Bassetlaw Museum

Bassetlaw Museum

Bassetlaw Museum
Location within Nottinghamshire
Former name	Amcott House
Established	1983
Location	Retford, Nottinghamshire, England
Coordinates	53°19′20″N0°56′22″W / 53.32225°N 0.93954°W / 53.32225; -0.93954
Website	bassetlawmuseum.org.uk
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Amcott House
Designated	14 September 1949
Reference no.	1178702

Bassetlaw Museum interior

The Bassetlaw Museum is a museum on Grove Street in Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. It documents the history of North Nottinghamshire from the earliest times to the present day.

History

The Bassetlaw Museum was created in 1983 and has a number of collections donated by people in the local area. The collections include local history, archaeology, decorative and fine art, agriculture, costume and textiles. The museum is situated in the 18th-century Grade II* listed Amcott House on Grove Street, Retford where it moved in 1986. ^[1] Admission to the museum is free. ^[2]

Collection highlights

• Art gallery - built in 1994 and partly financed by the Percy Laws Memorial Fund of the Rotary Club of Retford. ^[1]
• Photography - comprising the 21,000 negatives known as the Welchman Collection, which were taken by professional photographers Edgar Welchman and Son of Grove Street, Retford between 1910 and 1960. The photograph collection at the museum also contains over 25,000 photographs of the towns and villages of North Nottinghamshire and people who lived there from about the 1850s onwards ^[3]
• Carlton-in-Lindrick knight
• Anglo-Saxon log boat
• Autochromes by Stephen Pegler
• The Pilgrims Gallery - which opened in 2019 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower 's voyage to America in 1620. The gallery features a recreation of William Brewster's study ^{[4] [5]}
• Rural Heritage Centre
• Costume

Events and news

In July 2020, Bassetlaw Museum was the site of a community art project during the COVID-19 pandemic called 'The Retford Positivity Rock Snake'. ^{[6] [7]}

In September 2021, Bassetlaw Museum hosted an event welcoming members of the Wampanoag Nation for The Wampanoag Perspective Project, led by Bassetlaw District Council and funded by the Arts Council England and Nottinghamshire County Council. The cultural exchange project was aimed at hearing the Wampanoag perspective during the 400th year anniversary of the Mayflower sailing. The programme enabled primary-age pupils to learn about Native American culture, the shared Wampanoag-Bassetlaw history, and to watch the assembly of a Wetu in the grounds of the museum. ^[8]

Awards

• Bassetlaw Museum was voted the Nottinghamshire Museum of the Year in 2009
• In 2002 the Heritage Lottery Fund gave the museum a grant of £78,000 to enable the purchase and digitisation of the Welchman Collection ^[9]
• In 2019 the museum was given £750,000—£450,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the rest from local sources—to build the Pilgrim's Gallery ^[10]

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
• Listed buildings in Retford

References

1. "Bassetlaw museum". Bassetlaw District Council. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
2. "Bassetlaw Museum - Visit us". Bassetlaw Museum. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
3. Updated information from the museum's collection database MODES, 8 January 2021.
4. Nanrah, Gurjeet (26 September 2019). "New 'innovative' gallery celebrates north Notts' pilgrims who laid foundation for US constitution". Nottinghamshire Live. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
5. Fletcher, Nicholas (23 September 2019). "New gallery opens in Retford celebrating one of district's favourite sons". Lincolnshire Live. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
6. White, Emily (4 July 2020). "Retford community project hopes to boost town spirit during pandemic". Lincolnshire Live. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
7. Roberts, Lucy (6 July 2020). "Add decorated rocks to 'positivity snake' project and bring cheer back to Bassetlaw". Worksop Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
8. Hamilton, Kirsty (15 September 2021). "Wampanoag Nation to visit Bassetlaw Museum in 'exciting cultural exchange'". Worksop Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
9. "Bassetlaw Museum Photographic Collection Scanning Project". Heritage Fund. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
10. "Pilgrim fathers' Nottinghamshire story boosted by grant". BBC News. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2025.

External links

• Official website