Also using Arts Council England (ACE) funding I can concentrate on re-displaying some areas of the first floor at Normanby Hall, also to be launched in March 2021.

We are saying goodbye to the Nursery display, which has not changed for at least 25 years. I am delighted to be able to inject the displays at Normanby Hall with a new lease of life, and I am designing the new exhibition so that the objects can be changed to keep the display fresh. This room will become an extension of the Life Below Stairs exhibition, which is on the corridor outside the room.

The Life Below Stairs exhibition, with the Nursery on the right

The room needs stripping back to be built back up as a fresh display. I am currently liaising with contractors so that work can be scheduled to strip the wallpaper, paint the walls and ceiling, and strip back and varnish the wooden floorboards. I have taken steps to commission cases to house objects relating to the servants in the first half of the 20^th century. A touchscreen is ready to install, which will allow visitors to explore photographs and audio relating to the servants and the Servants’ Wing, a building that no longer exists but rivalled the Hall in size. I am also working with the Museum Service’s Learning team to develop more interactive content to enhance the visitor experience even further.

Normanby Hall, with the Servants’ Wing extending to the left of the image, c1910

Servants at Normanby Hall, c1928

Next, I will look at how I can continue to tell the story of the Hall during the first part of the 20^th century by focussing on the Bedroom and Bathroom. The Bathroom was a Dressing Room before it was converted when alterations to the house took place between 1906 and 1908. This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the modernisation of the Hall. All the mod cons were being installed in the Servants’ Wing, so naturally the family wanted to modernise their living space too.

The Servants’ Wing under construction, c1907