PRISM Fund: Celebrating 45 Years

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Cover Images: 1. The ex-NER Class J27 steam locomotive in steam. Photo: North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Society. 2. Conserved, rehoused pathology specimens of the Whittington Hospital Teaching Collection. Photo: University College London. 3. Photograph of Brunel standing in front of the funnel of the ss Great Eastern. Photo: ss Great Britain. 4. BSA Telegram Messenger's Motorcycle B33/I T14. Photo: The British Postal Museum and Archive. Contents

Introduction 4 History of PRISM 5

PRISM Grants Awarded by Arts Council England: North East 6 Yorkshire 7 North West 7 West Midlands 8 East Midlands 9 London 9 East of England 10 South East 11 South West 12 Wales 13

Summary 14 Introduction

At the point that we are closing the PRISM fund and introducing new Arts Council funding opportunities to support the conservation of scientific and industrial collection items, we wanted to look back on the past 45 years of funding and reflect on the purpose and impact of the fund.

The PRISM fund was established in 1973 as an initiative to support the preservation of industrial heritage. Since the fund was established it has made a significant contribution to the sector by supporting over 580 organisations to acquire or conserve almost 2,200 objects.

In April 2018 Arts Council England will merge the conservation work supported by PRISM into the newly developed Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants programme.

This document has been produced to celebrate the work of all those involved in the PRISM fund over the past 45 years. It is also a formal recognition of the work done by all the applicants from small enthusiast- led organisations to Accredited museums.

As we move forward with the new Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants it feels an ideal time to select some highlights from the past 10 years of PRISM at Arts Council England. And although there isn’t space to include all the incredible projects the fund has been fortunate to support we hope the examples given provide a snapshot of the outstanding work achieved.

In the pages that follow we have provided a few of the many highlights, from each region of England, and Wales from the last 10 years of PRISM.

4 History of PRISM

The Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material (PRISM) fund awards grants towards the costs of acquisition and conservation of individual objects and collections which are recognised for their importance in the history and development of science, technology, industry, and related fields. It was established in response to widely held concerns about the preservation of the material culture relating to Britain’s Victorian industrial history alongside a burgeoning interest in museums to collect industrial archaeology.

The PRISM fund was initially run solely by the Science Museum on behalf of the Office of Arts and Libraries, then later on behalf of the Museums & Galleries Commission, and Re:source. Management of the fund transferred to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 2003 and subsequently to Arts Council England as of October 2011. The Arts Council is one of a number of bodies, supporting Accredited museums, as well as specialist libraries and archives to collect and care for important scientific collections.

The Arts Council has continued to take expert advice from the Science Museum Group; the Natural History Museum; The British Library; The National Archives; National Historic Ships; and other institutions when deciding on grant awards. We are grateful to the many expert assessors who have enabled us to make awards that align with the Arts Council’s goal to support Great Art and Culture for Everyone.

In 1973 the stewardship of industrial, technological and scientific history was largely the responsibility of national and public sector museums. Since then there have been substantial changes in the structure of the sector and as a result many more collections and sites are being cared for by a greater variety of charitable organisations and specialist interest groups. All the objects conserved and acquired with support from PRISM have a unique or important place within Britain’s rich past, and help to connect the public with the country’s scientific, industrial or technological heritage.

5 PRISM Grants Awarded by Arts Council England

North East 2017/18

£20,000 to North of England Civic Trust for conservation of Warwick Bridge Mill: "Turning the Wheels for the Future". North of England Civic Trust has an impressive track record of rescuing nationally significant heritage in the north of England, providing multi-level hands-on training and participatory public activities. This project involves restoration of the historic milling machinery and water power system at this Grade II* early 19th century corn mill near to Carlisle in Cumbria. The water gate and high breast water wheel (dating to 1845) are the most prominent and easily recognisable part of the water power arrangement Warwick Bridge Mill water wheel of Warwick Bridge Mill. Restoration will Photo: North of England Civic Trust safeguard a significant industrial heritage asset - a major component of a Grade II* mill which is remarkable for its completeness and for being little altered.

