Lace Collection Tour at Nottingham Industrial Museum

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Saturday 28 February 2015 at 2pm

Visitors will have the chance to see Nottingham City Museums & Galleries’ lace collections at close hand at the Textile Gallery based in Nottingham Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall.  A special tour will take place at 2pm led by the curator which will include lace object handling and the chance to see a few pieces from the reserve collections. 

Through the rare and, in some cases, unique machinery and ancillary equipment displayed in the Textile Gallery, the curator will guide visitors through the major developments of the lace industry. The Textile Gallery is open every weekend but this is the first tour by the curator. 

There is no additional charge for the tour but normal entry prices to the museum will apply.

In December 2014 Nottingham City Museums & Galleries achieved a rare and prestigious accolade from its professional body, Arts Council England when they were awarded Designation status for the lace and lace machinery collections. This acknowledges the local, national and international significance of these collections, housed at Newstead Abbey and the Nottingham Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall. Whilst tours behind the scenes have been available to see the Newstead Abbey material, this is the first opportunity at the Industrial Museum with the Industrial Curator.

Nottingham and its environs were integral to the technical development of the lace machine: from the development of the stocking frame by William Lee of Calverton in 1589, inspiring the development of lace machinery through the work of major players, such as John Heathcoat and John Levers, through to Blore’s eternal trimmings, used on Queen Victoria’s bloomers, to the impressive c1880 Leavers Landing Bar fancy lace machine by Cooper of Lenton.  At its peak, in around 1906/1907, the industry had a workforce of around 40,000, spreading the name of Nottingham on a global basis.  Up to the 1950s around 90% of the lace machines produced worldwide were made in Nottingham. Indeed, a number of countries even had embassies in the Lace Market, to ease the export of finished goods out to their countries of origin.