Welcome to the March
Castle Transformation Newsletter

This month, we feature:
- Project update - Stay safe, digital records, focus group
- Nottingham Castle Trust News - Keep busy at home
- Nottingham Castle - A Year to Celebrate - Periplum presents concepts
- Object of the Month -?Nottingham Castle on Fire by Henry Dawson
- Top Trumps - No. 11 -?John Crowshaw
- Contractor update - G F Tomlinson time-lapse
- Badajoz Day - Commemorations with the Mercian regiment

Image:?A garden party takes place at Nottingham Castle, c1890's?(Image: Picture Nottingham/Nottingham City Council)

March project update

Stay safe - Firstly, we hope all of our readers are well and staying safe in these worrying times. Although our methods of working have changed somewhat over the last few weeks, the Project Team is still developing aspects of the Castle project, and as such will continue to distribute this newsletter for as long as is practicable.

If you have unexpected time on your hands, perhaps you could email in?with your favourite pictures of the Castle? We?d love to hear from you.?

Digitally capturing Lucy Hutchinson's Diary - We were so excited to be witness to the photography of Lucy Hutchinson?s memoirs this month. They are currently housed at Nottinghamshire Archives where they have been well looked after for many years. On the re-opening of the Castle, the memoirs will be on display in the Rebellion Gallery as a key object in our Civil War section. In order to ensure that the content of the memoirs is accessible to visitors (as the book itself will be in a bespoke case) we have decided to photograph every single page, which will be available digitally to visitors via a touch screen interactive. A digital copy will also be available to visitors to the Archives. This was a very long process, so thanks must go to our photographer Freddy, collections staff Eileen, and the conservation department at the Archives who offered invaluable advice throughout.

Focus group - We wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to those of you who attended our Focus Group earlier in the month. It was a really interesting evening with lots of thought provoking conversation and great ideas. The feedback on the gallery titles has now been analysed and passed to our script writers. We?ll let you know when titles have been finalised, but it?s safe to say that the team benefitted greatly from the Focus Group and the findings have already had a real impact. Thank you.

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Nottingham Castle Trust

Keep busy at home with the Nottingham Castle Trust Team

With schools and workplaces closed due to coronavirus, the Nottingham Castle Trust team is working together to create remote learning, community and volunteering opportunities for people to get involved with at home. The team want to get you making, engaging and being part of fun! Join us on social media where we will be bringing you weekly activities and initiatives to be a part of.

Get involved now and start by sharing your photos of Nottingham Castle at: The Viewfinder Project?Help us reach 200 photos, as we plan to create a Virtual Photo Tour to celebrate Microvolunteering day on 15?April.

Why not try some Nottingham Castle creative learning ideas and join our Nottingham Heritage Hunters?

Put your creative skills to the test and speak out through the Voices Of Today project?

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Find the Castle Trust team and their weekly engagement projects at the following:

Twitter

Nottingham Castle
@NottmCastle

Gareth Morgan, Learning Development Officer
@gm6016

Pippa Vidal Davis, Volunteer Manager
@pippapipspipe

Josh Osoro Pickering, Engagement and Participation Officer
@joshosoro

Facebook
Nottingham Castle

YouTube
Nottingham Castle

Soundcloud
Nottingham Castle

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Nottingham Castle - A Year to Celebrate

Our appointed artistic lead, Periplum, has been working hard to build fantastic partnerships across the city.

They have recently discussed their proposals with the Castle Reopening Celebrations Steering Group, which consists of a range of stakeholders across culture, business, and marketing.

They were hugely positive in their responses, delighted with the progress Periplum has made so far.

The proposal includes a strong community engagement programme starting in neighbourhoods, leading to large scale events in and around the Castle, with digital outputs which will be accessible internationally. The team is now working to fund raise the budget needed to realise the ambitions of this project.

Check out Periplum's Glass Ceiling project on Vimeo

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Object of the month -?
Nottingham Castle on Fire

What is it? -?This month we return to the Rebellion Gallery for our selection. The oil painting ?Nottingham Castle on Fire? by Henry Dawson depicts the Castle ablaze on the night of October 10,?1831 having been set alight by rioters. Silhouetted figures in the foreground are watching the spectacle.

Why is it significant? -?The fire was a pivotal event in the history of Nottingham & the castle. It was a response to the castle?s then owner, the 4th Duke of Newcastle?s, opposition to extending the right to vote in England. By coincidence, it was the re-development of the castle following the fire that boosted Henry Dawson?s fortunes as an artist.

Tell me more -?Dawson lived in Nottingham until his mid-thirties & worked in a lace factory until he was able to sustain himself financially as an artist. His attempts to gain recognition from the Royal Academy in London had limited success, but the opening of the Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery in 1878 significantly raised his profile & the prices his works fetched. The opening exhibition & its illustrated catalogue contained 57 of his works & the Prince of Wales shook his hand & congratulated him at the opening ceremony. ??

Sources of further information
Nottinghamshire History - Artists
Art UK - Henry Dawson

Nottingham Castle on Fire will feature in the new Rebellion Gallery currently being designed by exhibition designers Casson Mann.

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