Florence Nightingale Comes Home

Admission free​ – advance booking required
Maximum six people per 40-minute timeslot

Open Thursday-Sunday, 12noon-4pm
Closed Monday-Wednesday

When Florence Nightingale returned from the Crimean War she was a national celebrity, one whose fame has endured to this day. But who was Florence Nightingale and what had led her to the war in the first place?

This exhibition, timed to coincide with the bicentenary of Nightingale’s birth, sheds new light on the Lady with the Lamp. It covers her struggle to escape her family, her efforts during the Crimean War, and her work to improve sanitary conditions in homes and in hospitals.

It also examines how Nightingale both embraced and rejected her fame. Visitors can learn of her upbringing in Derbyshire and how her ‘quiet and rural’ family home became a magnet for autograph hunters and sightseers. The exhibition will showcase commemorative figurines of Nightingale, poems composed in her honour, and contemporary celebrations of her work. Letters and diaries written by military surgeons, soldiers and politicians, will also show how she was viewed by those intimately involved in the Crimean conflict.

Safety Information

The safety of our visitors, staff and students is our priority. Here's what we're doing to help keep everyone safe, and what you can do to help.

FACE COVERINGS

Although it is no longer mandatory, we continue to ask staff and visitors to a wear a face covering if you they can when inside our buildings. Read our list of exemptions. Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue. If no tissue is available, use your elbow.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

The number of visitors permitted in our spaces has been reduced. Although it is no longer mandatory, we ask that visitors give people space where it is sensible or requested.

IF YOU'RE FEELING UNWELL

Please do not visit Lakeside if you or anyone you live with is feeling unwell or have a loss of smell, temperature, consistent cough or loss of taste.

HAND SANITISER STATIONS

Hand sanitiser is available at regular intervals throughout our venues. We recommend that you make use of these upon entering and leaving our venue.

INCREASED CLEANING

The frequency of our cleaning throughout our venues has been increased, including toilets and other facilities.

CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS

We are currently only accepting contactless payments. Cash will not be accepted. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Protective screens are in place at key touchpoints throughout our buildings. Although it is no longer mandatory, we continue to ask staff to a wear a face covering when inside our buildings, except those that meet one or more of our exemptions criteria.

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  NHS CONTACT TRACING

We may need to share your information with the NHS contact tracing service if someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 lists Lakeside as a place they recently visited. Read our Privacy Notice to find out how your information is shared and stored.

We continue to support visitors who wish to check-in using the NHS Covid-19 app for contract tracking purposes. Visitors entering our venues can either scan in prior to entry using the NHS contact tracing app or provide their name and contact details to the venue for contact tracing purposes. Click here to download the official NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app for England and Wales.

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More information about visiting Lakeside and the measures we have in place are available on in the Visit Us section of our website.

Curated by Manuscripts and Special Collections and the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Nightingale Comes Home project team at the University of Nottingham. Find out more at florencenightingale.org