Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery Conservation Plan

Allies and Morrison September 2003 Contents

1.0 Summary 1 5.2 Provision of Services 25 Learning 25 2.0 Background to the Project 2 Collection 25 The Asset 2 Public Expectation 25 Scope of Conservation Plan 2 Consultation Process 2 5.3 Physical Condition of the Building & Site 26 Existing Structure 26 3.0 Understanding the Historic Site 3 Roofs 26 External Walls 26 3.1 Historical Context of the Site 3 Internal finishes 26 Basement areas 26 3.2 Detailed Chronology of the Site 4 Services 27 History of the Site 4 History of the Museum 5 5.4 Future Development of the Building & Site 28 Site Ownership 28 4.0 Assessment of Significance 13 Statements of Significance 13 5.5 Statutory Controls 29 Historical Development 13 Archaeology 29 Civic Importance 13 Historical Setting 13 6.0 Conservation Policies 30 Architectural Merit 13 Use of the Building 30 Learning Contribution 13 Use of the Site 30 The Collection 13 External Fabric 30 Cultural Role 13 Internal Fabric 31 Learning and The Collection 31 4.1 Significance of the Site 14 Management of the Building 31

The City Wall 14 Accessibility 31 The Outer Bailey Rampart and Ditch 14 The Car Park Site 15 7.0 Implementation and Review 32 Exeter City Council 32 4.2 Significance of the Buildings 16 Development Plans 32 Queen Street Elevation 16 Future Consultation 32 Upper Paul Street Elevation 16 York Wing Elevation 17 Organisation 17 Circulation 17 Internal Spaces 18 Appendices Structure 19 app1 Bibliography Building Services 21 app2 Chronological History of the Site & Buildings app3 Citations 4.3 Significance of the Collections 22 app4 Archaeological Assessment and Field Evaluation Ethnography 22 app5 History and Description of the Collections Antiquities 22 app6 Existing Plans Natural History 22 app7 Historic Drawings Fine Art 23 app8 Historic Maps Decorative Art 23 app9 Historic Development of the Museum app10 Historic Use of the Museum 5.0 Defining Issues 24 app11 State of Intactness Plans

5.1 Current Organisational Problems 24 Space Management 24 Resources 24 Access 24

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used within the Plan

A&M Allies and Morrison EA Exeter Archaeology ECC Exeter City Council EH English Heritage RAMM Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 1.0 Summary 1

The Conservation Plan assesses the significance of the Royal The conservation policies set-out in the Plan seek primarily to: Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery and the Site immediately enhance the setting of the City Wall; restore the unrefurbished to the northwest for which development proposals are currently significant spaces within the existing museum; improve the being prepared. The Plan then identifies the issues which may provision of learning opportunities; promote the conservation be relevant to future development, and sets out policies to guide of the collection; address the issues of physical and intellectual such development. access to the collection; and provide a clear framework for future development and maintenance of the site. The heritage merit of the site is bound up by two key elements: • the original Hayward buildings (1865-69) and their Exeter City Council formally approved the Plan’s policies in the continuing function as a museum and Full Council Meeting held on 17 June 2003. • the City Wall and the surrounding historic setting. Current redevelopment proposals for the Museum and site are in The original Museum buildings designed by Exeter architect accordance with the policies set out in this Plan. The proposals John Hayward in 1864 are Listed Grade II with the remainder recognise the importance of the existing primary spaces while of the pre-1948 additions listed by virtue of lying within the respecting recent works to the World Cultures galleries; address Museum’s curtilage. The Museum’s World Cultures collection has the repair of the existing fabric; address current and future Designated status. accessibility issues; introduce new learning and storage facilities; provide new accommodation to house accommodation not best The Roman City Wall forming the northwest boundary of the suited for the existing buildings; and impose a new clarity and site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument while the surrounding order on the Museum as a whole for visitors and staff. Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens are registered Grade II landscapes. The nearby Norman Exeter (Rougemont) Castle is Redevelopment will also seek to address the historic sensitivities also scheduled. The site lies within the Central Conservation Area of the site by: re-engaging the site with the City Wall; reinstating and an Area of Archaeological Importance. the City Wall rampart and wall-walk; and responding to the aims and objectives of the Castle Quarter initiatives. The Museum’s overall heritage merit has become increasingly vulnerable to: decades of intrusive development within its The Conservation Plan will continue to evolve during the life of interior; the current state of the building’s fabric; the pressures to the Museum. Changes to the current redevelopment plans and sustain and expand the Museum’s service to the public; and the strategies will need to be monitored carefully and modifications redevelopment implications of the City’s emerging Castle Quarter identified where appropriate to ensure the long-term viability of strategy. the Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

The historic significance of the site has become subject to neglect and inappropriate use, while the redevelopment plans for the area pose important issues for the site’s future.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 2.0 Background 2

The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery forms the An integral part of the museum’s historic importance is its setting centrepiece of Exeter City Council’s Museum Service, attracting which contains a number of significant heritage components. These over 200,000 visitors annually. The Council assumed financial include the scheduled Roman City Wall, the registered Grade II responsibility for the Museum in 1870 and, since 1900, it has Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens, and the outer defences of been run as the Council’s Museum Service. the Norman Rougemont Castle.

