Festival of Archaeology 2017 in Nottinghamshire

A wide range of activities and attractions in the county are available this weekend as part of the national Festival of Archaeology 2017.

They range from graveyard recording at St Helena's Church in Thoroton to an illustrated talk on the history of  knitting industry in the East Midlands.

Further details can be found on the Festival of Archaeology website.

The History Festival 2017, 5-7 April at Nottingham University

Nottingham University's first History Festival will take place across various locations and all the events are free. Activities include:

• behind the scenes at Manuscripts and Special Collection
• lecture by Dr Nick Barratt of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? fame
• find out about the history and heritage of University Park Campus
• walk in the footsteps of the Nottingham 1831 Rioters
• find out more about the history of Nottingham’s Green Spaces and the
  First World War in Nottinghamshire
• step back into the past with living history and reenactment displays

Full details are available in the History Festival Flier.

The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair, 7 May 2017

Sneinton Pride of Place Project, 4-18 March 2017

The 3rd Nottinghamshire Local History and Archaeology Day, 9 July 2016

The event is designed to showcase 'the wide and varied work taking place throughout Nottinghamshire by local history and archaeology societies, archaeological units, museums and other regional archaeological organisations.' It will take place in The University of Nottingham Museum, Angear Visitor Centre, Djanogly Gallery and Rehearsal Hall on Saturday, 9 July.

Highlights of the day:

• short talks on local archaeology and history projects
• stalls and exhibitions
• a hands-on session with archaeological material from Nottinghamshire
• meet the Finds Liaison Officer for Nottinghamshire and Nottinghamshire County Council
• Pastfest ('Highfields Park will be taken over by archaeological and historically themed characters, giving you the chance to meet some of our ancestors who will tell you about their life and times and demonstrate skills and crafts from the past. There will also be the chance to take part in crafts and games.')

See the Lakeside Arts website for further details.

Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology Day, Saturday 27 June 2015

The University of Nottingham Museum is holding the second Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology Day on Saturday 27th June.

The event is designed to display the wide and varied work taking place throughout Nottinghamshire by local history and archaeology societies, archaeological units, museums and other regional archaeological organisations. It will also include displays, handling of original material and talks.

The day is suitable for everyone including those with a general interest, people taking part in historical and archaeological work and those wanting to get involved.

Further details can be found on the Nottingham Lakeside Arts website.

The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair at Mansfield Library, 10 May 2015

The third Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair will be held at Mansfield Library on Sunday, 10 May, 11am-3pm. 

It promises 'fun for all the family with craft demonstrations, local history displays from across the county, screenings of bygone Mansfield film footage and children’s activities PLUS meet real owls.'

Further information is available on the Our Nottinghamshire website.

Eastwood on the Home Front exhibition: 5 September - 2 November 2014

D H Lawrence Festival 2014, 5-25 September

This year's D H Lawrence Festival will run from 5th-25th September. According to the organisers, 'the programme is packed with events celebrating both the life and work of D.H. Lawrence and the rich heritage and culture of this part of Nottinghamshire where he was born and raised, and which so influenced his work' and will include:

• Creative workshops
• Drama
• Exhibitions
• Film screenings
• Guided tours and walks
• Lectures
• Open days
• A Mining Heritage Day
• Music
• Reading groups

Download the Festival wall planner for further details.

The Hucknall Byron Festival, 28 June - 6 July 2014

The Byron Festival in Hucknall has only just come to my attention - not sure how that managed to fly under the radar! The programme is interesting and varied, including a 'Byron Afternoon Tea' at Colwick Hall (with a lecture by Prof John Beckett on Mary Chaworth and Colwick Hall), and various tours, lectures and performances.
The full programme is available on the International Association of Byron Societies' website.

Exhibition: The First World War in The University of Nottingham’s Historic Collections

A new exhibition at the University of Nottingham's Weston Gallery 'looks at the war through the eyes of the people who experienced it - from the soldier on the battlefield to the worker in the munitions factory, from the volunteer nurse to the wife and mother, and from the British ‘Tommy’ to the German ‘Fritz’'.