North East 2013/14

£20,000 to Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums for moving and stabilising the Bigges Main Wooden Waggonway. These very substantial remains of a section of wooden waggonway were discovered in July 2013 during archaeological investigation and recording at the former Neptune Shipyard, Newcastle upon Tyne. The remains are on the well-recorded alignment of the Bigges Main Waggonway, constructed in 1785. In the early 1800s this waggonway was delivering 60,000 chaldron waggons The waggonway during excavation of coal each year to ships on the River Photo: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Tyne. These remains represent one of the earliest sections of railway to have been discovered which was constructed to a gauge which ultimately became the ‘standard gauge’.

6 Yorkshire 2010/11

£275 to Leeds Museum and Galleries for conservation of the paper components of precision pendulum Harrison Clock No. 2. The smallest PRISM grant was awarded to Leeds Museum and Galleries to support conservation of the Harrison Clock No. 2. This clock is highly significant in the story of the development of longitude measurement and the evolution of accurate timekeeping. It is a fundamental part of John Harrison’s quest to develop a practical method of determining longitude at sea using the time difference principle. The clock was View of the clock's movement, showing the calendar made in response to the Longitude Act ring and seconds bowl of 1714 and with it Harrison achieved Photo: Jeff Darken - Leeds Museum and Galleries extraordinarily accurate timekeeping on land.

North West 2014/15

£14,634 to Manchester Museum to improve collections care for the insect collection. The Museum’s collection of British butterflies and moths is of great national significance. The collection, and associated data, can be used to conduct assessments of distribution trends, habitat preferences and conservation priorities. Two parts of the collections are of particular historical and cultural value: The J. Sidebotham collection of British Lepidoptera is an example of Victorian private entomological collections. The collection of micro-Lepidoptera by the late Lord Walsingham, represents almost every species of British micro-Lepidoptera recorded by 1927. The Walsingham New storage for the entomology collection Photo: Manchester Museum collection includes the celebrated Manchester Moth, Euclemensia woodiella, of which only three specimens survived and exist today. 7 North West 2011/12

£9,500 to Lakeland Arts Trust for the acquisition of Rolls Royce ‘Hawk’ Aero Engine. The significance of the engine lies in the fact that this is one of only three such engines surviving in the UK, and one surviving in the United States. The 'Hawk' was built by Brazil Straker in Bristol in 1917 and installed in an airship in May 1918. It is the earliest working example of a Hawk engine, and therefore of immense significance in the history of aviation. As the power for Canfly, The Rolls Royce ‘Hawk’ engine in situ inside Canfly. the Hawk is a rare surviving example of the Photo: Lakeland Arts Trust experimentation after the First World War when powerful surplus military engines were married with specially-designed hulls for high- speed racing on water. She is of significance as a rare national example and sole survivor of such a vessel on Lake Windermere where between 1923 and 1937 she competed in over 200 events.

West Midlands 2012/13

£20,000 to the Black Country Living Museum for the conservation of Birchills wooden joey boat. Birchills is of particular significance to the UK’s industrial heritage as it was one of the last wooden joey boats to be built and the last still in existence, complete with a day cabin. Canals are key to the Black Country’s significance as a manufacturing district, and short-haul cargoes characterised the traffic on these canals. Day boats served the area, designed to carry loads of coal, iron, limestone and clay relatively short distances. Birchills is one of the last examples of a very particular type of day boat, the ‘joey’, which can be steered from either end, removing the need to turn the boat around. Birchills is significant because this boat is a rare, unconverted survivor of that period of The restored front end of Birchills’ hull, showing repairs the Black Country’s industrial history. Other to the seam day boats survive, but as a Photo: Black Country Living Museum complete wooden example with unusual day cabin, this boat is unique. 8 East Midlands 2016/17

£18,000 to Leicester City Museum Service towards acquisition of the Clyde motor car. Nicknamed the ‘Old Grey Mare’, the Clyde motor car was manufactured in 1908 by the Leicester engineering firm of G.H. Wait. It is the sole surviving example left from around 250 Motor cars produced by G H Wait of Queen Street, Leicester between c.1902 and 1930. Aside from the interest as a part of the evolving technical development of the motor car, the vehicle also superbly illustrates the nature of the fledgling UK motor industry in the early 20th century where market share could still be found by a small local firm employing skilled craftsmen able to produce a range of products. The item also has a well-documented provenance which highlights the social history of the motor car, from its original purchase by a local doctor for £245 to its use as a company car and means of promoting G. H Wait. In its later life it was considered an historical curiosity, and appeared The Clyde Motor Car arriving at the museum regularly at events and galas up until the 1940s. Photo: Leicester City Museum Service London 2012/13