In 1988, the Leisure Committee of ECC commissioned a feasibility The Museum and its collection, combined with their setting study which sought to identify and consolidate the Museum’s role within the historic fabric of Exeter, will provide the basis of this in the future development of the cultural life of the city. The study Conservation Plan. produced a long-term Development Plan which lead to a number of isolated developments within the museum through the 1990s, Scope of Conservation Plan the most prominent being the HLF funded World Cultures project The scope of the Plan is focussed primarily on the issues affecting completed in 2001. Collectively, however, these works fell short the existing museum buildings and the setting of the site to of delivering the aspirations and goals set out within the original the immediate north-west and is not intended to deal with the Development Plan. detailed conservation needs of the Collection. The wider context encompassing Rougemont Gardens, Northernhay Gardens and Further developments, including the evolution of the ECC Strategic the Phoenix Arts centre is also touched upon. The Plan does not set Objectives based upon the Exeter Vision and Exeter’s involvement out to assess the overall significance of the City Wall in its entirety. in the Renaissance in the Regions initiative, contributed to the Council’s decision to pursue a more ambitious development plan Apart from the ongoing development proposals, the Conservation which would undertake all of the components required to ensure Plan has not been prepared in conjunction with any other the Museum’s future sustainability while addressing the Council’s document. However, the current Collection Acquisition & Disposal key strategic objectives. In 2002, a notice was placed in the Policy, would benefit significantly from realisation of key policies Official Journal of the European Community seeking the involvement emanating from the Plan. In these future circumstances, it would of key design team members in the realisation of these objectives. appropriate to review the Collection’s policy document. Royal Albert Memorial Museum c. 1869, Anon In January 2003, Allies and Morrison were appointed by Exeter The Conservation Plan will seek to identify the key conservation City Council to explore the further development and expansion issues required to provide a full understanding of the asset in the possibilities of the RAMM and to prepare a Conservation Plan to context of any future development of the buildings and the site. The support the Stage One submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Plan will also seek to guide such development by means of a series By combining these two responsibilities, A&M believe the process of policies structured to ensure the future viability of the asset. involved in the development of the Conservation Plan will more thoroughly inform, and therefore become vital to, the preparation of Consultation Process the main development proposals. Discussions concerning the sensitivities surrounding the Listed Buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments covered by this The Asset Plan have commenced with English Heritage, the local planning RAMM is housed within a complex of robust Victorian buildings authorities, the major stakeholders and other interested parties. developed in five major phases over a period between 1865 This process will continue as development plans for the Museum and 1899. Designed by Exeter architect John Hayward in 1864, and Site are progressed to RIBA Stage D. Once that point has the original buildings are Listed Grade II with the remainder of the been reached, proposals will be submitted for statutory consents pre-1948 additions listed by virtue of lying within the Museum’s including planning permission, Listed Building Consent, and Ancient curtilage. The site lies within the Central Conservation Area and an Monument Consent. The proposals would then be taken forward Area of Archaeological Importance. for inclusion in the Heritage Lottery Fund Stage 2 submission.

The Museum’s Collection, including the nationally designated ECC has recognised the importance of developing the World Cultures collection, comprises Antiquities, Ethnography, Conservation Plan alongside redevelopment proposals for the Fine and Decorative Arts, and Natural History. Together, they site and has been very supportive in its making. Furthermore, paint a rich and vivid portrait of the region’s past and its historic the Museum Service’s broad experience in conservation and connections worldwide. heritage issues has contributed greatly to the process. The Council formally approved the Plan’s conservation policies and related redevelopment proposals in the Full Council Meeting held on 17 June 2003.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 3.0 Understanding the Historic Site 3.1 Historical Context of the Site 3

The specific interest of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum is the The site has seen a long history from prehistoric times through to combination of the historic importance of both its buildings and its the present day. The first major phase of activity came with the site. The buildings are an exceptional example of a 19th century Romans whose City Wall now forms the north-west boundary of Victorian museum, founded on the principles of achieving social the site. change through education. Built in the Neo-Gothic style, the buildings exemplify the strong Ruskinian principles of their time. After a period of decline following the departure of the Romans the area revived again in late Saxon times when the town’s The site is surrounded by an impressive group of scheduled medieval street plan was laid out. The site itself remained free of ancient monuments and listed landscapes, most noteworthy significant building for centuries to come due to its proximity to being the Roman City Wall, the Norman Rougemont Castle, the City Wall. Occupation of the Upper Paul Street and Gandy and Northernhay Gardens - oldest municipal gardens in the UK. Street frontages can be presumed from the 10th and 11th centuries onwards.

After their arrival in 1068, the Normans stamped their mark on the area with the building of nearby Rougemont Castle whose outer defences and rampart were constructed through the area to the rear of the Museum. There followed centuries of little change when the land, then part of the Duchy of Cornwall, appears to have consisted of orchards or open ground.

Early in the 17th century Bradninch Place, a terrace of houses Aerial photograph of Exeter with site indicated constructed at right angles to the City Wall, was built over the land to the rear of the Museum. This, together with the levelling and landscaping of Northernhay, marked the beginning of a change in the character of the area, although most of the remaining land was still cultivated as gardens.

By the beginning of the 19th century the area on which the Museum was to be built consisted of houses, courtyards and gardens with frontages onto Paul Street. It was through these that Queen Street was driven in 1835, signalling the beginning of the Victorian era, and providing a future frontage for the museum.

