National Lottery awards £89k grant to Lancaster museum for community project

The funding will help reveal the hidden histories of the servants and other working class people connected with Judges’ Lodgings, which is Lancaster’s oldest town house.

It will support a wide-ranging programme of restoration, community engagement, and creative interpretation as the historic house celebrates its 400th anniversary and 50 years as a museum in 2025.

Built in 1625, the Judges’ Lodgings is a landmark building and one of Lancaster’s most iconic and historic properties.

It was originally built for Thomas Covell, the Keeper of the Castle, and has a long association with the castle and its courts.

Lynda Jackson, museum manager, said: “This amazing building has been here for 400 years and it has so many stories to tell about the people who once lived and worked here – from the visiting circuit judges to their many servants.

"It’s such a familiar sight in Lancaster, so close to the castle, and we want to make sure its history is shared and celebrated.”

The grant will help to preserve the physical heritage of the house by restoring the coal and wash sheds and conducting a small archaeological dig in the south courtyard to uncover hidden histories.

There will also be an oral history project recording people who lived or worked at the Judges’ Lodgings before it became a museum in 1975.

It will also support a refreshed events programme, online tour, digital artwork and a new textile exhibition by Sarah-Joy Ford and Sewing Café Lancaster, that highlights working-class histories and the lives of servants who once worked in the house.

A key part of the project is collaboration with local artists and community groups, including the Lancaster-based Sewing Café, Kings Street Arts and Lancaster Black History Group.

Known for its welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, the Sewing Café will host creative workshops at Judges’ Lodgings using vintage textiles and historical servant training manuals.

Katrina Barnish, a representative of The Sewing Cafe, said: “We like to have our workshops in a really relaxed kind of environment. We can accommodate complete beginners and create a space where people feel comfortable learning and sharing.”

The initiative builds on previous successes, such as the Black History Facing the Past project, and aims to make the museum more welcoming and engaging for all.

The museum hopes this grant will help to not only preserve the building’s heritage but also raise Lancaster’s profile further as a cultural destination.

Lynda said: “Lancaster is just such a wonderful place to visit for a day out or a weekend, it should be up there with York. It’s beautiful, full of Georgian architecture, and packed with fascinating history, cool shops and places to eat and drink.”

"We’re also very close to the castle, where the judges who stayed here would have heard cases, and there are also a number of other excellent museums and buildings in the city that people can explore.”

Alongside the £88,969 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, a further £1,000 has come the Friends of Judges Lodgings and £1,000 from Lancashire County Council who own and operate the museum.