What's New

April is full of exciting events, talks and workshops. Here are just a few of them!

Tuesday 1st April: At Lakeside Arts, ‘Meghan King, Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, will provide an introduction to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Treasure process and give an overview of interesting finds from around the counties. Meghan will also bring a handling collection so that attendees can handle typical objects recorded by the scheme afterwards in the Museum’. Tickets cost up to £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 3rd April: ‘An introduction to the Nottinghamshire Archives with a tour of the searchroom and storage areas. This is your chance to view some unique and incredible highlights from the collections. You will be able to interact in new ways with history through Augmented Reality on your own tablet or smartphone device. Try the new interactive wall to explore Nottingham's past. Enjoy a display and tour of the conservation studio and learn what conservation is, the different types of materials treated and the techniques used’. Tickets cost £6 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Friday 4th April: ‘The Friends of Bassetlaw Museum are delighted to announce the return of guided tours. They will focus on the Museum building, its history from its construction in the 1780s through to the present day, and the stories of the families that owned it.’ The event is free (although donations are appreciated), and booking is not required. For more information visit the event page here.

Saturday 5th April: The National Civil War Centre will be hosting ‘Family Saturday: The King in a car park’. ‘Join archaeologists from the University of Leicester for a day of discovery with the chance to see a 3D printed replica of King Richard III’s skeleton; ‘Ask an Archaeologist’ with excavation director Mathew Morris; and have a go at digging up bones! You can meet a medieval knight and create a Tudor flag too!' For more information, visit the event page here.

Saturday 5th April: The National Civil War Centre will also be hosting a talk on King Richard III: 'Bloody Be Thine End - The Discovery of Richard III'. ‘Join archaeologists Mathew Morris and Andrew Hyam from University of Leicester Archaeological Services and find out how modern archaeological and forensic investigation, and historical reenactment allows us to reassess historic sources and tell new stories’. Tickets cost £5 per person (under 25’s go free), and booking is required. Book your place here.

Opening Thursday 10th April: Lakeside Arts will be opening their new exhibition ‘Country Lives’ which will run until September 2025. ‘From idyllic and picturesque scenes to the realities of rural lives and communities, this exhibition explores varied themes including work, leisure, health and access to the countryside. Items from the University of Nottingham collections including photographs, sketches, books, letters, maps and board games are brought together to illuminate these topics’. For more information, visit their website here.

Above: Ivel Tractor demonstration, 1905 (Public Domain)

Monday 14th April: Creswell Crags curator Dr Angharad Jones is hosting an online talk via Zoom celebrating 150 years of research at the site. ‘The first official excavations of Creswell Crags' caves began in April 1875, uncovering rich deposits of Ice Age animals, as well as tools left behind by Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. This sparked 150 years of excavations and other fascinating research at this important site. This talk will explore the excavators, the excavations, and subsequent research on the uncovered archaeological and palaeontological material’. The event is free, but booking is required. Book your place here. There are also further talks celebrating 150 years of Creswell Crags which you can explore here.

Wednesday 16th April: Local historian Sam Millard will be presenting the talk ‘Heritage Talk: Rogues, Vagabonds or Heroes?’ at Worksop Library. ‘This talk tells of a violent clash between poachers and gamekeepers on the Rufford Abbey estate during the Victorian period, an incident that was reported in newspapers throughout the land. What happened to those involved? Were they the rogues and vagabonds described by the courts, or the heroes portrayed in a folk song written at the time?’. Tickets are £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 17th April: Mansfield Museum is hosting an exciting ‘Dig’ workshop. ‘Perfect for kids under 12, this hands-on activity lets young explorers uncover hidden treasures buried in soft sand. With digging tools in hand, they'll search for fascinating finds and sketch their discoveries, sparking their creativity and imagination’. Tickets are £2 per person and booking is required. Book your place here. 

Saturday 19th April: Head down to Sherwood Forest for ‘A Knight’s Trail’. ‘Find knights along the way and note the heraldic design upon each shield. Once you have completed this challenge, you must make haste and return to camp for to claim your prize from the ever-gallant Sir Tificate’. Entries are £4, booking is not required. For more information, visit the event page here. 

Thursday 24th April: During an evening talk, ‘discover the story behind the National Civil War Centre’s most striking artefact, Fairfax’s wheelchair. Learn about the dramatic and action-packed life of the general who won the Civil War. Hear the grisly details of his wounds and be prepared to question your perception of the politics of the past!’. Tickets are £10 per person and booking is required. Book your place here. 