RAMM was typical of the many regional museums built in the mid 19th century, in the aftermath of the Great Exhibition of 1851. These museums reflected the Victorian interest in Arts, Sciences and Antiquity.

Funded by public subscription, the museum was constructed in five phases between 1865 and 1899. The Albert Memorial, as it was originally known, housed the city library, art gallery, museum, and science & arts schools.

The 20th century was marked by the gradual departure of the other institutions, leaving the existing buildings totally in the hands of the museum. Exeter City Council has run the museum since 1870.

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The historical context to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum Dark Ages needs to take into account both the sequence of events leading By c.450 most of the area had become deserted leaving houses up to the formation of the Museum in the 19th Century and in ruins and the streets overgrown. By approximately the 650s the series of developments stretching back over two millennia the Saxons were occupying the Exeter area. During the late which define the Site itself. The chronologies of the Site and the Saxon period a new burh was laid out on the site of the long Museum merge together in the late 19th Century and continue abandoned Roman town, reviving town life here. The medieval through to the present day, enabling a fuller understanding of street plan was laid out, with a wide High Street and narrow how the historic changes affected both. side streets. The areas between the side streets were divided into tenement plots. Gandy Street is a typical example of a street laid History of the Site out at this time.

Prehistoric Also during the late Saxon period the entire circuit of the City There is a general scatter of prehistoric finds from excavations Walls was defended against two major attacks by invading close to the site, indicating that there has been at least Viking armies. Stonework dating from this time has recently been sporadic occupation of the area since the Neolithic period found in the City Wall near the Castle. Reconstructed view of Roman Exeter (after 4000BC). Evidence of Iron Age occupation dating from the immediate pre-Roman period includes coin finds from Norman Northernhay and Paul Street, and round houses underlying the When the Normans finally entered Exeter in 1068 after an Guildhall shopping centre. 18-day siege they found it to be ‘a wealthy and ancient city, strongly fortified’. In order to fully secure the city they chose Roman the rocky mound of Rougemont on which to built their castle. The Second Augustan Legion reached the area of Exeter in c. Two great ditches were dug; an inner one around the inner AD55. They constructed a fortress which constituted at the time ringwork, and an outer one enclosing a bailey. These cut off one of the largest settlements in Britain. Its outer defensive ditch a roughly rectangular area bounded on the north-east and runs under the museum parallel to Upper Paul Street. The new north-west by the remains of the Roman Wall. The entrance to extension site lays c.50m north of the north-western corner of the castle was protected by a stone gatehouse and the inner the outer ditches of this fortress. The road running along the defences surmounted by a stone wall. Domesday Book records perimeter of the fortress defences would have passed under the the destruction of 48 houses, perhaps during the building of the rear portion of the buildings of the museum. Any remains of the Castle. latter were probably removed by the construction of the ditch of the outer defences of the Norman castle. The fortress remained Post-Norman intact until the departure of the legion in c. AD75. During this period the Castle itself remained royal property, being granted by Edward III to his eldest son, the Duke of The City Wall forms the north-west boundary of the RAMM site. Cornwall in 1348. The area between the inner wall and the It was first constructed in c. AD180 to cater for the growth of outer defences, including the proposed re-development site, Isca Dumnoniorum outside the fortress. It made a new boundary became later designated as the “Honor, Mannor and Burroughe which encompassed 93 acres, including the naturally defensive of Bradninch”, remaining in Duchy control until as late as the feature of the volcanic outcrop of Rougemont. This early defence 19th Century. consisted, at first, of a rampart c.1.5 - 2m high and c.6m wide, with a timber or wattled front revetment and was constructed of Under a succession of monarchs the upkeep of the castle and Map depicting the Roman and medieval City Wall dumps of clay largely derived from natural subsoil in the area. the defences was sporadic. The ditch of the outer defences After an interval of some years, in c. AD200 the front of the appears to have been filled in the 12th century, proving that it rampart was cut away and replaced by a stone wall and a was de-commissioned fairly quickly. Clean clay, possibly from higher bank raised within the new wall. the later demolition of the rampart, seems to have been used to fill the upper portion of the ditch. By 1274 the inner curtain There is also a good scatter of evidence for Roman domestic wall of the Castle was also gradually collapsing, its towers occupation on or near the site. A substantial series of Roman were unroofed and the hall was the only internal building not coins was recovered in 1911-12, when the foundations for the decayed. Northernhay was still steep ground falling to the valley Arts Centre were being dug. Foundations of a late Roman town of the Longbrook. house were also seen below the road surface of Upper Paul Street; this house can be presumed to have extended under the As the upkeep of the castle dwindled, so the city of Exeter museum. Roman finds were also recovered when the cellars of flourished. By the early 1500s Exeter was one of the biggest the museum were dug in the 1860s. Thus, although the Roman and richest towns in England. Its prosperity was based on Town defences occupied some of the western part of the site, it the woollen trade. The cloth was woven in rural Devon, dyed may be presumed that 3rd and 4th century Roman occupation and finished in Exeter and exported to France, Spain and the of the sort typical of the fringes of the walled area (stone town Netherlands. houses with attendant agricultural activities) underlay the museum site.

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17th Century The City was beginning to make significant breaks with its By the start of the 17th century Exeter was in its heyday. Rich medieval past. Queen Street, begun in 1835, was the first road merchants dominated city life and the building industry flourished. to cut straight through the town’s medieval fabric. It gave access Northernhay gardens were levelled and laid out as a pleasant to Higher Market, with its impressive classical façade, and walk in 1612 at the city’s expense, thus becoming the first public provided a connection with recently built New North Road, thus garden in the country. improving general access to the City.

