NOTTINGHAM CASTLE’S CLOSURE

Nottingham Castle became a hotspot for tourists, locals and university students. The castle’s £33 million renovation sought to achieve a premiere tourist attraction displaying Nottingham’s history and heritage. However, on the 20th November 2022, only 18 months after the regeneration, the castle closed its doors to the public and staff after Nottingham Castle Trust went into liquidation. Omay explores the consequences of the castle’s closure and the approach to its prior revamp.

The renovation began in 2018 and reopened on the 21st June 2021. Multiple parts of the castle were changed or added. The revamp included landscaping referring to its historical layout, adding a mediaeval bridge and maintained grass borders. The trust also added the ‘Hood Hideout’ playground - a playground for children and adults themed around Robin Hood’s Sherwood forest hideout. The castle maximised its views of the city with a new terrace café, firepit and story-telling chair.

The Ducal Palace was repainted and featured a new climate change system to maintain the condition of delicate items on display. There were also new interactive displays allowing children to digitally carve their own sculptures and other educational games.

With the closure of any institution there is an accompanying loss of employment. This closure resulted in 47 redundancies. According to the trust they were “simply not able to evolve quickly enough to survive the ongoing crisis as it entered its quietest trading period of the year”. The museum’s journal stated staff were given no advance notice of the closure; they showed up to work only to be told in a meeting they were losing their jobs with immediate effect and had no time to secure alternative work. The museum’s journal has also released information that 15 workers on zero-hour contracts have not been paid for work since 15th October 2022. According to one worker, this has left many unable to pay rent and they have been forced to take out emergency loans.

Furthermore, those who ran the market stalls have been left unemployed. Gabrielle Bone from Resin by Gabrielle sold handmade jewellery, accessories, and ornaments since the first lockdown in 2020, but her market stall too was affected by the last-minute closing of the castle.

The castle’s renovation saw new modern infrastructure installed while maintaining its traditional features. Visitors like Simran Kaur, who visited the castle in August 2022 appreciated the castle’s remaining traditional elements because that’s how “it’s meant to be”. This visitor enthusiastically reminisced about the castle being full of Nottingham’s rich history and heritage - and that applied especially to the displays.

The revamp also saw a new visitor centre at the entrance of the grounds and a Robin Hood experience under the palace in place of the old staff car park. The experience recalled the old Tales of Robin Hood experience on Maid Marian Way which closed in 2009. This, like the castle’s new interactive experience, provided the city centre an attraction explicitly focused on the city’s most famous icon.

Although so much improved during the revamp, the pricing strategy became an issue, many felt the entry price to be unwarranted along with the additional costs for cave tours. The discount for locals was also a very lacklustre £1. Darren Sims told the BBC, “If they charged a fair price and gave certain people fairer discounts then people would come”. As such, the forced closure is almost not surprising, given difficult times post-COVID and the cost of living crisis.

The closure of Nottingham Castle in November is a significant loss for the city’s tourism and local culture. Although, the castle has now been returned to Nottingham City Council who will oversee its future. Hopefully they will take all the criticism into account and lower the ticket prices – especially in this economy.

Omay Chaudhry