Saturday 26th April: Nottinghamshire Archives will be hosting the event ‘Murder at the Archives’. ‘Visit Nottinghamshire Archives where you will find clues and question suspects to discover the culprit of a historical crime. A unique opportunity to explore the heritage of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. There will be a time limit to complete the challenge that will test your deductive skills, powers of reasoning and teamwork’. Tickets cost £6 per person and booking is required. Book your place here - 10am, 11:30am, and 1pm.

Saturday 26th April: ‘Curious to learn more about your family's history? Join one of the Inspire librarians for a small group session at Bingham Library, where they will demonstrate some of the key features of Ancestry, a valuable online research tool’. This event is free, but booking is required. Book your place here.

There are a lot of exciting heritage events happening this March! Have a look at some of them below:

Thursday 6th March: ‘The Friends of Bassetlaw Museum are delighted to announce the return of guided tours. They will focus on the Museum building, its history from its construction in the 1780s through to the present day, and the stories of the families that owned it.’ The event is free (although donations are appreciated), and booking is not required. For more information visit the event page here.

Thursday 6th March: Head to the Nottinghamshire Archives ‘for an evening of discovery where you will experience their collections like never before with Augmented Reality features, taking you on a trip into the county's rich past’. During this tour you will be able to take a tour around the archives, view historic manuscripts, and explore interactive maps. The event is free but booking is required. Book your place here.

Friday 7th March: Mansfield Museum will be hosting an exclusive ‘Cocktails with the Curator’ event. ‘Begin your night with a cocktail as their curator shares fascinating insights into the history of the building and the incredible work they do. Take a behind-the-scenes tour with their Collections Officer, who will guide you through our vast stores and reveal hidden treasures from our extensive collection. You'll also have the rare opportunity to handle select objects from their archives. Explore their current exhibitions at your leisure, and cap off the evening with a fun and engaging mystery object quiz’. Tickets cost £5 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Friday 7th March: The National Civil War Centre will be hosting the evening talk ‘The Poet and the Regicide’. You will be introduced to ‘Lucy Hutchinson, translator, poet and biographer and wife of Newark’s arch enemy, John Hutchinson, Governor of Nottingham during the British Civil Wars and regicide. This International Women’s Day talk reveals the fascinating story of a seventeenth-century power couple and challenges our beliefs about women in this period’. Tickets are £10 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Saturday 8th March: ‘Family Saturday at the National Civil War Centre is moving to the second Saturday just for March to coincide with International Women’s Day. Meet a very special lady and her friendly horse, find out how women played a special role in the Civil War as secret spies and learn the best way to hide a message during the Civil War using invisible ink and secret codes’. Entry is free for Newark and Sherwood residents. For more information, visit the event page here.

Tuesday 11th March: Head to Mansfield Central Library to ‘take a journey through a thousand years of history at Rufford Abbey - from humble monastic origins to a grand country estate. Learn how the place has changed over the years and about some of the fascinating characters who lived there. NCC’s Planning Archaeologist Emily Gillott will also look at what has been revealed by archaeological work since the 1960’s’. Tickets cost £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Above: Rufford Abbey

Wednesday 19th March: At Beeston Library, ‘join Peter Godley from the Nottingham Historical and Archaeological Society for a talk about the extensive network of caves that lie beneath the streets of Nottingham’. Tickets cost £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Wednesday 19th March: At Worksop Library, ‘join NCC’s Planning Archaeologist Emily Gillott for a fascinating look at the history of the gallows and capital crimes with a focus on Nottinghamshire. Emily will present some of the known gallows and gibbet sites in the county and what remains of them, from Thieves Dale to Gallows Nooking. She will explore medicine and the hanged corpse, from an age when science and magic were intertwined’. Tickets cost £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 20th March: At Bassetlaw Museum, Benedict Jephcote will be exploring ‘A gleaming medieval seal that was found at Gringley-on-the-Hill’. They will be looking into ‘how the seal-bearer’s identity was found and why Constance was an important figure in medieval England’s history’. The event is free but booking is required. Book your place here.

Monday 24th March: At Hucknall Library, ‘join one of the Heritage Librarians for a small group session where they will demonstrate the range and variety of local newspapers available in Inspire libraries on microfilm and online’. The event is free, but booking is required. Book your place here.

