Newstead Abbey

Newstead Abbey is a monastic house that was founded in the late 12th century it was a home for its most famous resident Lord Byron between1808-1814. The Abbey contains over 300 beautiful acres of gardens, lakes, ponds and waterfalls. It is now a historic site that holds exhibitions, tours and even has an outdoor cinema. Its current exhibition is "Lace Places" and runs until the end of October 2022 it shows a lace collection from Nottingham's boom in machine production in the mid 19th century.

Reflection on the Site Visit:

When walking round the halls and corridors of Newstead Abbey and following the footsteps of Kings and Gardeners I sensed quite an eerie and gloomy atmosphere. The rooms in this medieval home have been set up and left as if the family had walked straight out. Alot of old toys and clothes where casually dotted around the Abbey. This is also largely due to the little amount of natural daylight has been minimalised to protect the historical artifacts from being damaged by the sun. I will have to consider artificial lighting when designing to help create a more incising and light-hearted atmosphere in the room.

When exploring I tried to immerser myself in the details of the Abbey by looking at patterns in the wallpaper and caving's on the edge of picture frames etc. trying to see the Abbey from the eyes of a child that can easily be distracted by small and seemingly unimportant details.

Newstead Abbey Mood Board:

I also made some further notes from the Abbey that may impact my design.

- The rooms are small carefully of backpacks and people knocking into walls and pieces.

- Children will likely try and touch the pieces so mack sure they are fairly robust and can with stand children poking them, they also need to be able to withstand traveling to the Abbey itself.

- No drilling or permanent damage to the walls or carpet of the Abbey, I need to make sure my design compliments and does not negatively affect the existing artifacts.

- My design cannot include safety pins, small objects or ties that children could get caught in or hurt themselves with.

The Library:

The main colour palette in the library consists of dark reds browns and golds. My design will need to compliment this space. As well as looking at the colours I looked at the patterns and textures within the room. This room will resemble the mad hatter's tea party with a big table running down the middle of the room, my work will be positioned in the big bay windows to the right of the room.