Refurbishment works have completed on the Framework Knitters Museum’s Grade II listed cottage and frameshop buildings in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.

Anyone who has worked in the East Midlands knitting and hosiery industries or studied textiles in Nottingham or Leicester would know of this place. I remember first visiting as a student, and then years later taking overseas visitors there when I was involved in Leicester's knitting machine business. It’s a real little gem of a museum with working stocking frames, the forerunners to todays high-tech flat knitting machines and hosiery machines.

The £62,295 refurbishment project included external works, which were carried out on the buildings, and repairs to the roofs and chimneys, replacing the gutters, and repointing the walls. Additionally, insulation to the roofs and walls has been upgraded to improve the energy efficiency and provide much-needed protection from the weather.

The funds for the work, which was undertaken by Stevenson Bros, were awarded through the Arts Council of England’s Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND). MEND is an open-access capital fund, which is designed to help museums and local authorities to undertake infrastructure and urgent maintenance that are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.

Sarah Godfrey, creative and commercial manager of the museum, said: “We’re delighted that work has completed on our cottage and frameshop buildings, it’s important to keep them alive and thanks to generous funding from the Arts Council we were able to carry out much-needed repairs.

“The restoration, which has also made the buildings more environmentally sustainable, will help to ensure that a wide range of people can continue to access the museum, and to celebrate our historical textile heritage, for many years to come.”

Peter Knott, Midlands area director for Arts Council England, said: “The Framework Knitters Museum is a place of considerable communal and historic value, which tells the fascinating 400-year history of framework knitting.”

“It is much loved by its local community and this work will help to secure the long-term survival of the buildings. We’re proud to have supported the project through our Museum Estates and Development Fund (MEND).”

The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday between 11.00am-4.00pm, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 1.30pm-4.00pm. Parker’s Yard café is free to attend and open from Monday to Saturday, between 9.30am-4,00pm, Sundays 11:30am-4.00pm and Bank Holiday Mondays 11am-4pm.

Framework Knitters Museum website