Exhibition at Newark Castle marks society wedding

A NEW exhibition has opened at Newark Castle that takes visitors back to the Elizabethan era.

The Lady Elizabeth Manners display is in the castle’s south-west tower.

It has been created by the Friends Of Newark Castle And Gardens, with help from businesses and community groups.

"The exhibition looks fabulous and was admired by all who saw it at the official opening," said Mr Allan Towler, chairman of the friends group.

"It will be a great addition to the tower tours."

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a bed, created to the size and style of the period.

It was made by the Collingham-based Men In Sheds group.

Others who contributed were Newark’s Crafty Betty, who provided the table linen, cushion and wall-hangings; Linda Brickway, of Redmile, who made the wedding dress; Newark and Sherwood District Council, and Newark Town Council.

The hangings and bed curtains were created by Helen Wroe and Sarah Law dressed the room.

The exhibition is based around the wedding of Lady Elizabth Manners, daughter of the Earl of Rutland, to William Cecil, grandson of William Cecil, better known as Lord High Treasurer Burleigh.

They were married in the chapel at Newark Castle in January, 1589.

The castle had been leased to the Earl of Rutland, his wife, and daughter, by Henry VIII.

Lady Elizabeth Manners died two years after her wedding following complications from childbirth and so the castle passed to the Cecil family.

It was during this time many of the Tudor modifications were made.

The Lady Elizabeth Room can be seen as part of the regular tower tours.