£17,580 to the University College London Pathology Collection for conservation and rehousing of the Whittington Hospital Teaching Collection. The specimens in the Whittington Collection were collected during post-mortem examinations, and are irreplaceable. The Collection remains relevant to modern medicine with common contemporary diseases, such as strokes and cancer of the lung, being well represented. The Collection consists of approximately 6,000 human pathology specimens, the majority of which are preserved in fluid, along with some skeletal material, foreign bodies, wax and plaster models, and microscopy slides. This project rejuvenated this important and previously undocumented collection of pathology samples which was recently rescued from an abandoned storeroom at the Whittington Hospital. The specimens were conserved and rehoused, Conserved, rehoused pathology specimens enabling the creation of physical and virtual Photo: University College London teaching resources of macroscopic pathology specimens and matching slides.

9 London 2014/15

£19,420 to the Francis Crick Institute to undertake Tools of the Trade, medical research object conservation. This collection of medical research objects from the National Institute for Medical Research comprises of the tools of key figures and developments within British biomedical science. It showcases the important links between instrumentation, experimentation and discovery in scientific research. Examples include a microscope owned and used by Nobel Prize winner, Peter Medawar, Frank Hawking’s (father of Stephen) Electrophoresis equipment, an infusion pump and an early Ribosome Model signed by Peter Medawar and Francis Crick. The One of the medical research objects after conservation Ribosome model was built in the 1960s Photo: Frances Crick Institute and displayed at a number of scientific conferences. It was seen as a useful guide for visualising this complex cell structure.

East of England 2012/13

£8,750 to the Whipple Museum of the History of Science for the acquisition of a globe of Mars after Camille Flammarion. The Flammarion Mars globe was made in 1884 by Bertaux. It is a highly significant addition to the Whipple Museum’s already world-class Mars globes collection, as it was the first Mars globe published by Flammarion, and the first to be issued after Schiaparelli first recorded the Martian ‘canals’. In the Museum’s Globes Gallery, interpre- tative material relates the Mars globes to other objects, including other astronomical and terrestrial globes, planetaria and armillary spheres on display, as well as to the broader culture in which these objects were produced and used.

The Flammarion Mars globe on display Photo: Whipple Museum of the History of Science, University of Cambridge 10 South East 2013/14

£20,000 to the Bodleian Library for the acquisition of William Fox Talbot’s personal archive. The Personal Archive of WHF Talbot is a large and unique collection of materials in a range of media that casts crucial light on the life and work of this extraordinary scientist and inventor. It includes photographs, artefacts, scientific instruments, scientific books and a wealth of documentary manuscript material such as correspondence, family diaries, notebooks and albums. Talbot was a driving force in the nation’s scientific revolution. His invention of negative/positive photography laid the foundation for all subsequent photography up to the digital age. The Archive provides insight into his many roles, interests and researches, Portrait of William Fox Talbot’s daughter, salt print from revealing the impact of his many talents on a calotype negative, 17 Aug 1843 his photographic endeavours. Photo: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

South East 2011/12

£12,000 to Rickmansworth Waterways Trust for the conservation of the historic narrowboat ‘Roger’. Roger is a historic working boat built of wood. It is one of the last wooden canal boats left in working order, and the last example of the Bushell Brothers’ influential narrow boat building, which was noted for the high standards of its decorative paintwork and construction. Roger was also the last wooden motor boat trading on the Grand Union, paired with the butty Raymond. Both vessels are on the register of National Historic Ships. Rickmansworth Waterways Trust uses Roger in its education programmes to give opportunities for young people to gain experience, self-confidence and new skills on the waterways.