The most significant event of this period within the proposed By 1819, the gardens on the site of the existing museum are re-development site was the construction of Bradninch Place, a shown divided by boundary walls with small outbuildings terrace of 8 houses (possibly 9), which ran at right angles to the situated towards the end of each garden. Clearly shown is the city wall over the area of the Castle’s outer defences. Bradninch passageway separating the gardens from the City Wall and Place first appears in 1617 on a map contained in John connecting with Bradninch Place. Norden’s Survey of Manors belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall. They are shown as “Master Manwayrings new tenements” and The 1841 edition of Jenkins’s History of Exeter refers to the marked out as encroachments on Duchy land. Some fabric of inhabitants of Bradninch Place as ‘enjoying all the peace of a the house nearest to the city wall is still visible in the wall’s rear country village in the midst of an opulent city’, although it is hard elevation. Norden’s map shows very little further development to imagine the construction of nearby Queen Street left them around the castle. The area appears to have been largely given untouched. This new road building, combined with the demolition over to orchards and gardens. of the last City Gate in 1819 and the arrival of the first train from London at Exeter St Davids in 1844, gave a sense of increased Braun & Hogenburg’s remarkable map, drawn in 1587 but openness, and hinted at the beginning of a new era. published in 1618, does not show the terrace in Bradninch Place. However, the map does indicate a series of buildings Nationally, this period saw a wave of new museum building in Braun & Hogenburg map of 1618 along what would have been Carey Lane (now Upper Paul county towns and cities all over the country, particularly the in Street). The land between these buildings and the City Wall, north and west. In 1800 there were fewer than a dozen public where the current museum buildings now stand, appears to be museums in the British Isles; by 1850 there were nearly sixty. given over to gardens. Also shown is a passageway separating These new museums were for the first time purpose-built “temples these gardens from the City Wall. of the arts and sciences” and their style tended to be uniformly classical - Ruskin’s influence was not yet being fully felt. For the The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall (Part II) in most part these new museums grew out of the local learned 1650 describes the area as “converted into gardens and sett societies which had formed the basis of intellectual and cultural with fruit trees”. Roque’s map of 1744 does indicate Bradninch city life in the 18th century. In practice many of these “institutions” terrace along with additional buildings along Carey Lane. were little more than gentlemen’s clubs, acting under a strict system of private membership which put them outside the reach Georgian of ordinary people. While the new museums often inherited their Exeter changed considerably in the 18th century. The climate, collections, they were distinguished from the old institutions by amenities and scenery of Exeter attracted wealthy families from their attitude to the public; the role of museums in educating and all over the country at a time when the ancient industries were guiding the public was starting to be recognised. declining. The city began to develop as an administrative, financial and distributive centre and expanded outside the city History of the Museum Excerpt from Roque map of 1744 Excerpt from Tozer map of 1792 walls. Improvements in transport led to the demolition of the city gates and a reduced journey time to London. Exeter certainly had its learned institutions; “The Society of Gentlemen”, founded 1796, a Public Select Library founded In the area immediately surrounding the RAMM site, Rougemont in1807 and an Athenaeum founded1837. It also had the Devon House was built by the eminent surgeon John Patch in the 1760s. and Exeter Institution founded in 1813. The latter was as near The land was leased from the Duchy of Cornwall and a garden as Exeter came to a museum in the first half of the century. It constructed on what were the inner defences of the Norman was a proprietary institution with shareholders and an elected Castle. After Patch’s death the house and gardens were altered president. The institution housed a collection of nearly 15,000 and improved by Edmund Granger, wine merchant, with the help books, as well as a small museum collection of natural history and advice of William Jackson. specimens, ethnography, archaeology and scientific instruments inspired by Dr William Leach, an assistant in the British Museum 1800-1850 Natural History Department. However, instead of burgeoning During the early 1800s Exeter was still flourishing as a county into something fresh and new, it was soon noted by the local centre in spite of declining in national importance. While the City press that the museum department of the institution had “ceased still had its troubled areas, the slums of the west quarter, and to command attention” and been allowed to “slumber in outbreaks of cholera, the general trend was one of improvement. quiet forgetfulness”. It was also being criticised on grounds of exclusiveness.

