‘Fragments in Time’ to explore Rufford’s colourful history

A new exhibition will provide a snap-shot of Rufford Abbey’s remarkable history when it opens later this month. Nottinghamshire County Council is organising the exhibition at The Orangery at Rufford Abbey Country Park to open from January 18, 10.30am – 4pm. ‘Fragments in Time’ will feature old photographs, salvaged fragments and objects donated back to the country park in recent years. While little now remains of what was once a huge country mansion, owned by Lord Savile, the exhibition will provide an intriguing peek into a vanished world. Councillor John Knight, Committee Chairman for Culture, at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “Rufford Abbey has witnessed so many different periods of English history from medieval and Elizabethan times, to today’s country park which attracts well over 300,000 visitors each year. ‘Fragments in Time’ will enable people to take a glimpse into its past and the fascinating stories behind these objects.” Exhibits include: • Two boxes given to the park by a local donor made of wood from repairs to Rufford Chapel organ by a young carpenter. The carpenter was engaged to a member of Rufford’s domestic but enlisted during WWI and was killed at the Battle of the Somme. • Fragments of the long vanished Northern Gates of Rufford Abbey which were removed several decades ago. • Items from Rufford School – now outside the Abbey Park but once part of the estate. It was a tiny village school which closed in the 1950s. These include the school register and textbooks, along with old news clippings about its closure. • A large oak panel donated from a keen collector from the county who bought it when the Abbey was demolished in the late 1950s. Piles of wood and other materials had been stripped from the decaying abbey and stacked up awaiting disposal. The gentleman bought the panels to save them from destruction and later donated them back to the park. Their decorative carving gives a flavour of the ornate interiors that once filled the Abbey. • A “mystery object” - a metal contraption discovered in a cupboard at Rufford which has now been identified as a “trace cutter” for leather harnesses. Pieces of medieval pottery, dug up by volunteers as part of community archaeology digs last summer (organised by members of the county council’s community archaeology team) will also be on display at the exhibition. Fragments in Time opens at The Apsidal Gallery, at The Orangery, Rufford Abbey Country Park from January 18. It is a free exhibition. Rufford’s £3 parking charge applies at weekends only during January. Find out more about visiting Rufford Abbey Country Park.