Newark museums and the Gilstrap Centre

By NICOLA LONG

For people who want to discover the hidden secrets of Newark's past, visits to the town's museums are a must.

The largest of the museums is aptly situated in the heart of Millgate Conservation Area and is a former oil-seed mill.

Millgate Museum is a folk museum which backs onto the River Trent and is linked to Newark Castle by a riverside walk.

The idea for a museum came about in 1975 and initial work centred on renovating the building, which had fallen into disrepair, and relaying the granite setts in the courtyard.

The three-storey building was, during its time as a mill, owned by George Clarke and Company of Newark.

It was later occupied by the Trent Navigation Company as a riverside warehouse. After initial renovation, agreement was reached to display parts of the local Wells Collection of Folk Life.

Temporary displays were gradually replaced with permanent settings and the museum has a fine collection of items from domestic and industrial life dating from the mid 19th Century to the Fifties.

There is a recreated pre-war cobbled street with bakers, tobacconists and chemists' shops as well as domestic interiors from the same period.

Visitors can experience a bar room of 1912, a Forties sitting room and an Anderson bomb shelter. Local industry is represented by a Maltings display, blacksmith and woodturners' shops and by local engineering products.

A printer and a bookbinder can be seen at work. Other attractions include a replica model railway of a Newark Castle station layout and a substantial collection of model toys. In the courtyard there is a standard gauge 060 shunting engine by Huddswell and Clarke.

Visitors can visit the museum's Mezzanine Gallery which provides a showcase for the work of local artists, designers and photographers.

Exhibitions change regularly and there is always something different to see. There is also a souvenir and gift shop.

A short walk from Millgate Museum along Castlegate is the Gilstrap Centre which is located on the edge of the castle grounds. This building was, until 1988, the town's library.

It was built in 1882 and was a spin off from the wealth created by the thriving malting industry, as it was donated to the town by maltster Sir William Gilstrap.

Sir William was born in 1816, the son of a maltster, and followed into the family business until 1862 when he moved to Suffolk. Following a series of Public Libraries Acts, Sir William offered the gift of a library to Newark and to stock it with books.

The building was designed by Birmingham architect Mr William Henman and was officially opened on July 26, 1883.

After the building's closure as a library in 1988 it reopened as a tourist information centre. It details attractions and events and houses the story of Newark Castle. It is often the venue for art exhibitions. The library services were transferred to a new building in Beaumond Gardens, London Road.

The second of the museums in Newark is the Newark Museum in Appletongate. This museum is located in one of a series of buildings which, until 1909, belonged to the Magnus Grammar School.

The school was founded in 1529 by Archdeacon Thomas Magnus, one of Newark's great benefactors.

The porch entrance leads to a schoolroom built in 1835 which is now the main exhibition area. The collection includes artefacts of the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval periods.

There are also items from the Civil War and militarian objects relating to the 1/8th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. Millgate Museum's war gallery has been revamped and is now open to visitors.

The exhibition highlights Newark's role in the first and second world wars and shows what life was like for town residents in the early part of the 19th Century.

Information about food rationing, the Land Army and the bombing of Newark's bearing factory are included in the exhibition.
 

More NewarkAdvertiser.co.uk