Helen Bates

Contact details for Helen Bates are

Helen offers talks on local textile history, the 1745 Jacobite uprising, and local legacies of slavery

  • The Wildman family of Newstead Abbey
  • The links between the Nottinghamshire textile industries and the Derwent Valley Mills
  • The impact of the 1745 Jacobite Uprising on the East Midlands
  • Nottinghamshire’s Legacies of Slavery
  • Plus many more


Helen has worked as a practitioner in public history and heritage since 2005. Projects have included Lincoln Castle Revealed where she worked as historical researcher and developed interpretation and Slave Trade Legacies, which she continues to co-produce with Bright Ideas Nottingham. Both projects achieved finalist status in the National Lottery ‘Best Heritage Project’ Awards in 2015 and 2016 respectively. In 2018, she completed her PhD which was based at the “English Versailles”,otherwise known as Boughton House in Northamptonshire and the University of Leicester.  Helen is also a director of Involve Heritage CIC, www.involveheritage.co.uk and gets involved in project development and grant applications.  Helen offers numerous talks based on her heritage projects and her doctoral and post-doctoral research.

Helen can also offer tailored field trips and visits to many of the country houses and other heritage sites that she has worked with both in Nottinghamshire and the surrounding region.

She is based near Mansfield but can travel to all areas of the county and has flexible availability.