Visited 9 July 2024 - Applegate, Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Displays for the 17th century Civil War, the history of Newark and a temporary exhibition space. Function rooms are available for hire.
Parking - Blue Badge parking is available street side, outside the centre. There is space for four or five cars, however on the day of our visit, all the spaces were taken. Just down the road is Applegate car park which has several free disability parking spaces and not far from the centre.
Entrance area - the centre shares a spacious foyer and customer desk with the Palace Theatre. On the theatre side there is a platform lift and stairs to the cafe. On the Civil War Centre side there are stairs and a lift which accesses five floors.
Entry cost - entry is free to residence of Nottinghamshire and free to all visitors with disabilities, their carers pay entry fee if from outside the county.
Doorways - automatic front door, some doors needed to be held open, thresholds were past over without difficulty.
Lighting - the lighting would change depending on the requirements of each display area. Some lighting is low to protect exhibits and there were no flashing lights.
Film Room - chairs can be moved to help wheelchair positioning. During this visit a dramatisation of the civil war was showing. The room was dark (you can request brighter lighting). The screen was large and accompanied by the sounds and images of war, some may find the atmosphere overwhelming.
Sound - some displays were accompanied by sound effects but were not too loud. Other noise is from the visitors.
Colour - this varied from room to room.
Signage - was clear to see but not too intrusive.
Ease of movement - considering the centre has a lot of displays on many levels, moving around the building in a wheelchair was good.
Inclusivity - the centre has made great effort to be accessible and inclusive as possible. There is a stand at the start of the centre experience that has a selection of sensory aids. There is a 'dressing up' area with a selection of period costumes. Many of the displays were interactive. The contents of many displays could be easily seen, although a couple of displays used magnifying glasses to see small exhibits (such as coins) and were not viewable for wheelchair users or visitors of a lower height.
Atmosphere - relaxed and friendly. It is a visually busy environment with lots of eye catching displays. It's worth remembering the main exhibition is about war so some may find a few exhibits disturbing.
Cafe - this is shared with the theatre and can be accessed by a few stairs or a platform lift. Refreshments were enjoyed at a tables with good access space around them. Order at the cafe counter and food and drink are brought to the table.
Toilets - access toilets are in the centre's basement and the cafe. The basement toilets which were visited were well equipped and well lit.
Staff - staff were friendly and helpful.
More access information - visit https://www.nationalcivilwarcentre.com/visit/
The website included this helpful video:
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