Monday 24th March: Hosted by the team at Creswell Crags, an online talk by Matilde Gliubich Tomat from Bangor University will be diving into here palaeophenomenological research. ‘Blending archaeology, anthropology, phenomenology, alchemy and analysis, this approach reaches beyond the confines of traditional research, tapping into the lived experiences and consciousness of ancient peoples. In this 45-minute lecture, Matilde will not only explain paleophenomenology as a theoretical framework but also share the story of how this unique methodology was developed — part vision, part discovery, part adventure. From her own encounters with both personal reflection and archaeological sites to the insights drawn from analysis and mythology, this talk will offer a glimpse into the process of connecting past and present, mind and matter’. Tickets are free, but booking is required. Book your place here.

February is jam packed with exciting heritage events! Here are just a few:

Saturday 1st February: ‘Are you thinking of applying for funding to support your creative development?’ Join a specialist workshop at Mansfield Museum to ‘explore applying to Developing Your Creative Practice from Arts Council England’. Booking is required and costs £5 per person. For booking and more information, visit the event page here.

Saturday 1st February: ‘Interested in a creative and/or technical career in Arts, Heritage and Culture? Come along on Family Saturday at the National Civil War Centre in Newark to enjoy some snacks and chat with their team. Learn about what it’s like to work in a theatre or museum and how to build a great CV.’ Booking is not required, find out more here.

Thursday 6th February: ‘Come and see behind the scenes and discover the secret world of the Nottinghamshire Archives! Be the first to try out their new Augmented Reality content to uncover hidden stories and images from the Archives. As part of this free tour, you will be able to interact in new ways with their collections via your own tablet or smartphone device: view a pop-up version of an Archival document directly on your device, explore 360 degree images of modern-day Nottingham blended with historic photographs to explore change over time, and listen to new audio descriptions of our Archival materials’. This event is free, but booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 13th February: Head down to Mansfield Museum ‘for a hands-on workshop where you'll stitch your own unique bookmark. Inspired by the rich tradition of sampler designs from the museum's collection. Perfect for all skill levels, this is a fun way to learn, create, and connect with heritage’. Tickets cost £3.50 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 13th February: The National Civil War Centre in Newark will be hosting the evening talk: ‘The Most Unfortunate of Kings?’. In this talk, Dr Jonathan Fitzgibbons, Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Lincoln, will examine if King Charles I can be blamed for his own fate or if he was, as a medal in the museum collection states, a good but unlucky King’. Tickets cost £10 per person, and booking is required. Book your place here. 

Saturday 15th February: At Sherwood Forest, ‘join Sherwood’s legendary lovebirds Robin Hood and Maid Marian for this special Valentine’s Day storytelling walk deep into the heart of Sherwood Forest. Take heed of their tales of deeds and of how the history of the greenwood is intertwined with their timeless romance’. Booking is required, ticket prices range. Book your place here.

Above: Annesley Hall, ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family (see below).

Tuesday 18th February: Head to Mansfield Central Library where Author Nicola Webb tells the story of John Patricius (Patrick) Chaworth Musters and Mary Ann Sharpe. Born in different classes, the two love birds are sent to live a private life in Norway by his family but years later, they return to wed and take on Chaworth-Musters’ family estate. Tickets cost £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Tuesday 18th February: The National Holocaust Museum will be revealing ‘brand-new Handling Box, packed full with incredible artefacts. Explore how ordinary people became and still become refugees, by handling amazing objects that have been donated to us by Holocaust Survivors’. This event is free, and booking is not required. For more information, visit the event page here.

Wednesday 19th February: Our Historic Environment Officer Janine will be hosting a talk at Worksop Library on her wonderful book ‘Colliery Stables & the Nottinghamshire Pit Pony’. ‘With first-hand accounts from former pony drivers and freshly discovered documentary and photographic evidence, this talk delves deeply into the lives of a workforce that gave all they had. Learn how their working conditions changed over time, and how they are remembered by their former handlers. Join Janine for this fitting tribute to Nottinghamshire’s hidden heroes’. Tickets cost £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 20th - Saturday 22nd February: Head to the Workhouse and Infirmary in Southwell to take part in their event ‘Tales from the Workhouse’. ‘Write on a slate, help with the washing, learn to pick oakum. Meet our costumed characters and come and find out what life was like within The Workhouse. Listen to their stories as you encounter the inmates doing their daily jobs’. Booking is not required, and this event is free, normal admission fees to the Workhouse are still in place. For more information about the event, visit the event page here.