Brown 1835 Featherstone 1851

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Calls for a new public museum were made by various individuals The Influence of the South Kensington Museums and groups within the city and these intensified with the offer The exhibition made a substantial profit of £186,000, and of two valuable collections to the City within ten years of when its affairs were wound up the commissioners remained a each other. In 1845 a considerable ornithological collection permanent body. They administered the surplus funds to ‘increase belonging to Colonel Godfrey was offered to the City, followed the means of industrial education and extend the influence of in 1852 by the Cottonian Collection, a major collection of science and art upon productive industry’. They purchased land sketches and extensive library belonging to Mr William Cotton of at South Kensington where they proposed to provide a “locality”, Ivybridge. Both offers were turned down due to lack of suitable and establish central institutions working in co-operation with accommodation, causing outrage amongst members of Exeter’s regional education for the benefit of the whole country. Eighty- artistic community. Still, no concrete plans to build a new museum eight acres facing Hyde Park were chosen to house four great were made. It took the great events of the mid-century and the museums and in due course the Royal Colleges of Art, Organists efforts of some powerful advocates to finally launch the project. and Music, such learned societies as the Royal Geographical Society, and the Imperial College of Science and Technology. The advent of the railway and improvements in transport wrought The Victoria and Albert Museum, begun in the 1850s and first a significant change on Exeter’s quiet image. Central Station called the South Kensington Museum, was the first to appear, Oxford University Museum designed by Deane & Woodward, on Queen Street opened in 1861 and the line from Waterloo followed by the Natural History (1873-81), Science (1907) and with John Ruskin’s influence 1860 provided an even more direct link with the capital than that Geological (1933-5) Museums. of the Paddington line of 1844. As the railways brought new workers and artisans with a range of different skills, as well as The South Kensington complex expressed High Victorian Sitr Stafford Northcote tourists and holidaymakers, Exeter started to redefine itself as the confidence in progress, the arts and sciences, and above all, Gateway to the West. The great events of the mid-century were education. It provided a model, promoted by Prince Albert, on now accessible to Exeter’s citizens in a way that was previously which a second great wave of regional museum development unthinkable. could be based and its influence could be seen in the 295 museums founded between 1850 and 1914, of which RAMM The Great Exhibition was one. Typically, this second wave of museum building took The Great Exhibition of 1851 was partially prompted by place not in the old county towns like Exeter, but in the new the success of the French Industrial Exposition of 1844. This industrialised centres of the north. In areas most affected by introduced to the British Government the idea of holding a the ravages of the Industrial Revolution museums were seen as similar exhibition in London for the benefit of British industry. The redressing the squalor of the new world with the wisdom and Royal Commission for the Exhibition was established in 1850 beauty of the old. Many of these museums were completely by Queen Victoria to mastermind a self-financing ‘Exhibition of new and, like Exeter, combined museum, art gallery and library the Works of Industry of All Nations’. The commissioners were under one roof. The development of these complexes was appointed by Royal Charter to plan and promote the Great guided by a series of legislative acts, some of which, like the Exhibition, with Prince Albert, as President, taking personal 1850 Public Library (and Museums) Act recommended not only charge of the operation. The exhibition was held in London’s the principles of these museums but their physical form too. This

Manchester Assize Courts by Sir Alfred Waterhouse Hyde Park, in a building designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, known Act was preceded by the 1845 Museums Act and followed by as the Crystal Palace. It was an astonishing triumph, with an the 1855 Free Library Act. After this came the 1871 Museums average daily attendance of 40,000, and overall attendance of and Gymnasiums Act and later in 1919 the Public Libraries Act. six million. The cumulative effect of this legislation was to create a national network of museums, art galleries and libraries largely subsidised The Exhibition attracted working-class and middle-class alike. by local rate-payers. It was remarkably peaceful and proved that public access to such an event was to be encouraged. The railways played an Ruskin and the Oxford Museum 1819 Prior to the introduction of Queen Street important part in making the Exhibition accessible to ordinary Part of what distinguished these later museums from their people all over the country. The Exhibition also gained a predecessors of the early 19th Century was the dynamic great amount of support amongst the upper classes who saw architectural atmosphere in which they were built. Even in the mid its potential as an improving and educational event. Amongst 1850s the preferred style for museum building was still classical. these was Sir Stafford Northcote, one of the secretaries to the This style linked these public buildings to a Classical tradition Exhibition, and a great Devonian. More than any other person that was considered appropriate, with its associations with he was responsible for galvanising Exeter into action and learning and high culture. However, the ideas of John Ruskin bringing about the creation of RAMM. The vision behind the were beginning to make themselves felt, resulting in a spate of Great Exhibition was filtered down through men like Sir Stafford museums, like RAMM, that were built in the neo-Gothic style. to the regions and played a large part in the provincial museum development that followed in the second half of the century. For Ruskin, Gothic demonstrated a moral and religious choice, a sense of national identity and a connection with the past. The first museum to abandon classical for Gothic was that of Oxford

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University museum, built 1856 -1860. It was architecturally one The Start of the Appeal of the most exciting buildings of the century and proved highly By 1860 the subject of a museum for Exeter was still being influential. This museum was designed by a Dublin firm, Deane discussed but no progress had been made. The subject was and Woodward, with John Ruskin acting as advisor. It was referred to in newspapers and public lectures but the city seemed the brainchild of Dr Henry Acland, Lee’s Reader in Anatomy at to be suffering a sense of inertia about commencing the project. Christ Church, and brother of Thomas Dyke Acland who was By 1861 Sir Stafford Northcote felt that the subject was so one of the founders of RAMM. Henry Acland had been a well discussed it was practically threadbare and that something fellow student of Ruskin’s at Christ Church and was a staunch had to be done. The School of Art had outgrown its premises, follower of his ideas. Dr Acland’s idea was to unite the science the city’s pre-museum collection was growing and needed disciplines previously located all over Oxford in one complex a permanent home, and a well-stocked public library was dedicated to the study of the natural world. becoming a necessity.

