The Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington, United Kingdom has been awarded a grant of £244,168 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to secure a sustainable future for the museum.

The Framework Knitters Museum is the only museum in the county that is dedicated to Nottinghamshire's rich textile manufacturing heritage. The knitting frame, invented locally in Calverton, was a crucial step in the development of Nottingham’s world-famous lace industry. Like many museums, financial pressures which threaten its survival are mounting and without this support from the Heritage Fund, the future of the museum would be at risk.

The project, titled ‘A Stitch in Time’, aims to deliver a range of outcomes to help reduce costs and secure sustainability, such as the replacement of an outdated gas boiler, wiring repairs and new roof insulation. An additional member of the team will be employed to manage the project, which also includes enhancing the resilience and creative vision of the museum through the support of external experts and advisors.

Chair of Museum Trustees Ian Rowson commented: “We are extremely grateful to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, this project will ensure that the endangered craft of frame knitting is kept alive through securing the future of the museum.”

The Museum site is a unique surviving example of a 19thC framework knitters’ yard and is believed to be the only remaining place in the world able to train people in the endangered craft of frame knitting. The site represents a transitional point in the textile industry, bridging the time when machine knitting moved from being the original ‘working from home’ activity into the first factories. The museum encourages visitors to use its hand-operated machines to make some knitting, supporting its mission to ‘inspire creativity through powerful stories of craft and graft’.

www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk