Museum of…

The writer was heavily influenced by his early life in the mining community of Eastwood.

Where The museum is in Eastwood, once a coalmining town, which is close to Nottingham and Derby in the East Midlands. 

What The museum celebrates the life and work of the 20th-century author DH Lawrence, whose novels include The White Peacock, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Rainbow and Women in Love. The museum and the collection are owned by Broxtowe Borough Council and operated by Liberty Leisure, a non-profit private company owned by the local authority.

Opened The venue opened in 1976 after the council acquired the Victorian terraced house where Lawrence was born in1885. It expanded into the adjoining building in the 1990s to provide exhibition and office space

Collection The finest object is the building itself. “He was significantly influenced by his early life in the mining community of Eastwood and being able to share his tale with this backdrop enriches the visit,” says Emma Herrity, who shares the post of museum and collections officer with Elizabeth Moran. “We have a small collection of Lawrence-related items and a general social history collection. We interpret the Lawrence story through guided tours of the historic room.”

Highlights “We particularly like the Penguin first edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Herrity says. “This was the novel that was accused of obscenity, leading to the scandalous 1960 censorship trial, but found to be not guilty. We also love the photograph of a Nottingham bookseller with his toppling pile of copies of the novel, which sold out instantly following the court verdict as everyone wanted to read what all the fuss had been about.”

Help at hand “We have a fabulous team that make all things possible,” says Moran. A council-based cultural services manager provides support and helps out with advocacy, and there are also volunteers.

Budget The museum is funded by the local authority. The operating budget is £114,300 a year and other income comes mainly from sales of guided tours (a standard ticket is £6.90, family ticket £16.80) and retail sales. “We also dip our toes into the world of location hire when it is viable,” Moran says. Sticky moment “We feel slightly jinxed not to have a great embarrassing moment to share,” Herrity says. Though she says that one volunteer was terrified by a fake rat apparently moving by itself in the attic, and there was once a bluebell walk with no bluebells.

Survival tips “We had a tough year last year as we lost our heritage centre and some valued members of the team to budget cuts,” Herrity says. “Coming out of that, we would say plan what you are doing and why: if an idea doesn’t support your aims you shouldn’t be doing it. Don’t be afraid to say no and think quality not quantity. Having a team that supports each other in tough times and shares the good times is paramount.”

Visitor numbers “We are a new service now with just the one site and anticipate a number approaching 2,000 for the end of the last financial year,” says Moran. “It gives us something to work on and we have plans to improve this substantially.”

Future plans To raise the venue’s profile by making the marketing more attractive. As part of this, there are also plans to overhaul the interpretation in the museum.

Louise Gray is a freelance writer 

www.liberty-leisure.org.uk/dhlawrence