Ambitious plans announced for Nottingham Castle

Nottingham City Council have recently announced plans for a £26 million redevelopment of Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery should their bid for Heritage Lottery Funding be successful.

According to a council press release, the aim is to develop "a world class heritage attraction offering fun and excitement for all the family and a nationally significant centre for learning about protest and rebellion." There are ambitious claims that the project will bring in an additional £77 million and 1,300 jobs to the local economy. Predictably, our old friend, Robin Hood, will be a key attraction.

While welcoming the proposals to improve the existing museum and art gallery facilities I was slightly worried to find that they also intend "re-establishing the mediaeval moat and bridge" and wonder what English Heritage's reaction will be!

• Nottingham City Council Press Release
• Nottingham Evening Post article

Millgate Museum in Newark closes

Millgate Museum in Newark opens for the last time today. Newark & Sherwood District Council took the decision to close the  museum a while ago, describing it as having served its purpose and having "become tired."

A museum of the English Civil War is being developed. It will "tell the story of Newark and its residents and  demonstrate the resilience of ordinary lives set against affairs of the nation and the world and interpret the British Civil Wars and Newark’s key role in them."

The new centre will be based at the Old Magnus Buildings on Appletongate which once housed the town's museum until it closed in 2005.

• Newark Advertiser article
• Friends of Newark & Sherwood Museums Service - Civil War Centre