Deane and Woodward’s design was that of a single central At the School of Art annual meeting of 1861 Sir Stafford court surrounded by interconnecting premises for the different Northcote made a rousing speech which spurred the city sciences. In many ways it was a showcase for Ruskinian theory. to action: ‘You have in Exeter various Institutions; you are It experimented with the ornamental and structural use of “those awakening to the importance of education, and I believe if you railway materials, iron and glass” and created a structure which only use the advantages you have you may find it will be in your would permit extensive decoration, but which would also express power to establish a very important system of education here the building’s function. As at Exeter, the building made extensive which may tell very well indeed on the education of the middle use of polychrome: “the pillars and columns…were composed of classes. I would impress on Exeter the importance of keeping variously coloured marbles, illustrating different geological strata this subject in view - to make this City, for which I believe it has and ages of the world”, and ornament was used to express the natural and acquired advantages, a centre of learning for the spiritual meaning of the building. Ruskinian gothic, as seen at West.’ In December of the same year Prince Albert’s death Richard Somers-Gard Thomas Dyke Acland Oxford Museum, with its wealth of naturalistic carving, profusion plunged the nation into mourning. It also provided the final spur of plants and animals carved in stone or cast in metal, seemed to the City. A museum complex of the type advocated by Albert almost to embody the triumph of Darwin’s principles. in his lifetime seemed to be the most fitting tribute to the much loved Prince. The issues behind the building of the museum, the heated debates between Classical and Gothic, religion and science that A group of local worthies gathered, headed by Sir Stafford and accompanied it, and the experimental use of materials, had their Exeter’s mayor Mr William Kendall, to start the process of raising effect on architecture nationally. Their influence is to be seen in funds. They defined their aims as follows: the work of provincial architects countrywide and particularly in 1st. A Museum which shall contain all such general objects of John Hayward’s winning design for RAMM. interest as are usually found in the best arranged Museums, and which shall also particularly illustrate the Geology, Mineralogy, Build up to Phase I Archaeology, etc of Devonshire. 2nd Accommodation for the School of Art, which was Temporary Museum established in Exeter in 1854, and which has ever since most During the early 1860s it was becoming necessary to decide successfully carried on its operations. where Exeter’s fledgling museum collection was to be housed. 3rd A Public Reading Room and Library. As the Victorian era progressed the collection grew steadily. A sub-committee was formed in September of 1862 to work out An appeal was launched to raise the estimated £15,000 how and where the items should be cared for. The collection needed to purchase the land and to build the building. The was at first housed in a gallery in Colleton Crescent belonging money came from Public Subscription but fundraising was not to a Mr Brock. After the museum site was purchased, in the an easy job. As Donisthorpe in his history of the museum points spring of 1865, two large rooms in a building at the back of out: “It has been hard work to stimulate lagging generosity - to the site were fitted-out and the collection was moved there. In peg away, or rather to beg away, through half a decade in these rooms the Ross collection, a large collection of over 1000 behalf of an important institution that the county generally has not natural history specimens with some important ethnographic appeared fully to appreciate”. The Museum grew out of hard 1862 Site prior to commencement material, was exhibited to the public on 30th Oct 1865. This work and sheer willpower on the part of its promoters. was such a success that the rooms were opened to the public on Saturdays, at a penny admission. By the time this temporary The Queen Street Site museum closed on 16th May 1868, 7,870 people had paid to By the 1860s Queen Street had become one of the most see the collections. prestigious streets in Exeter. Some of the City’s public buildings were already there - the Post Office, Higher Market, and Central Station - it was the ideal site for the City’s first public museum.

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The site initially acquired by the Trustees for the new museum lay feet, common to the whole building, and lighted by a lantern. on Queen Street at the corner with Upper Paul Street. To the It is proposed to place a full-length statue of the Prince Consort northwest was the city wall, to the north Rougemont Gardens in a niche at the top of the central flight, and to employ mural and Exeter Castle. decoration both here and, as far as possible, throughout the building. The corridors, to the right and left on both ground and The site was acquired in two stages. The first, to the value of upper floors, will be vaulted in stone, and paved with encaustic £2000, was donated by local MP Richard Somers-Gard of tile... nearby Rougemont Lodge in 1863. This provided a good The principal portions of the building will be warmed by hot-air frontage onto Queen Street, but came with certain restrictions from apparatus contained in the basement, and the smaller rooms Somers-Gard: it was to be used for the sole purpose of building by open fire-places. Ventilation will be effected by means of a Public Museum, a School of Art and a Library and the building extraction flues, from the whole building, carried into the tower. had to be erected within 10 years or the land would revert back Provision is made in the basement for a laboratory in connection to him. It also placed a height restriction on the proposed building with the scientific class-rooms on the ground-floor, for the hot- of 55ft from street level. This was to have a direct influence on the air apparatus, and various store-rooms for the several parts of design of the museum as it was eventually built. the building. It will also contain two large cellars with external access, which might, if thought desirable, be let at a good The second half of the site was made up of land behind the rental. Apartments for the attendants are provided in the roof.” Somers-Gard donation, and included a number of houses, gardens, courtyards, cellars and a shop, on land belonging to The building was conceived as a geological showpiece using the Moxhay family. This land cost the museum trustees a further a variety of local stones such as Pocombe, Trap, Heavitree and £2000 to purchase. The Trustees had acquired a site measuring Chudleigh limestones, Ipplepen marble as well as Bath stone collectively 140x70ft. and Aberdeen granite.

