Newstead Abbey is to get a new permanent exhibition space after securing fresh funding.
The historic house has been awarded £75,000 to improve access to its collection with the new space which will be accessible to disabled visitors.
The grant has been awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Wolfson Foundation to Museums and Galleries across England to improve displays and facilities. It’s part of a £4m fund which will be used for renovation and improvement projects in 39 museums and galleries across England, allowing institutions to increase access, improve displays and enhance public spaces.
The funding for Newstead Abbey will be used for accessibility improvements, which include a public space that will house exhibitions on the history of Newstead and its occupants, with unique stories and collections on show.
The Newstead Abbey collection contains more than 4,600 items of furniture, books, costume, fine and decorative arts as well as archival and archaeological material. With the additional permanent exhibition space more collections can be made accessible to disabled visitors.
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “Over 100,000 people a year visit the grounds of Newstead, with 23,000 of them also visiting the house.
“We want to make sure that more people have the chance to experience the amazing history of the Abbey and although the nature of the building means the majority of the site is inaccessible to those with limited mobility, there is a very clear area of the building that has full mobility access.
We want to turn this into an engaging, fully accessible, interactive exhibition to tell the story of the Newstead, its inhabitants and to make the collections accessible to a wider audience.”
The museum service will work with partners, community and disability groups and visitors to develop an exhibition space that is fully accessible and an interactive exhibition.
