Newstead Abbey has a long, complex and unique history. Built in the heart of Sherwood Forest in the 12th century, it was home to a community of Augustinian canons until the closure of all religious houses in the 1540s. It was home to 9 successive generations of the Byron family for the next 280 years. Newstead’s place in the global consciousness was cemented by the last of these generations: the visionary poet George Gordon, 6th Lord Byron.
The house then passed through the ownership of the Wildman and Webb families in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before coming into the ownership of Nottingham City Council in 1931.
Over this huge arch of time, Newstead has been shaped and formed by the influence of countless people. Representing such a huge range of lived experience in the house’s interpretation is a constantly evolving process.
We are determined that everyone who comes to Newstead feels welcome, and can see themselves reflected in the story of this extraordinary place.
In 2019, as part of our ongoing commitment to research and reinterpretation of previously neglected areas of Newstead’s history, we commissioned Dr Susanne Seymour and Dr Helen Bates of the University of Nottingham to write the report Black History, Slavery and Colonial Connections of Newstead Abbey.
This report will form the basis of an exhibition, opening in October 2021 for Black History Month, telling the story of Black people’s experience and influence at Newstead. The exhibition will show objects and artworks from Newstead’s extensive collection, interpreted by multiple Black voices through words, art and performance.
Using the report as a starting point, we will identify objects in the collection that tell the story of the Black experience of Newstead.
We will share these objects with Black groups, artists and academic experts from across Nottinghamshire. We will also share objects with the general public and invite their views. The resulting conversations will shape and inform the way we use these objects to tell Newstead’s Black history, the end result being a group of objects presented and interpreted by multiple Black voices.
The exhibition will open at Newstead Abbey in October 2021, and will also be accessible online.
Throughout the development of the project, we will also review our working and recruitment practices as an organisation. Every member of staff will undergo training in unconscious bias and anti-racism. The learning programme at Newstead will review its content and develop new school sessions.
The new interpretation and creative responses we receive will be embedded in the permanent interpretation at Newstead, and will inform the ongoing reinterpretation of the house. We will show Newstead to be a proud and active component in Nottingham City Council’s commitment to anti-racism.
Prior to the exhibition the team at Newstead would like to invite individual specialists to give a creative response to an object or story for the exhibition. These will include academics, artists, curators and writers.
There will also be groups of specialists invited that are already doing great work in this area, to offer their perspectives.
There will be displayed objects in public places, and the opportunity for the public to offer responses to them. This will be through written, anonymous contributions, social media and email. We will also establish a project space at Newstead, to display objects while they are being researched and considered, for our visitors to give their views.
All of these responses will then be used to arrive at the final interpretation for the exhibition.
For more information and to get involved, please contact Simon Brown, Curator at Newstead Abbey: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