1864-1869 Hayward proved himself to be flexible when asked to modify his design so that the building could be constructed in two phases The Winning Design due to funding constraints. In June 1864 he was appointed as By January 1864 architects were requested to submit designs architect. comprising plans, elevations and sections for the proposed building. Twenty-four designs were received and John Hayward’s Hayward design duly selected out of a shortlist of three. The different John Hayward (1808-1891) was a local architect who set up designs were displayed for the public to view in the temporary a highly successful practice based in Cathedral Yard, Exeter. museum on Upper Paul Street. He was a nephew and pupil of Charles Barry, but was himself an enthusiastic proponent of Gothic Revival architecture. He Externally, Hayward’s winning design was quite unlike the drew upon this for some of his best known buildings, including building that was eventually constructed. It owed much to Deane St Luke’s College, Exeter (1851) and the New Gaol, Exeter and Woodward’s Oxford University Museum which had been (1853), as well as RAMM. The majority of his work consisted of built in the preceding few years. Hayward would have been high quality church restorations along the lines advocated by the aware of the issues and ideas that surrounded the Oxford Cambridge Camden Society. As architect to the Exeter Diocesan venture - they were much covered in the architectural press of Architectural Society from its foundation he worked on a vast the day - and these would have informed his design for Exeter. number of churches throughout Devon, achieving particular

Hayward’s Original Proposals 1864 Final Design 1865 Other notable buildings of the time would have also influenced acclaim when his Exwick Church (St Andrews) was declared Hayward, including Sir Alfred Waterhouse’s Assize Courts in the best Gothic Revival church of its day by “The Ecclesiologist”, Manchester. the journal of the Camden Society. In The Buildings of England: Devon, Nicolas Pevsner wrote of Hayward: The most obvious similarity between Hayward’s winning design and the Oxford Museum was the use of a central tower in An account of C19 church building in the county should not mid-façade. Subsequently, however, as a result of the height proceed further without examining the role of Local Architects of restriction placed on the site, Hayward’s central tower was not the Victorian period. Here churches and secular work must be built and nor was the modified high gable that replaced it. The considered together, for the public buildings of the towns are loss of the central tower was later lamented by ‘The Building almost entirely by local men. The chief among them was John News’, who felt that: ‘the present gable can only be regarded Hayward (1808-91). He was a nephew and pupil of Charles as a make-shift, and very different to what the architect desired’. Barry, but all his Devon work is enthusiastically Gothic. He was architect to the Diocesan Architectural Society from its foundation, “The Builder”, of 4 June 1864 gives the following description of and demonstrated his belief in the ecclesiologically correct spirit the proposed interior: of the Camden Society already in his work of the 1840s... For “The principal feature will be the great staircase 30 feet by 24 his major secular buildings he used Gothic; St Luke’s College

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Exeter, 1851, and most impressively, the Royal Albert Memorial public street. Phase II was opened by a Conversazione given Museum Exeter of 1865-6, the latter in an accomplished by Mayor Ellis to the members of the British Association on 19 Ruskinian manner, with plenty of polychromy. August 1869.

His work took him to places as far afield as Jedburgh in Neighbouring wine merchants Joseph Harding and William Yorkshire, Jersey, Cornwall and Oxford. He was also involved Joseph Richards leased the cellars under phase II for £50 per in the work carried out by George Gilbert Scott to Exeter annum. Under the terms of their lease, October 1869, there Cathedral in the 1870s. was to be no “bargaining, buying, selling, tasting or drinking in the Doorways” and nothing was to “ indicate the business Craftsmanship carried on therein except the lowering and raising of Casks… The contracts for carpentry, joinery, wrought iron details and the through the Rolling Way”. The Rolling way and an underground heating system were all won by local firms. Edwin L Luscombe, passage passed under Upper Paul Street and connected to the a local builder, won the building contract, which was signed in vintner’s next-door premises. Under the terms of the lease, the July 1865. underground passage way was to be blocked up and walled over at the expiry of the lease, but this didn’t actually happen The contract for the carving on the first phase was won by Mr until 1985. Boulton of Cheltenham, that of the second phase by Harry Hems The cost of phases I and II was £10,185 of which £500 was who had previously been Mr Boulton’s principal assistant. They received from the Science and Art Department as a grant in were all under the close supervision of the architect who, as a aid of the School of Art. This cost excluded internal fittings and true Ruskinian, took the carving very seriously. He encouraged decoration and for years later the museum struggled to equip his sculptor to study French medieval sculpture in Normandy and itself with the appropriate cases and furniture. Decoration was put “a valuable library at his disposal” - this may have included missing even in some of the main parts of the building. G. T. 1868 Phase I Ruskin’s Seven Lamps which stressed the importance of “sculpture Donisthorpe, in his history of the museum, notes Hayward’s and colour”. This attitude to the decorative work was similar hope that the main staircase ceiling should at some point in the to that of the Oxford museum where the carvers had “various future “be enriched with ornament and colour, and that the wall volumes placed for their use” and started each day with prayers surface and the plain parts of the stone-work may have similar and a meal. adornment. The rich carving of the foliage in the capitals of the columns, and the variegated hues of the marble in the shafts, will Harry Hems had arrived in Exeter a penniless journeyman, then be in greater harmony with the rest of the work than they but after working for Hayward he gained a reputation for now are with plain walls and single-tinted stone-work”. high quality craftsmanship and set up his own business. By 1879 Hems’ workshop (designed by Robert Medley Fulford, In spite of this the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 24 April 1868 architect of Phase IV) was considered the “largest connection exclaimed “Great praise is due to all for the manner in which for ecclesiastical carving outside London”. Hems became a they have executed their work, the whole of which, from the flamboyant and well-known Exeter figure as well as gaining an construction being an integral part of the building, can be well international reputation. seen.”