Friday 21st February: At the Harley Museum, Join picture frame conservator Claire Ridley to take a fresh look at the frames in their museum with a museum talk. In this talk Claire will delve into traditional and decorative gilding techniques. Using frames in our museum as examples, you will learn to identify different types of gilding and discover how gilded surfaces deteriorate and can be conserved. You will also get an up-close look at Claire’s conservation toolkit, from rabbit skin glue to gold leaf to burnishing stones. Booking is required and tickets costs vary. Book your place here.

Saturday 22nd February: ‘Bring along your archaeological finds to Bassetlaw Museum to be identified and recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database’ by the Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This event is free, but booking is required. Book your appointment here.

Saturday 22nd February: As part of the Nottingham Festival of Culture and Science, Lakeside Arts will be hosting a ‘Museum Explorers’ crafting workshop. This workshop will allow you to ‘explore the world of Iron Age art including metal work and stone carvings to make your artwork inspired by the artefacts. Create a Celtic plaque base on an Iron Age coin or a Celtic stone head from clay’. This event is free and booking is not required. For more information, visit the event page here.

Thursday 27th February: At the Bassetlaw Museum, the Museum’s new Curator, Dr Mike Galer will be talking about The Derbyshire Yeomanry in the First World War. He will explore the fortunes of this part-time territorial cavalry unit as it was mobilised and sent to Egypt, Gallipoli and then to Bulgaria. Tickets are £5 per person. For more information, visit the event page here.

If you fancy going to a heritage event this new year, we’ve got you covered! Here’s some events going on this January:

Until Monday 13th January: An exhibition at Bilsthorpe Museum called ‘Mining Stories’ is currently running and will be open until 13th January. This exhibition allows you to immerse yourself in stories of the mines using Walkman’s. For more details, visit the event page here.

Tuesday 14th January: The librarians at Inspire will be hosting online one-to-one meetings to help you discover your family history. This event is free to attend, but booking is required. Spots are limited so book your place here.

Friday 17th January: Opening on 17th January, an exhibition at the University of Nottingham Museum featuring incredible Iron Age artefacts. ‘This exhibition will feature a fascinating range of everyday objects from both hillforts, with a spotlight on a spectacular hoard of chariot fittings from Burrough Hill’. The exhibition is free to attend, and booking is not required. For more information, visit the event page here.

Wednesday 22nd January: A talk by ‘Local historian and retired theatre consultant Bob Massey unravels the story behind some of the fascinating [Victorian] optical toys and how they informed the work of our earliest cinema pioneers’. This talk at Beeston Library is £3 per person and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 23rd January: 'Find out how to party like it’s 1639, in this fascinating talk about the role of dance in Stuart England' at the National Civil War Centre in Newark. Booking is required and tickets cost £10 per person. Book your place here.

Thursday 30th January: ‘Curious to learn more about your family's history? Join one of [the Inspire] librarians for a small group session, where they will demonstrate some of the key features of this valuable online research tool’. This event takes place at Kirkby-in-Ashfield Library and Learning Centre and is free to attend. Booking is required however so book your place here.

Friday 31st January: Newark's National Civil War Centre's 'Tudor Hall will become Westminster Hall for this interactive performance event in honour of the 400th anniversary of Charles I’s accession to the throne. Take part in the trial and decide if you would sign the warrant to execute a King!' Booking is required and tickets cost £10 per person. Book your place here.

Above: A projecting praxinoscope, 1882 (by Louis Poyet, from La Nature, Public Domain)

November is absolutely full of exciting and educational heritage events. If you're looking for something to do this autumn, check out our list below for some inspiration!

Friday 1st: 'Do you have any questions about what conservators do? Or about how the Nottinghamshire Archives care for the archive? The Nottinghamshire Archive conservators will be available to answer your questions online via Instagram on Friday 1st November between 10am and 3pm.’ To find out how to submit your questions, visit the event page here.

Saturday 2nd: Head to the Bassetlaw Museum ‘for a poignant presentation that delves into the life of Kveta Lefkovicova, a 16-year old girl, who escaped from Prague a year after the start of World War II. Kveta was one of the few who survived. Tragically, her entire family perished in Majdanek, a Nazi German concentration camp in occupied Poland. Kveta’s story will be brought to life by her daughter Gillian, who will bring some of her mother’s treasured keepsakes, such as two rings and a jewellery box made out of scrap metal in the prison camp'. Entry is free but booking is required. Book your place here.

