This new gallery documents Mansfield's industrial past in a way that radiates a love and respect for the town’s people, says Simon Brown
If the chief purpose of a museum could be reduced to a single sentence, then surely it would be this: “To be a public forum for the celebration of a time or place.”
Mansfield Museum has consistently fulfilled this brief since its foundation more than a century ago. The museum’s newest gallery, Made in Mansfield, has built on this tradition of celebrating the industries that have shaped and continue to shape the town.
The concept for the new gallery can be traced back to 2011, when the museum acquired the archive of Nottinghamshire’s Metal Box Company.
Metal Box has produced tins in its Mansfield factory for household names, such as Cadbury and Kellogg’s, for use all over the world.
The company employed more than 1,000 people in Mansfield at one stage, and is still based in the area after 150 years. The museum’s 2011 exhibition of 1,400-plus tins from the archive was a huge success, and clearly demonstrated the public’s interest in the town’s industrial roots.
Following this success, the museum’s next task was the renewal of its entrance space. This need, coupled with the clear interest in Mansfield’s industry, led to the decision to apply for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to help create a gallery documenting and celebrating this heritage.
It was decided at the outset of the project that the local community should be involved at every stage. Jodie Henshaw, the museum's development officer, says that the people of Mansfield really took ownership of the project – a scheme by the public for the public.
Celebrating memories
To this end, the museum held a series of “memory days”. These were events to which the public were invited to bring anything that related to working life in Mansfield, such as photographs, objects or stories.
Hugely popular, these events had the dual benefit of bringing a wealth of material to the project while also promoting that it was happening, and much of the material from them remains on display in the finished gallery.
These events also provided an unexpected insight into the potential for the Made in Mansfield exhibition, as they became a forum for ex-workmates who hadn’t seen each other for years to meet and reminisce.
The exhibition is divided into eight key industries-cum- workplaces: Mansfield Brewery,
coal mining, engineering, Shoe Co, textiles, quarries, Metal Box, foundries. As Simon Davies, the exhibition's curator, began his research into these areas it quickly became apparent that they were not only significant historically, but remain important to the area to this day.
He learned a lot about Mansfield’s industry and wanted to portray it in
a positive light to reflect the enthusiasm he encountered throughout the project.
The museum itself is deeply connected with its surroundings in the town, and these connections are clear throughout the gallery.
A film details a working day at Crystal Knitwear, a shop on the next street and a regular exhibitor at the museum’s Christmas market. A cast-iron fingerpost was made especially for the exhibition by local firm Trent Castings.
A particularly heartwarming part of the display is a 1960s radio playing Dusty Springfield, interspersed with a news bulletin recorded for the exhibition by local radio presenter Ian Watkins.
All of these contributions were the result of a desire by the community to contribute to the work of the museum.
The gallery radiates a love and respect for the people of Mansfield and their achievements. Displays feature postboxes, cast ironwork and bottles made in the town but used all over the country.
There’s even a Peter Blake artwork from 1968, Babe Rainbow, printed on one of the Mansfield Metal Boxes.
An open and inclusive place
The gallery is an awkward space to curate, with the museum’s entrance walkway running through the middle. This has meant that some of the soundtracked sections are rather close together – it was a struggle to hear the compelling stories of former workers in the Mansfield Brewery.
This small issue is a result of the difficult space, which otherwise is extremely well negotiated. Mansfield Museum won the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum award in 2011, and it is easy to see why.
The approach of the whole organisation is open and inclusive, and the Made in Mansfield gallery is bursting with ideas to engage multiple generations in the same space. Alongside cases of objects with clear and precise interpretation are clever interactive displays, such as quizzes built into clocking-on machines.
Each section also showcases a selection of the photographs that were brought to the museum on the memory days, and effectively connects the objects on display to the people that made and used them.
The same outcome is achieved by the touchscreens at either end of the gallery, which serve as a place to show further material that wasn’t included in the displays, or that has been contributed since the gallery opened. The design is clear and the screens are robust – a deceptively difficult thing to achieve.
An extensive events programme complements the gallery: memory days continue to be held, ex-employee retirement groups from the bigger employers shown in the exhibition have been meeting in the museum on a regular basis, and last February a pub quiz was held on the theme of Mansfield Brewery.
The most ambitious event to date has been a flashmob held in the town centre as part of the opening celebrations, where a group of people in Victorian workers’ clothes recreated the daily morning walk through the town to the factories, as a way of leading the public to the museum.
Pupils from Mansfield Primary Academy joined Mansfield’s over-60s choir to signal the start of the walk by singing in the town square, before leading the group (and a largely bewildered public) to the museum.
This event, like the new Made in Mansfield gallery itself, was a fantastic example of how a small local authority museum can work with and for its public.
Cost £190,000
Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund with additional support from the Mansfield Educational Foundation
Exhibition design Far Post Design
Research and exhibition texts Simon Davies Freelance Consultant
Print material and branding Rubiqa
Project management Liz Weston, the curator at Mansfield Museum
Simon Brown is an artefact loans officer at Nottingham City Museums and Galleries
If the chief purpose of a museum could be reduced to a single sentence, then surely it would be this: “To be a public forum for the celebration of a time or place.”