The exhibition runs from on the 9th May to 17th August and a series of talks will be held to accompany it. Admission is free. More information is available on the Nottingham University website.

Festival of Archaeology 2013

The Council for British Archaeology is organising another Festival of Archaeology next month which will offer "over 1,000 events nationwide, organised by museums, heritage organisations, national and country parks, universities, local societies, and community archaeologists."
There are a number of events in Nottinghamshire, including:

• Exploring Lenton Priory- A day of tours, geophysics and public displays (Saturday 13 July)
• Finds roadshow at the University of Nottingham Museum (Wednesday, 17 June)
• Talk on 'Nemi in the new Millennium from potential disposal to research phenomenon' and an exhibition of finds from the Temple of Nemi near Rome (20 July-29 September)
• An exhibition at Mansfield Museum: 'Mansfield's extraordinary antiquarian - Major Hayman Rooke' (6 July-3 August)
• Iron Age roundhouse open day at Calverton (14 July)
• Open days and archaeological exploration on the site of 18th century cotton mills on the River Leen (13-14 July)
• Archaeological excavation at Robert Miles Junior School in Bingham (22-26 July)
• Excavation open days whilst FARI Archaeology volunteers are digging test-pits in the 'Nationally Important' Late Upper Palaeolithic site near Farndon (various dates)

Nottinghamshire's Great War Roll of Honour

Nottinghamshire County Council has commissioned the county's first ever Great War Roll of Honour dedicated to the men and women of the county who died in World War I and will contain the names of 11,500 servicemen and women. The information is being compiled by a team of volunteers using war memorials, stained glass windows and plaques in buildings all over Nottinghamshire.

There will also be a Nottinghamshire Great War Centenary Exhibition at Nottingham Castle from July to November 2014. "Marking one hundred years since the outbreak of World War I, this exhibition will explore the experiences of Nottinghamshire people, at home and at war, whether by land, sea or in the air, through powerful visual images, artefacts and tours of city and county Great War landmarks."

The Roll of Honour and exhibition form part of 'From the Trent to the Trenches', a major programme of events and activities taking place in 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Events and exhibitions at Nottinghamshire Archives

A varied programme of events and exhibitions over the summer has been announced by Nottinghamshire Archives:

Wednesday Workshops

19 June: Records of Royalty
17 July: Apprenticeship
21 August: Hospital and asylum records

Each workshop starts at 2.30pm and costs £4.

Archive Skills Workshops

30 July: Reading Parish Registers (English)
6 August: Reading Parish Registers (Latin)
13 August: Interpreting Dates

Summer Talk

9 July: Local, National & International – RAF Ancestral Research
This talk starts at 6.30pm and is free.

Nottinghamshire’s People: Ancestral Stories from the Archives

7 June – 1 September 2013 at the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre
Admission free

Lunchtime Talks (to accompany the exhibition)

(All talks are free and can be booked by contacting the Lakeside Arts Centre Box Office on 0115 846 7777)
26 June and 9 July: Students, Sinners and Surveys
3 July: Weaving My Family Tapestry
7 August: Unlocking the Parish Chest:
14 August: Kinship and Connectedness

For further information visit the Nottinghamshire Archives Events page.

Local History Fair at Mansfield Library, 19 May 2013

There is a FREE local history fair at Mansfield Library on Sunday 19 May, between 11am and 3 pm.

There will be local history displays, screenings of old films of Nottinghamshire, demonstration of conservation techniques for documents and books by specialist staff from Nottinghamshire Archives with practical advice on how to take care of your own family documents, craft demonstrations, free children's activities, displays of old photographs and local history books on sale.

Further information and directions are here: http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/whats-on/the-great-nottinghamshire-local-history-fair-2013-p550281

'Balls, Boots and Players - celebrating 500 years of Nottingham High School in its communty

Lakeside is hosting an exhibition that "explores the relationship between Nottingham High School and its community, illustrated through the lives of the people who belong to it."

