New collections and exhibitions officer takes up position at Newark Town Hall, in partnership with Newark Town Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council

Decades worth of Newark’s history is in the process of being curated and arranged with the aim of highlighting the town’s rich heritage.

Becky Fawcett is the new senior collections and exhibitions officer at Newark Town Hall.

The position was created by Newark Town Council last year, to help delve through the building’s extensive archives and highlight some of it’s most interesting items for the public in the town hall museum.

Newark Town Hall was built in 1776 — making it as old as the entire country of the United States of America — and will celebrate its 250th anniversary next year.

The building holds two and half centuries worth of items which chronicle the history of not just the building but Newark as a whole — many of these items have not seen the light of day in decades.

Becky hopes to change this, and comes to Newark with extensive experience working in audience development, firstly with local authority museums, before going on to work with the National Trust.

Some notable buildings she has worked on include Hampton Court Palace and the Houses of Parliament.

“It’s very exiting to be involved, but there is a lot to do,” she said.

“My role here is to look after the collections and exhibitions at the town hall museum and art gallery, but help to increase audience and footfall too

“It’s a brilliant opportunity because it’s a really quality collection with some incredible artworks.

“However, we have lots of collections in store that we just don’t have space to display — so we want to get some of those out, put them on display and change things around in the future.

“There will be lots of opportunities to develop events and hold more temporary exhibitions too.”

Due to a partnership agreement between Newark Town Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council, Becky is also exploring the idea of sending items out on loan and to share storage space.

The partnership also means that she will have access to collections from other museums, and the resource centre housed at the National Civil War Centre on Appletongate.

“Newark is special because it’s got a huge range of history and heritage across the centuries, and has really high quality buildings,” said Becky.

“I also think it’s one of the best kept secrets there is. Lots of people don’t realise the quality of what we have here.”

Becky hopes to increase the opening hours of the museum and spread the word about to make it more accessible for residents.

There will also be an increase in the number of events held and, in 2026, plans are also being drawn up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Town Hall.

The museum and art gallery, on the top floor of Newark Town Hall, is open from Wednesday to Friday, 10.30am to 1pm, and from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturdays.