Annual Review 2015-16
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2015-16 1 Contents Foreword Foreword 3 It is a pleasure to look back on another successful year for Norfolk Museums Service. Introduction 5 The progress made on the landmark Norwich Annual Review 2015-16 Castle Keep redevelopment and the creation NMS: Our Sites 6 of the new workhouse displays at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse reflect the very best Key Achievements 7 of the Service – its talented and tireless staff, wonderful collections and an ambitious vision 1: Leadership 9 which sees NMS continue to develop. 2: Collections 13 These qualities are evident throughout the Top 10 Acquisitions 16 Service across many projects of whatever scale. Top 10 Loans 17 I have had the pleasure of attending many events and exhibitions during the course of the 3: Skills and Training 19 year and can testify to the attention to detail which results in top quality experiences for our 4: Learning and Access 23 visitors. Temporary Exhibitions 27 All this would not be possible without a host of 5: Resilience 29 supporters from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund through to the smallest Acknowledgements 31 grants and donations. Each contribution is valued and valuable and is essential in enabling Partnerships 31 the Service to continue to serve its audiences – both here in Norfolk and from further afield Norfolk Museums 34 – so well. Development Foundation Cllr. John Ward Chairman of the Norfolk Joint Museums Committee 2 3 Introduction In a typically busy year for Norfolk Museums The history of Gressenhall’s nationally important Service, it provides some perspective to work in workhouse buildings is also a story of adaptation an office at the foot of a 900-year-old building. over time, revealing shifts in social attitudes Norwich Castle’s majestic Keep has stood on towards the poor and vulnerable. Now after its mound surveying the changing city around many years of detailed research and planning it, a symbol of seeming continuity through the our HLF-funded Voices from the Workhouse centuries. redevelopment brings to vivid life the stories of those whose destinies were shaped by the However, while the stone of the Norman edifice workhouse. Combining hi-tech projections of has stood firm all that time, the Castle’s purpose historical figures and the beautiful presentation has continued to evolve – from royal palace to of workhouse artefacts, the redisplay will attract county gaol to admired museum. So too has its new audiences to Gressenhall. meaning – demonstration of a conqueror’s power, embodiment of law and justice; emblem of a proud The Service’s ability to adapt – not just to survive city and, these days, the promise of a rewarding day but thrive – is dependent on the support of out for many different kinds of visitors. many different individuals and organisations: the list of acknowledgements and partnerships on This year saw a new chapter in the history of this pages 31 to 33 demonstrates the extent of this wonderful building with the successful submission vital network. In particular, the commitment of of our Round 1 Heritage Lottery Fund bid to Norfolk County Council and the County’s district transform the Keep into a world-class visitor councils to the Service continues to provide destination. Ambitious plans to make all five levels an essential foundation, alongside Arts Council of the building accessible, alongside a complete England’s investment in NMS as a Major Partner reinterpretation and redisplay and the creation of Museum and the Heritage Lottery Fund’s a British Museum Partnership Gallery will enable significant contribution across many programmes. visitors to understand the complex history of the building more clearly and experience its medieval As well as celebrating the Service’s headline heyday in an unforgettable way. achievements, this report is also testament to the many moments of creativity and joy which our The granting of a Stage 1 pass brings us a step museums inspire. Whether it’s the young members closer to realising this vision and we are very of the Koons Collaborative creating their colourful grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund and our many art float for the Lord Mayor’s Parade, children partners on this project for their invaluable support. dressed as Vikings at Norwich Castle or families The combination of continuity and adaptability enjoying the sight of ‘canoodling gnus’ at Time and embodied by Norwich Castle is at the heart Tide’s Beastly Machines exhibition, the following of the Service as a whole. This year saw the pages are full of fun – a quality to be treasured Service celebrate the 100th anniversary of its whatever age we’re living in. first museum learning sessions. What began as a response to the challenges to children’s education Steve Miller presented by the First World War is now a multi Head of Museums award-winning county-wide programme which last year reached over 45,000 school children from Norfolk and beyond, with new sessions continuing to be developed in response to a constantly evolving education landscape. 