Laxton. Farming in an open field village exhibition

A fascinating exhibition on the open field village of Laxton is running at the Weston Pavilion at Nottingham University until 16 August. The exhibition draws on the Manvers collection of estate records along with manorial records from the Tallents archives.

There has been a series of lectures on aspects of the village. The next one, on Wednesday, 15 July, is by Professor John Beckett and is entitled "Why has Laxton survived?"

Further information (including PDFs of the display boards, slides from the earlier lectures and a video podcast) available on the university website:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/about/news/exhibitions.phtml

The Festival of British Archaeology 2009 in Nottinghamshire

The Festival of British Archaeology (formerly National Archaeology Week) is coordinated by the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and aims to give everyone the opportunity to learn about their local heritage, to see archaeology in action, and to get involved.

There are a number of events on in Nottinghamshire. Look at the downloadeable guide to events in East Midlands, pages 50-53:

http://festival.britarch.ac.uk/sites/festival.britarch.ac.uk/files/node-files/Festival_2009_Region_EastMidlands.pdf

Heritage at Risk Register 2009

English Heritage have just published this year's Heritage at Risk Register. There are 41 buildings, monuments and archaeological sites in Nottinghamshire listed on the register, ranging from the impressive 19th century Bennerley Viaduct over the Erewash valley to the remains of the Roman fort at Scaftworth near Bawtry.

Other sites on the register include:

• Beauvale Priory


• Roman towns at East Bridgford and Thorpe near Newark


• Roman forts at Osmunthorpe and Farnsfield


• Ollerton Hall


• Early C16 gatehouse and bridge at Hodsock Priory


• Medieval ruined chapel of St James at Haughton


• Early 19th century tower windmill at North Leverton

The full list is available here:

http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/default.aspx?rs=1&rt=0&pn=1&st=a&co=Nottinghamshire&ctype=all&crit=

Church Open Day, 13 June: St. Mary's, Greasley

St. Mary's church at Greasley (near Eastwood) is having an open day on Saturday, 13th June from 10am to 4pm. The church has a fine 15th century tower and featured in D H Lawrence's works as 'Minton church'. The day will include:

• Tower trips
• Churchyard tours
• Local history exhibitions
• Registers of births, marriages and deaths open for inspection
• Cream teas, ploughman's lunches, craft stalls and children's activities

Booklets on Norwell parish heritage launched

The Norwell Parish Heritage Group have recently produced booklets on aspects of the village's history:

• Norwell Buildings
• Norwell Trades and
• Norwell Mills.

Two further booklets on Norwell Schools and Norwell Farms, will follow later this year.

http://www.norwellparish.co.uk/index.htm

New publications on Retford and Worksop

I've just received a couple of interesting new publications, ordered from Bookworm in Retford.

Fading Memories of Old and New Retford by Ron Beare contains a splendid collection of colour and black and white photographs of Retford from the 1920s to the present. The book is a fine companion to Ron's previous collection of Retford images, Retford Old and New. The atmospheric photographs capture perfectly the Retford I remember from the 1970s.

A Worksop miscellany edited by M. J. Jackson is published by the Worksop & District Archaeological & Local Historical Society and includes interesting articles on a wide range of historical subjects (from the excavation of an Iron Age/Romano-British site at Scratta Wood to the story of Ned and Flo, two homeless characters who roamed the streets of Worksop).

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Bookworm-The-Retford-Bookshop_Notts-Books_W0QQ_fsubZ2QQ_sidZ39288847QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Thoroton Society Transactions for 2008 just published

The Transactions of the Thoroton Society for 2008 has just been published. Contents include:

• The Romano-British Landscape of the Sherwood Sandstone of Nottinghamshire: Fieldwalking the Brickwork-plan Field-systems


• A Medieval Cesspit and its Contents: Drury Hill, Nottingham 1971


• A Pair of Merels Boards on a Stone Block from Church Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, Nottinghamshire, England


• Jordan Castle and the Foliot Family of Grimston, 1225-1330


• The Nottinghamshire History Lecture 2008. Food and Drink in Nottinghamshire Households, c. 1540-1640


• The Southwell Set: Prebendaries of Southwell Collegiate Church in 'the Long Eighteenth Century', c. 1660-1840


• Mapperley Hospital and George Thomas Hine (1841-1916), Consulting Architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy


