Mortimer's Hole, the caves beneath Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle will reopen to the public on 21st June 2021, following a £30m transformation programme. Richard Gaunt from the Department of History has been at the very heart of this transformation project, using his research to shape the presentation of Nottingham’s heritage and contribute to securing the funding to make the castle site an international heritage destination.
Richard spent three years working intensely with the castle’s curatorial and development team through an academic residency funded by the Nottingham Museums and Galleries Service. His input was vital in helping to secure substantial funding for the project from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£14m), shaping and curating the Rebellion Gallery, focusing on seminal moments in Nottingham’s rebellious history and establishing and procuring an effective range of objects for the gallery to deliver the interpretation. The format of an academic residency providing specialist, high standard research capacity to Nottingham City. More information on the Rebellion Gallery and Richard's involvement here.
Museums and Galleries service (NCMG) has now been shared as a best practice model through Arts Council England (the underlying funder) and other museum services, and has now been adopted at their other heritage sites. The Faculty of Arts supported the programme through its funding for an early career postdoctoral research, Hannah Nicholson, to work on the project in its later stages (2019-20). Hannah helped to develop additional content and fact-check historical accuracy during the fit-out of the galleries. Rob Lutton and Judith Mills also from the Department of History contributed to the development of the Robin Hood Gallery.
Find out more about the Nottingham Castle reopening and book tickets.
Posted on Thursday 17th June 2021