About the Project
Standing In This Place
Standing In This Place is a sculpture and heritage project created by sculptor Rachel Carter in collaboration with the Legacy Makers, a Nottingham-based community research collective.
Commissioned by the National Justice Museum, the project explores the connections between women who worked in the East Midlands textile industry and the enslaved African women whose labour produced the cotton on which that industry depended.
The project grew from community research into the history of Darley Abbey and its cotton mill.
Rachel volunteered to support the Legacy Makers and Bright Ideas Nottingham with their research into the burial slabs of cotton mill workers in the churchyard at Darley Abbey, and the connections between the local cotton industry and transatlantic enslavement.
During this research, Rachel discovered four of her own ancestors recorded in the 1871 census as working in Darley Abbey Mill — Sarah, aged 15; Rufus, 14; Jane, 13; and Elizabeth, just 11.
Finding her own ancestors within the research brought a personal connection to a much wider story about the lives of working-class women and girls whose contribution to industrial Britain has often remained hidden.
At the same time, the Legacy Makers were researching their own ancestral connections to transatlantic enslavement and the Black communities of Nottingham.
As the research developed, connections began to emerge between people and places separated by the Atlantic.
The resulting sculpture brings two women together: an enslaved African woman working in the cotton fields of America and a woman working in the textile mills of the East Midlands.
They could never have stood side by side in their own lifetimes. The sculpture creates that meeting place — connecting their stories through cotton, labour, migration, ancestry and the complex histories of industrialisation.
A project shaped by many people
Standing In This Place was a collaborative project that ran from 2022 to 2024, involving artists, historians, academics, community researchers and members of the public.
Alongside the making of the sculpture, the project brought people together through research, workshops, braiding, stitching, poetry, dance and conversation.
The contributions of the women who took part became part of the sculpture itself, including the hand-made braids that were digitally captured and transformed into bronze.
The project culminated in the installation of the sculpture in early 2025, leaving behind not only a permanent public artwork, but an archive of research, stories, films and creative activity.
Why Standing In This Place?
The title comes from Rachel's own experience of researching her female ancestors.
So often, very little remains of the lives of working-class women. Their names may appear in a census or a burial record, but the places where they lived, worked and stood can disappear.
Standing where an ancestor once stood became a way of connecting with those lives.
For the Legacy Makers, tracing African ancestors can be even more difficult because of the gaps created by enslavement and the loss of records, names and family connections.
The title therefore became a shared idea:
to stand in the places where our ancestors once stood, and to remember the lives that history has too often overlooked.
The project continues
The sculpture was installed in early 2025, but the collaboration continues.
Friends of Standing In This Place has grown from the original project, bringing together people who are committed to sharing the histories, stories and connections uncovered through the research.
The group is dedicated to keeping these stories alive, encouraging further learning and exploring the connections between the people, places and histories represented by the sculpture.
This website preserves the story of the original project — its research, people, making, films and creative activity — while Friends of Standing In This Place provides a way for that work to continue.
The sculpture may now be standing in its permanent place, but the conversation continues.
Public Celebration - 9th February 2025
This ambitious new sculpture gives representation to the under-represented, giving a voice and recognition to the contributions of thousands of unnamed women who were the driving forces behind the East Midlands cotton textile industry during Industrialisation.
The statue’s inclusion in a public park places Nottingham at the forefront of historic female recognition; and makes Nottingham a regional, national and global leader in acknowledging the significant contributions women have made to the British economy and society through their legacies as enslaved African workers in the Americas and Caribbean, and as indentured factory workers in Industrial Britain.
Read our full HLF Impact Report
Take a look at our impact report above to show how funding from Heritage Lottery helped us deliver our first major exhibition Standing In This Place: Global Cotton Connections at the Museum of Making, which shed light on some of the amazing participatory work behind this co-created arts and heritage project.
FAQ’s
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The Legacy Makers are a Nottingham-based community research collective, led by Caribbean Elders, who research and campaign to uncover the city’s historical links to transatlantic enslavement. Their work centres on uncovering the stories of enslaved Africans whose labour was essential for the success of Nottingham’s cotton and lace industry, while also highlighting the voices of Black communities in Nottingham today.
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“We are a multi-award-winning Independent Museum, growing in national stature, winning the ‘Museums Change Lives’ award in 2021 for our innovative workshops in an envelope project. We are an Arts Council England NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) developing diverse collaborations and partnerships to make our museum more representative of our communities. We are a leader in public legal learning & education programmes delivering in centres across England.
Our museum is based in Nottingham’s former Shire Hall and County Gaol, a Grade II* listed building featuring a Victorian criminal and civil courtroom, an Edwardian police station and exhibitions exploring the fascinating history of justice, we house historically significant collections of over 40,000 objects that cover the history of the British Criminal Justice System.
We work inclusively and collaboratively with communities, supporting the creation of a fairer and equitable society, empathetically enabling people of all ages to extend their understanding of the law and justice system, so they are inspired by their rights and responsibilities to play an active role in society.
We’ve established a reputation nationally and regionally for our person-centred creative approach and have a credible reputation as an arms open organisation, connecting communities through creative activity and providing services for diverse and not yet engaged groups. We take our museum out to people, engaging with new community partners to co-produce exhibitions and become more accessible to a wider range of people.
Our Vision is - For everyone to have equity and justice through engagement, inspiration, learning and unforgettable experiences.”
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This sculpture will address gaps in the museum’s collections. There is a lack of representation of women and even less of women of colour in our collections. The sculpture amplifies the connections between the cotton industry and the transatlantic slave trade in a city renowned for its lace industry.
As a museum that represents justice in all spheres of life this will be the first piece of public art that the museum has acquired and at a time when there has been divisive reaction to public sculpture associated with the history of the transatlantic slave trade. As an organisation that has a collection and heritage site that is consumed with challenging narratives it is essential that such a powerful and evocative piece of work is displayed in a public space to raise awareness and draw in discussions on the history of enslavement, both historical and contemporary.
As the custodian of this significant sculpture we will amplify the contributions of women to local and global economies by drawing attention to the textile industry and its global cotton connections. The sculpture will provide an opportunity to learn from the past and have open conversations.
The Creative Team at the National Justice Museum will run a programme of free activities around the themes of the sculpture amplifying the multi-faceted themes of the sculpture stimulating engagement.
The preservation and maintenance of the sculpture will be jointly managed by Nottingham City Council and the National Justice Museum.