New stem post being fitted Photo: Rickmansworth Waterways Trust 11 South West 2012/13

£9,000 to Dorset County Council for the acquisition of an ichthyosaur skull and £2,623 for the conservation of the skull. The ichthyosaur is of great significance as it is a very large, well-preserved example of the first significant specimen discovered by Mary and Joseph Anning in 1811 at Lyme Regis. After purchase the fossil was transferred The Ichthyosaur skull on display in Lyme Regis to the Natural History Museum where Museum remedial conservation was carried out Photo: Dorset County Council and a complex mount was constructed to hold the fossil in place. It has now been returned to Dorset and is on display at the Lyme Regis Museum. Lyme Regis Museum is built on the site of Mary Anning’s house. This specimen allows visitors to make the connection between the Annings’ historic find and the ongoing process of fossil discovery today.

South West 2014/15

£8,455 to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum for the conservation of Company School botanical drawings. These extremely rare drawings are of both high quality and of historical and scientific significance. By Indian artists, they were commissioned by the East India Company, probably under the supervision of the Calcutta Botanic Garden. In the late 18th and early 19th century the Company set out to record the complete flora of India for the advancement of botanical science and for commercial exploitation (primarily food crops and medicines). The Royal Albert Memorial Museum set of drawings relate to several printed publications of the era of William Roxburgh and Sir Joseph Banks, including Plants of the Coast of Coromandel and Flora Indica. As far as is known, the Royal Albert Memorial One of the Company School botanical drawings Museum is the only non-national UK collection to Photo: Royal Albert Memorial Museum hold original drawings from this group.

12 South West 2012/13

£20,000 to the Coker Rope and Sail Trust for the conservation of twine and cord making machinery. Dawe’s Twine Works was listed Grade II* in 1999. The listing describes the Works as: ‘A near complete example of a late 19th Century twine works, with surviving in-situ machinery and fittings which represent all stages of the manufacture and finishing of twine’. Dawe’s is the only rural twine walk in the UK which has survived with all of its machinery. Hemp and flax to make rope and linen were introduced to Britain by the Romans, and grown in the Cokers over a long period due to the suitability of local Jurassic soils. By the late 19th Century there were nearly 40 rope and twine makers in Somerset. The rope and sail industry was at the very heart of the life and economy of the village.

The restored line shaft for twisting heads Photo: Coker Rope and Sail Trust

Wales 2012/13

£1,480 to Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust for the conservation of the portrait of John Hemingway This is a unique portrait of John Hemingway, who was Railway Contractor for Chester and Holyhead Railway and responsible for the masonry of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. This is an interesting and important painting as it depicts part of Anglesey's cultural and industrial history. The portrait is presumed to have been painted in the 1850s or 60s and includes a view of the Menai Strait with the Britannia Bridge under construction. Plans for the bridge sit on the table in front of the subject. Conservation included re-lining, cleaning and repairs to the oil canvas and wood frame.

Portrait of John Hemingway Photo: Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust

13 Summary of PRISM Grants Awarded

Prior to PRISM’s management under Arts Council England the PRISM fund had helped over 500 museums and organisations to acquire or conserve over 2000 objects. From 2011/12 a further 117 grants have been awarded, taking the total number of organisations supported by PRISM to over 580 organisations which have been supported to acquire or conserve almost 2200 objects over the last 45 years.

So far this year, 12 grants have been awarded during 2017/18 worth £151,173.* Comparable figures for 2016/17 were 13 grants worth £160,662. The figure for 2016/17 is higher since data is available for the full year of that funding period.

The average number of grants over the last five funding years was 17 grants per year, with an average yearly grants total over the past five years of £190,131 per year.

So far this year, 12* institutions across England and Wales, from fully Accredited museums to small preservation societies, have benefited from PRISM funding.

Conservation grants represent 75% of the number of awards made during 2017/18 (85% in 2016/17), and account for 90% of the total expenditure (84% in 2016/17).* The remaining 25% of the number of awards and 10% of funding was to support and enable organisations to acquire items of significant industrial and scientific importance.

*NB: All figures correct at the time of writing, January 2018. The full funding year runs from 01/04/2017 to 31/03/2018. 14 Arts Council England The Hive 49 Lever Street Manchester M1 1FN Email: [email protected] Phone: 0845 300 6200 Textphone: 020 7973 6564 artscouncil.org.uk @ace_national Facebook.com/artscouncilofengland This publication is available in Braille, in large print, on audio CD and in electronic formats. Please contact us to request any of these formats.