• Industrial Welfare, Recreation and Retailing at Boots Pure Drug Company, 1883-1945 by Simon PhillipsArchaeology in Nottinghamshire, 2008

Further information and details on ordering Thoroton Society publications available here: http://www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/publications/tts/trans112.htm

Concerns over Nottingham's heritage

The BBC Nottingham website reports that Ian Wheeler of the Nottingham Civic Society is worried about threats to Nottingham's heritage on the day that the Lace Centre near the castle closed for good. The Lace Centre was based in the medieval Severns building that was moved from its original position on Middle Gate in the late 1960s when the Broadmarsh centre was being built. It is now empty and the City Council have no immediate plans for it.

Ian said "It is very worrying. There have been other threats, the Industrial Museum is another worrying one."

BBC Nottingham article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8001520.stm

Archaeologists in Jacksdale

Archaeologists from Nottinghamshire County Council undertook and excavation of Jacksdale's industrial past in appalling weather conditions at the end of last month. The project aimed to research and record the industrial archaeology of Jacksdale's wharf and uncovered the remains of Stone Row, built in the early 19th century and demolished in 1968, a canal basin and tramway.

See the Nottinghamshire County Council press release: http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/newshome/newsarticle.htm?id=114102&Environment=t;

New history of Awsworth published

Local historian, Bryan Maloney, has just published a history of Awsworth after spending over nine years working on it. Bryan's book covers churches, schools, the coal industry, transport, the magnificant Bennerley Viaduct (which runs over the Erewash valley), 17th century glass making, engineering and iron making, and politics.

The book costs £8 and can be bought direct from the author: 07943 165189.

Museums threatened with closure

The dire financial situation looks like it is about to hit the county's heritage as the Nottingham Evening Post reports that a number of museums are threatened with closure.

Broxtowe Borough Council is considering closing the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre at Durban House in Eastwood. I used to live opposite this handsome building (formerly the Barber Walker colliery company offices) and have enjoyed visiting the permanent exhibitions on Eastwood history, the coal industry in the area and Bert Lawrence. The temporary exhibitions have also been well worth seeing, particularly the recent one on coal mining put on by Anthony Kirby who has a splendid collection of coal mining memorabilia, photographs and artefacts. The D.H. Lawrence Society is fighting the closure and has organised a petition:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Museums-Petitions-save-Durban-House/article-739585-detail/article.html

Not to be outdone Nottingham City Council has launched a 90-day consultation on its proposal to close the industrial museum at Wollaton Hall:
http://www.thihsisnottingham.co.uk/news/Nottingham-s-Industrial-Museum-set-close/article-739564-detail/article.html

The Nottingham Lace Centre, housed in one of Nottingham's oldest buildings, is also set to close in April:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Nottingham-Lace-Centre-shut-doors/article-739322-detail/article.html

What next?

Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway website redesign

I've been spending the last couple of months re-designing the Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway website. It has spent most of its life as a 'micro-site' of the Thoroton Society website but the team felt it was about time it got its own distinctive identity and a separate domain name.

The website provides a guide to the heritage resources of the county, and a history of Nottinghamshire featuring the latest research. The information on the Gateway website is arranged in a series of research pathways, organised into the following groups: places, people, themes and events. The pathways provide users with a brief overview of a subject area and a list of key resources for further research, arranged by type of source material.

The latest item on the website is a guide to researching the coal industry in Nottinghamshire. Others in the pipeline are: Poverty, the poor and workhouses; Worksop and The Boer War.

• http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/

Latest edition of the Nottinghamshire Historian

I've just received my copy of the Spring/Summer edition of The Nottinghamshire Historian. Contents includes:

• William Elliott of Brewhouse Yard (1701-1792)
• SRN training at Mansfield General and King's Mill Hospitals, 1965-1968
• Peer and Pitman

More information is available on the Local History website.

Women’s history walk in Nottingham, 14th March 2009

Norman arch from Newark Castle re-created

A limestone arch with a span of 4 metres, thought to be from a chapel in Newark Castle, has been reconstructed by Weller Engineering Ltd in The Gilstrap Centre, Newark. The stones had been stored in the castle's undercroft for many years and are thought to date from the 1140s.

Read the full story in the Newark Advertiser:

• www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/template/temp1.asp?id=95e170c2-3f35-102c-bb9c-ce9ca152b7a0