Nonsuch Studios announce Lennox Street Unlocked, Heritage Project

Nonsuch Studios, Nottingham’s independent fringe theatre, has been awarded £10,000 of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support Lennox Street Unlocked, a new project exploring 100 years of change and history across Hockley in Nottingham City Centre.

Just over 100 years ago, Lennox Street, a small side-street in the centre of Nottingham was crammed with back-to-back houses where workers from the city's many industries lived, worked and socialised. Now, like the rest of Hockley that surrounds it, it has changed beyond all recognition and is now home to Nonsuch Studios.

The story of Lennox Street, is also the story of Hockley, Sneinton Market and the wider Creative Quarter, where these industrial housing communities have transformed into the bustling coffee shops, eateries, independent businesses & creative venues that are the cultural lifeblood of our city today.

Through Lennox Street Unlocked, Nonsuch Studios’ team will seek to investigate, discover and catalogue the social history of the changes in the neighbourhood over the past 100 years, working with residents, volunteers and the countless urban legends that fill the area.

To kick-start the project, Nonsuch Studios will be hosting two launch events on Monday 23rd January, the first at 1pm and the second at 6pm, where those interested in the project can find out more, here about how they can get involved and begin the process of sharing stories and setting the focus of the projects investigation.

Following the launch, the city centre venue will then be hosting a free history talk about The History of Hockley led by Bob Massey, Chair and Trustee of Nottinghamshire Local History Association on Tuesday 31st January at 7pm.

After the project kick-off those with stories, artefacts and personal connections to the changes in the area will be able to share and record their history as part of both a new digital archive and public exhibition that will launch at Nonsuch Studios in March 2023.

Edward Boott, Artistic Director & CEO of Nonsuch Studios says;

“We’re thrilled to have been awarded funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to realise this amazing project, that will see us understand the history of both our building and the surrounding area.Ever since we took over this Art Deco building in 2019, we’ve been fascinated by the history of change that surrounds our studios and the role that this change played in the wider redevelopment of Hockley and the Creative Quarter that we still see happening today.”

Tamily Cookson, CEO of the Creative Quarter Company says;

“As custodians of the Creative Quarter geography, we are always fascinated to learn more about how this area has developed, and we’re delighted that one of our key cultural venues is leading a project to dive deeper into the history of the place we call home. People and places are so key to what makes Lennox Street and the surroundings such a vibrant part of the city, and we’re excited to see how the stories from the past have shaped the present.”