead Abbey, and
is part of the art collection at Nottingham Castle.
The Coming Out Dress was created in 2000 with computer-aided
embroidery from the Lacemarket Embroidery Company, which has since made a
further three dresses for Grayson Perry using machinery that interprets his
designs into embroidery stitches. As
such it represents some of the most modern elements of Nottingham’s proud
textile heritage.
© Grayson Perry, image by Jerry Hardman-Jones. Acquired
through funds from the Contemporary Art Society Collections Scheme.
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If you’d like more information about the Nottingham Castle
Transformation project or would like to get involved, do please drop us a line
– we’d love to hear from you!
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