Tuesday 5th: Join Professor Mark Pearce of the University of Nottingham for a talk that ‘will explore the reasons why more than 200 Bronze Age metal objects were deposited in the River Trent, and what these weapons – many of which are clearly of high status – can tell us about the warrior chiefs and their bands who lived along the river in the second and early first millennium BC’. Booking is required, prices vary from free to £3. Book your place here.

Thursday 7th: ‘Celebrate the dark and learn about the dangers of the night in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’. The National Civil War Centre in Newark, will be hosting ‘Evening Talk: Female Highwaymen’ in which you will ‘find out more about the real renegade women who might have robbed you of your purse’! Tickets cost £10 and booking is required. Book your place here.

Friday 8th: Head to the National Civil War Centre in Newark for a comedy performance of Professor Von Goosechaser’s Halloween lecture about the strange beliefs of the seventeenth century. Tickets cost £10 and booking is required. Book your place here.

Sunday 17th: ‘Join Byron expert Geoffrey Bond at Southwell Minster as he explores the life and times of Nottinghamshire’s most famous poet. The Newstead Abbey Singers will also perform songs, setting some of his poems to music’. The event is free, and booking is not required. For more information about the event, visit the event page here.

Monday 18th: ‘To coincide with the new exhibition at Creswell Crags’, their curators will be hosting the online talk ‘The Science of the Ice Age’ which will answer questions such as: How do we know how cold and how warm it was? What can be used to reconstruct past vegetation? How do we know when things happened? And what can we understand about the animals that survived the Ice Age? Tickets are free but booking is required. Book your free place here.

Above: Pit pony working in the mines. (By Heinrich Börner (1864 – 1943) - Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Tuesday 19th: A talk by Nottinghamshire County Council's wonderful Historic Buildings Officer Janine Buckley at the Mansfield Central Library 'celebrates the tremendous efforts of the county’s pit ponies’. ‘With first-hand accounts from former pony drivers and freshly discovered documentary and photographic evidence, this talk delves deeply into the lives of a workforce that gave all they had. Learn how their working conditions changed over time, and how they are remembered by their former handlers’. Tickets cost £3 and booking is required. You will also receive a copy of Janine's new book 'Colliery Stables and the Nottinghamshire Pit Pony'Book your place here.

Wednesday 20th: ‘Join former miner and mining historian, Phil Whitehead, at Worksop Library to hear tales of engineering, endeavour and enterprise from the area’s earliest colliery’, Shireoaks Colliery. ‘It existed for 137 years and touched the lives of thousands of local people – perhaps more than any employer in the locality’. Tickets cost £3 and booking is required. Book your place here.

Wednesday 20th: Our Historic Buildings Officer Janine Buckley will also be hosting a ‘talk celebrating the pre-eminence of the horse on Nottinghamshire’s country estates’ at Beeston Library. In the event, you will be able to ‘explore our legacy of highly architectural stables and discover how horses experienced these spaces’. Tickets cost £3 and booking is required. You will also receive a copy of Janine's new book 'Country House Stables of Nottinghamshire'.Book your place here.

Friday 22nd: At Bassetlaw Museum, ‘local author and historian Adrian Gray will give an illustrated and entertaining introduction to his new book, ‘The Scandalous Lives of the Sherwood Forest Nobility’. Featuring ‘Clumber, Rufford, Thoresby, Welbeck, Newstead and perhaps the less well known Bestwood and Worksop Manor. Adrian will cover a range of scandals including lustful affairs, disastrous marriages, vast sums lost in gambling and even some political corruption’. This event is free but booking is required. Book your place here.

Friday 22nd: At the National Civil War Centre in Newark, ‘join costume historian Meredith Towne find out how to blend in in the seventeenth century. Delve into our dressing up box and make sure you know your doublet from your mantua!’ Tickets cost £10 and booking is required. Book your place here.

Thursday 28th: Aimed at home-educated Key Stage 2 children, Mansfield Museum will be hosting ‘a fun and interactive workshop exploring the incredible story of how humans evolved’. Student will ‘explore important steps in our evolution, like tool-making, language, and culture, along with the genetic changes that make us unique’. Tickets cost £7.50 per child (accompanying adults are free) and booking is required. Book your place here.

Saturday 30th: ‘Meet the National Civil War Centre curators Glyn and Kevin and kick off the festive season with a delicious Christmas cream tea in their café. Join them on a special tour of the galleries; open display cases, handle objects from their collection and find out what’s involved in looking after their treasures’. Tickets cost £25 which includes the cream tea and gallery tour. Booking is required. Book your place here.