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Wollaton Hall to charge entry under new delivery plan for Nottingham museums
Fee is part of new operating model intended to generate income and reduce financial pressure on council
An entry fee for visitors will be introduced at Wollaton Hall as part of new plans to make savings and generate income for Nottingham City Council’s museum service.
The service has face a number of challenges in recent years, including the failure of Nottingham Castle Trust in 2022 and the site’s subsequent reintegration into council control, followed by sweeping budget cuts last year.
In 2023, the council commissioned an independent delivery model assessment for the museum service, considering various options including moving to trust and merging with other regional entities.
In December 2024, the council approved a decision to keep the museum service in-house while establishing two new bodies to maximise financial benefits and grant-giving, and make savings for the council. It said the option – described as “in-house plus” – was the “the optimum structure to provide greater financial sustainability at reduced subsidy and risk”.
The two bodies will consist of a council-controlled exhibitions company and a charitable development trust. These entities “will allow the service to leverage a number of financial benefits and income streams which are not currently accessible”, the council said.
“These reliefs and additional income opportunities will enable a significant reduction in the need for council revenue subsidy and will deliver savings… over the next five years,” it added.
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At a meeting on 8 January, the council confirmed that visitors will be charged admission for Wollaton Hall and the Natural History Museum under the new delivery plan. The Grade I-listed Elizabethan mansion has been free to enter since 2007.
The council says the charge will generate income for the upkeep of the site, which was added to English Heritage’s risk register in 2023 after suffering extensive water damage. Visitors will still be able to access the deer park free of charge.
The charge for Wollaton was included in the council’s Future Delivery Plan as a means of reducing dependence on council revenue funding, Museums Journal understands. It comes amid increasing financial pressures on local authorities.
“The proposal does include a new charge to access Wollaton Hall,” Sam Lux, the executive member for carbon reduction, leisure and culture, said in a statement to local media.
“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 there, looking at benchmarking and comparing us to not only other councils, but 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.
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“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.”
In a statement to Museums Journal, Lux said: “Over last 12 months, the council has undertaken an independent Delivery Model Assessment to review future ways of managing its Museum & Galleries Service.
“This work explored a range of business models designed to safeguard the city’s iconic heritage sites while optimising cost-effectiveness. I am pleased to say that our existing Museum & Galleries Service was determined to be very high performing and the review recommended that in-house delivery should continue.
“It recommended the addition of two new bodies, namely an exhibitions company and a development trust, to help maximise financial benefits and grant giving to the service, enabling us to reduce subsidy costs where possible over coming years.”
The museum service has direct responsibility for Newstead Abbey – the ancestral home of Lord Byron – as well as Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, including the site’s Natural History Museum.
It also supports Nottingham Industrial Museum, Nottingham Castle and the Museum of Nottingham Life and Greens Windmill, along with the museum of the Mercian Regiment, which is located within the castle site.