Bassetlaw Museum facts for kids
Bassetlaw Museum
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| Former name | Amcott House |
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| Established | 1983 |
| Location | Retford, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Listed Building – Grade II*
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| Official name: Amcott House | |
| Designated: | 14 September 1949 |
| Reference #: | 1178702 |
The Bassetlaw Museum is a museum located on Grove Street in Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. It tells the story of North Nottinghamshire, from ancient times right up to today. You can visit the museum for free!
Contents
Discovering the Museum's History
The Bassetlaw Museum first opened its doors in 1983. It holds many interesting collections that people from the local area have kindly donated. These collections show local history, old artifacts (archaeology), beautiful art, farming tools, and old clothes (costume and textiles).
The museum is located in a special old building called Amcott House. This house was built in the 1700s and is a Grade II* listed building, meaning it's very important. The museum moved into Amcott House in 1986.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Bassetlaw Museum has many exciting things to explore. Here are some of the highlights:
- Art Gallery: This gallery was built in 1994. It displays various artworks for visitors to enjoy.
- Amazing Photographs: The museum has a huge collection of over 21,000 photo negatives. These are known as the Welchman Collection. They were taken by professional photographers Edgar Welchman and Son between 1910 and 1960. The museum also has more than 25,000 other photos of towns, villages, and people from North Nottinghamshire, dating back to the 1850s.
- Ancient Finds: You can see unique items like the Carlton-in-Lindrick knight and an Anglo-Saxon log boat.
- Early Color Photos: The museum displays special early color photographs called Autochromes by Stephen Pegler.
- The Pilgrims Gallery: This gallery opened in 2019. It celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower ship's journey to America in 1620. The gallery even has a recreated study of William Brewster, who was a passenger on the Mayflower.
- Rural Heritage Centre: This area shows what life was like in the countryside.
- Costume Collection: Explore different styles of clothing from the past.
Museum Events and Community Projects
The Bassetlaw Museum often hosts special events and community projects.
- In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum was part of a community art project. It was called 'The Retford Positivity Rock Snake'.
- In September 2021, the museum welcomed members of the Wampanoag Nation. This was for The Wampanoag Perspective Project. This project helped people learn about Native American culture. It also shared the history between the Wampanoag people and Bassetlaw. Young students learned about their culture and watched a traditional Wetu (a type of home) being built at the museum.
Awards and Recognition
The Bassetlaw Museum has received several awards for its work:
- In 2009, it was named the Nottinghamshire Museum of the Year.
- In 2002, the Heritage Lottery Fund gave the museum £78,000. This money helped them buy and digitize the Welchman Collection of photographs.
- In 2019, the museum received £750,000 to build the Pilgrim's Gallery. A large part of this funding came from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
See Also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
- Listed buildings in Retford
