Bassetlaw Museum 2025
Nottinghamshire
A unique complex of listed frameshops, cottages and outbuildings arranged around a garden courtyard with an adjacent former chapel in which many of the knitters worshipped. The site has been restored to show the living and working conditions of the framework knitters who occupied it throughout the 19th century. This is a working museum with machinery in use and the opportunity for visitors to ‘have-a-go’.
Address: Chapel Street Ruddington Nottinghamshire NG11 6HE
Feb-25 Nov Wed-Sat & BHol Mon 1100-1630. Also Sun from 1330. Visit website or facebook for more details.
It is a unique surviving example of a 19th century framework knitters’ yard. The site has been lovingly restored as a living history museum, and discover how framework knitters and their families lived and worked here in Victorian times – the sights, the sounds and even the smells!
We tell the 400 year history of framework knitting, from its role in the Industrial Revolution to the infamous Luddite riots of the 1800s, and how framework knitting gave birth to the Nottingham lace industry.
Being a working museum, you can see original knitting frames in action in our preserved frameshop, and you can even knit your own souvenir on a vintage Griswold knitting machine.
Also explore our fascinating collections of hosiery and related items, including a genuine pair of Queen Victoria’s stockings.