Mansfield Museum has consistently fulfilled this brief since its foundation more than a century ago. The museum’s newest gallery, Made in Mansfield, has built on this tradition of celebrating the industries that have shaped and continue to shape the town.
The concept for the new gallery can be traced back to 2011, when the museum acquired the archive of Nottinghamshire’s Metal Box Company.
Metal Box has produced tins in its Mansfield factory for household names, such as Cadbury and Kellogg’s, for use all over the world.
The company employed more than 1,000 people in Mansfield at one stage, and is still based in the area after 150 years. The museum’s 2011 exhibition of 1,400-plus tins from the archive was a huge success, and clearly demonstrated the public’s interest in the town’s industrial roots.
Following this success, the museum’s next task was the renewal of its entrance space. This need, coupled with the clear interest in Mansfield’s industry, led to the decision to apply for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to help create a gallery documenting and celebrating this heritage.
It was decided at the outset of the project that the local community should be involved at every stage. Jodie Henshaw, the museum's development officer, says that the people of Mansfield really took ownership of the project – a scheme by the public for the public.
Celebrating memories
To this end, the museum held a series of “memory days”. These were events to which the public were invited to bring anything that related to working life in Mansfield, such as photographs, objects or stories.
Hugely popular, these events had the dual benefit of bringing a wealth of material to the project while also promoting that it was happening, and much of the material from them remains on display in the finished gallery.
These events also provided an unexpected insight into the potential for the Made in Mansfield exhibition, as they became a forum for ex-workmates who hadn’t seen each other for years to meet and reminisce.
The exhibition is divided into eight key industries-cum- workplaces: Mansfield Brewery,
coal mining, engineering, Shoe Co, textiles, quarries, Metal Box, foundries. As Simon Davies, the exhibition's curator, began his research into these areas it quickly became apparent that they were not only significant historically, but remain important to the area to this day.
He learned a lot about Mansfield’s industry and wanted to portray it in
a positive light to reflect the enthusiasm he encountered throughout the project.
The museum itself is deeply connected with its surroundings in the town, and these connections are clear throughout the gallery.
A film details a working day at Crystal Knitwear, a shop on the next street and a regular exhibitor at the museum’s Christmas market. A cast-iron fingerpost was made especially for the exhibition by local firm Trent Castings.
A particularly heartwarming part of the display is a 1960s radio playing Dusty Springfield, interspersed with a news bulletin recorded for the exhibition by local radio presenter Ian Watkins.
All of these contributions were the result of a desire by the community to contribute to the work of the museum.
The gallery radiates a love and respect for the people of Mansfield and their achievements. Displays feature postboxes, cast ironwork and bottles made in the town but used all over the country.
There’s even a Peter Blake artwork from 1968, Babe Rainbow, printed on one of the Mansfield Metal Boxes.
An open and inclusive place
The gallery is an awkward space to curate, with the museum’s entrance walkway running through the middle. This has meant that some of the soundtracked sections are rather close together – it was a struggle to hear the compelling stories of former workers in the Mansfield Brewery.
This small issue is a result of the difficult space, which otherwise is extremely well negotiated. Mansfield Museum won the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum award in 2011, and it is easy to see why.
The approach of the whole organisation is open and inclusive, and the Made in Mansfield gallery is bursting with ideas to engage multiple generations in the same space. Alongside cases of objects with clear and precise interpretation are clever interactive displays, such as quizzes built into clocking-on machines.
Each section also showcases a selection of the photographs that were brought to the museum on the memory days, and effectively connects the objects on display to the people that made and used them.
The same outcome is achieved by the touchscreens at either end of the gallery, which serve as a place to show further material that wasn’t included in the displays, or that has been contributed since the gallery opened. The design is clear and the screens are robust – a deceptively difficult thing to achieve.
An extensive events programme complements the gallery: memory days continue to be held, ex-employee retirement groups from the bigger employers shown in the exhibition have been meeting in the museum on a regular basis, and last February a pub quiz was held on the theme of Mansfield Brewery.
The most ambitious event to date has been a flashmob held in the town centre as part of the opening celebrations, where a group of people in Victorian workers’ clothes recreated the daily morning walk through the town to the factories, as a way of leading the public to the museum.
Pupils from Mansfield Primary Academy joined Mansfield’s over-60s choir to signal the start of the walk by singing in the town square, before leading the group (and a largely bewildered public) to the museum.
This event, like the new Made in Mansfield gallery itself, was a fantastic example of how a small local authority museum can work with and for its public.
Project data
Cost £190,000
Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund with additional support from the Mansfield Educational Foundation
Exhibition design Far Post Design
Research and exhibition texts Simon Davies Freelance Consultant
Print material and branding Rubiqa
Project management Liz Weston, the curator at Mansfield Museum
Simon Brown is an artefact loans officer at Nottingham City Museums and Galleries