A series of free lunchtime talks to accompany the exhibition has also been organised:

• 'Pure and Constant' (Wednesday, 10 October, 1-2pm, in A09, Engineering & Science Learning Centre) - the life and work of Thomas Hawksley, engineer
• 'Ken Clark talks' (Friday, 9 November, 1-2pm in the Senate Chamber, Trent Building) - the High School's best known living old boy discusses his schooldays and career in politics
• 'Balls, boots and players' (Tuesday, 13 November, 1-2pm in the Senate Chamber, Trent Building) - Tony Palfreyman shares his passion for sport and sport in Nottinghamshire
• 'Karachi and the wilds of interior Sindh' (Tuesday, 4 December, 1-2pm,  in A09, Engineering & Science Learning Centre) - BBC journalist Aleem Maqbool discusses his work as a journalist in Pakistan

Further details are available on the Lakeside website.

Wollaton Dovecote Museum open 8-9 September 2012

Wollaton Dovecote Museum (built in the late 16th century) will be open during Heritage Weekend, Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th September, 2-5pm. The museum is located on Dovecote Drive, off Bramcote Lane, Wollaton, Nottingham, NG8 2NB.
"Photographs of Lord Middleton's visit in May will be displayed, and the original door will be open to show the interesting brickwork on the side of the building not normally accessible to the public. Displays this year include The People of Wollaton, a History of the Willoughby Family Through 700 years, a poster about the Wollaton Antiphonal, and more old photographs from the Russell School. Andrew Hamilton will lead a guided walk around the village on Sunday afternoon starting at the Dovecote at 3.00pm lasting around 45 minutes, refreshments provided. Admission free."

Heritage Open Days in Nottinghamshire, 6-9 September 2012

Heritage Open Days "celebrates England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to places that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission." A list of properties and sites in Nottinghamshire (from a tour of the Grade I listed D10 building at Boots to behind the scenes tours of the Galleries of Justice museum stores) is now available:

• Heritage Open Days in Nottinghamshire

Festival of British Archaeology

Apologies for nearly having missed it but The Festival of British Archaeology has been running since 14 July and is due to finish on Sunday, 29 July. There are a few events taking place in Nottinghamshire:

• Finds from Adrian Oswald's excavations of Mansfield Woodhouse Roman Villa can be seen (and pottery handled) at Mansfield Museum
• Nottinghamshire Community Archaeologists are running a 'living history' event at Newark Castle on Saturday, 28 July
• Also on Saturday there is a drop-in event for finders of archaeological objects at Bassetlaw Museum
• Make your own fossil at Cresswell Crags

There doesn't seem to be anything happening in the City of Nottingham, although if you search the events database for 'Nottingham' you get a tour of Oakham Castle (Rutland), an event celebrating the story of Robin Hood at Conisbrough Castle near Rotherham and most bizarrely of all, an organised visit to The Wag of Forse in Caithness, northern Scotland!

For more information visit the CBA website.

News from Nottinghamshire Archives

Nottinghamshire Archives (along with the County Council, Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham University and  Nottinghamshire Local History Association) is running a conference called 'Make History Happen!' on Wednesday 18 July 2012, 10am - 4.30pm. The event is intended for 16-21 year-olds interested in heritage:

• 'Make History Happen!' conference flier

A new online exhibition is now available on the history of Southwell Chapter. Of particular interest are the documents relating to cases before the Chapter Court; for example, in 1683 John and Jane Beckit were summoned before the court for fornication (prior to their marriage) and excommunicated. However, they declared penance in 1684 in order that their second son could be baptised in church.

• The Southwell Chapter online exhibition

A talk on Nottinghamshire’s Sporting Heritage will take place on 10 July at 2.30pm. See the Events page for further information:

• Nottinghamshire Archives Events page