4 5 NMS: Our Sites Key Achievements 2015-16 Norfolk Museums Service comprises 10 museums and a study centre. The collections they house and the buildings themselves are all of great regional or national importance. 1 Norwich Castle Museum & 5 Lynn Museum, King’s Lynn Art Gallery This vibrant community museum tells the West Over Over 42,000 & 15,000 Built by the Normans as a Royal Palace over Norfolk Story and features a gallery dedicated 400,000 followers on Twitter followers on Facebook 900 years ago, Norwich Castle is now a to Seahenge, the unique 4,000-year-old timber visits to our across the Service – a 39% and 55% increase museum and art gallery and home to some of circle. ten award-winning respectively on 2014-15 the most outstanding collections of fine and museums decorative arts, archaeology and natural history, 6 Ancient House Museum of including not only in the region but the country. Over Thetford Life over 167 2,124 the next few years major investment from the A lively, community-centred museum, Ancient people took part in focus groups visits to Norwich Castle Heritage Lottery Fund is set to transform the House provides a fascinating insight into the about the Castle Keep on a single day in proposals Castle’s iconic Keep into a world-class visitor rare Tudor house it occupies, alongside the 200,000 February half term, experience. wider history of Thetford and the Brecks. to Norwich Castle Museum the highest daily & Art Gallery Over total ever Norwich Castle Study Centre, 7 Cromer Museum Shirehall, Norwich Located on the High Street this converted 45,000 The Study Centre offers first-rate facilities to fisherman’s cottage explores the history of visits by access and study NMS reserve collections. Cromer as a popular seaside resort and a £462,400 school children 3,024 development grant from Heritage geological area of international importance. to NMS sites items conserved or Lottery Fund for the transformation condition assessed by 2 Strangers’ Hall, Norwich of Norwich Castle Keep our in-house team This atmospheric building was once home to 8 Time and Tide, Museum of with a further the wealthy merchants and mayors who made Great Yarmouth Life medieval Norwich a great city. Set in a preserved Victorian herring curing £8.7m 211 objectss loaned by works, the museum celebrates the unique story earmarked for the project NMS to other 3 The Museum of Norwich at the of Great Yarmouth from prehistoric origins institutions 190,000 Bridewell to the present day alongside an ambitious records now available The Bridewell has been a merchant’s house, a temporary exhibitions programme. on the NMS house of correction, a tobacco warehouse and collections out of website a shoe factory. Now The Museum of Norwich, 9 Elizabethan House Museum, 36,500 hours contributed by 23 25 it tells the stories of the people who helped Great Yarmouth Teaching Museum trainees now in heritage-related employment create our modern city. This handsome 16th century home invites you 328 volunteers to look into the lives of the families who lived across NMS 4 Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, there, from Tudor through to Victorian times. Over 1,350 individual delegates near Dereham Over £4.7m 400 attended This wonderful family-friendly 50 acre site 10 The Tolhouse, Great Yarmouth external funding levered in to staff from more features a working farm and Grade II listed One of the country’s oldest prisons, this 12th NMS from public funding, trusts and than 70 museums, foundations, friends organisations galleries and archives 75 workhouse complex. This houses Norfolk’s century site vividly brings to life the story SHARE Museums East rural life museum and the exciting new Voices of crime and punishment in Great Yarmouth. and other sources in the East of England received fundraising training sessions including from the Workhouse displays which explore the including over support from day-to-day lives of those who lived and worked £1.8m SHARED 68 within its walls. from Arts Council England Enterprise NMS staff across all programmes 6 7 Chapter 1: Leadership Norfolk Museums Service is a regional Service conversation about the role of the British with national ambitions and standards. In 2015- Museum beyond Bloomsbury examining the 16 NMS has continued to look outwards, social, political, financial and educational value developing its partnerships with national and of museums working in partnership around the international bodies and encouraging a culture country. where best practice is the norm. NMS was also a major lender to the British This approach is exemplified by the Norwich Museum’s touring exhibition Celts: Art and Castle: Gateway to Medieval England project, Identity with fourteen objects from our Iron the Service’s ambitious £13 million plan to Age, Romano-British and Early Medieval reimagine this iconic Norman building and collections showcased in the exhibition.