Visitors will be charged to enter Wollaton Hall and its Natural History Museum as part of plans to raise more money to maintain the landmark.
As part of its budget proposals, Nottingham City Council is planning to set up a charitable development trust and an exhibitions company to help the authority make savings and bring in more money to run its museum service.
During a meeting at Loxley House headquarters on Wednesday (8th January), it was revealed that visitors to Wollaton Hall would be charged a fee to enter under the new five-year business plan.
The Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion, built between 1580 and 1588, was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2023 due to extensive water damage.
Dinosaur exhibition at Wollaton Hall in 2017
The exact fee has not yet been decided; however, the charge will only apply to the hall and museum, while the Deer Park grounds will remain free to enter.
“The proposal does include a new charge to access Wollaton Hall,” Cllr Sam Lux, executive member for carbon reduction, leisure, and culture, said.
Dinosaur exhibition at Wollaton Hall in 2017
“We have not decided as a group how much that charge will be. But I will say the team has done a huge amount of work analysing what the most optimal pricing is, looking at benchmarking and comparing us not only to other councils, but also to comparable organisations like the National Trust and English Heritage.
“In terms of that charge, the way I see it, it is not the grounds, it is just the actual hall and the museum service.
“Fundamentally, that charge will allow us to invest properly in the building. We know anecdotally from other authorities that if those kinds of really expensive, beautiful buildings don’t get the investment they need, they often become dilapidated and are forced to close in the long run.”
Under the plans, which will go to Full Council in March for final approval, the new exhibitions company will be owned and controlled by the council, but it will allow the authority to claim a tax break on the costs of exhibitions.
Council staff will not be transferred and will remain as employees of the authority, but the company may employ new staff members.
Council representatives will sit as the directors of the company.
Meanwhile, the council says the development trust element will help the Museums and Galleries Service get funding from more sources, making it less reliant on the council.
The trust will focus on fundraising activities, leaving the council as the main operator of the service.
Cllr Lux said it differs from the Nottingham Castle Trust, which was heavily criticised for its running of the landmark.
The trust was liquidated just 18 months after it opened the castle following a £30m renovation project, and it was subsequently put back in the council’s hands in November 2022.
“The thing to note is we are not losing any autonomy to an outside body, as was the case with the Nottingham Castle Trust, which operated independently of the council,” Cllr Lux said.
“So we are going to keep full control over the services. What the change allows us to fundamentally do is access funding and financial incentives that we are not currently able to, which will save us around £800,000 over two years, and more over the proceeding three years.
“That is almost win-win.”
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