Building Phases I and II 1865-1869 1870-1884 The north wing and centre of the building were to be constructed Between opening day and April 1870 over 79,000 people first. They were to house a library, accommodation for the were admitted. The museum was felt to be a resounding success. School of Art and provide space for the growing museum Financial difficulties were alleviated to a certain extent in 1870 collection. As it turned out the museum initially occupied the when the museum was transferred to the City Council under space reserved for the library, and the library operated out of the Free Libraries Act of 1855, making it eligible to receive the science rooms behind the entrance hall until phase II could the penny rate. Much of the early success of the museum is be completed. Owing to a strike amongst the workmen, phase attributable to the extraordinary qualities of the first curator, 1 was not completed until April 1868 when it was opened by a W.S.M. D’Urban, a natural historian with remarkably wide Grand Bazaar, at which it was noted, the south wing (phase II) knowledge, who ordered, catalogued and presented the rapidly 1869 Phase II was represented by an apple stall and a bill-sticker’s cottage. growing collections with outstanding dedication and scholarship.

After more fund raising, work started on the second half of By 1874 enough money had been raised by Mrs D’Urban to Hayward’s design, the south wing. This completed the symmetry furnish the lower museum with suitable cases, but it was not until of the façade and added two large rooms into which the three years later that the upper museum room was complete. museum moved, plus a number of smaller administrative rooms. The library was already becoming a victim of its own success. All the main rooms in the building were lit by natural light as well The number of readers had increased rapidly and in 1877 as equipped with gas standards, and the Reading Room was the Committee was complaining that the News Room and placed at the back of the building away from the noise of the Reading Room was so small that people turned away from the

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door “not being able to find accommodation.” The Building named the Exeter Technical and University Extension College. News reported: “The museum is already a valuable one, and The new College needed additional classrooms. Available is increasing so rapidly that it will soon become absolutely space at the museum was utilised and to this were added five necessary to enlarge the building, which has been duly new classrooms in Sidwell Street, half a mile away from the considered by the architect in the erection of the new wing”. museum. By 1894 over 500 pupils were attending the College; the divided premises were problematic and back-to-back lectures Building Phase III 1882-1884 at the museum left little room for preparation, leaving facilities The problems with space were brought to a head during the first stretched to the maximum. Amateur Art Exhibition held in 1881 where it was felt that the “accommodation [was] barely equal to the demand”. As this Meanwhile, between 1889 and 1894 the museum had been was envisaged as an annual event, calls for the establishment purchasing adjoining land with a view to further extensions. The of a County Art Gallery at the museum soon followed. In 1882 impetus for this renewed activity had been firstly the Queen’s Queen Street at the turn of the century the Trustees applied to the Lords Commissioners of HM Treasury jubilee of 1887, and secondly a large bequest left by Exeter for leave to purchase lands for an extension of the museum. cabinet-maker, Mr Kent Kingdon in 1889. The Kingdon bequest The land acquired included the front garden of no. 5 Bradninch left £6000 for the purpose of completing the building and local Place (1882), and land containing dwelling houses, gardens architect Robert Medley Fulford, under the instructions of the and courtyards in Upper Paul Street (1884). testator, had drawn up plans for the new extension.

John Hayward was again contracted as architect. This first Thus plans for new accommodation were already well under extension added a reference library to the borrowing library at way by the time the College’s expansion reached crisis point. ground level with two new top lit art galleries above. The smaller of these two galleries had an entrance from Bradninch Place. Building Phase IV 1893-95 1882 Phase III Robert Medley Fulford (1845-1910) was the son of a local The Museum Extension Committee on 5th December 1884 vicar, who was articled to John Hayward. Before setting up reported completion of Phase III. on his own Fulford worked in the offices of William White in “The Reference Library is a magnificent apartment on the ground London, one of the leaders of the Gothic Revival. Like Hayward, floor, about 66ft. in length and 29ft in breadth, lighted from the most of Fulford’s architectural work was ecclesiastical and he sides by plain windows. The Art Gallery is above the Reference too was a highly influential member of the Exeter Diocesan Library and is of similar dimensions. It is lighted only from the top Architectural Society. by perpendicular box lights, so that the whole expanse of the walls can be utilised for hanging pictures. The smaller entrance Generally, in his secular work Fulford favoured picturesque gallery is an extension of this large gallery towards Bradninch- effects, with tile-hanging in the Shaw tradition. Woodbury School place; it, too, is lighted from the roof, and is intended for the (1870) is an early example; later ones are Maypool, Stoke reception of engravings, etchings, and other small works of art.” Gabriel (1883) and the fanciful workshop he designed for Harry Hems in Exeter (1881). 1885-1900 Both phases IV and V of the building works were closely linked The extension Fulford designed in collaboration with the to the development of the educational side of the Museum’s benefactor Kent Kingdon provided four new galleries and lecture- work. rooms, two classrooms, and a chemical laboratory. It was built in North Italian Gothic style, and again, Harry Hems provided the From the start, the museum was envisaged as an educational carved stonework. The final layout proposed was a development establishment, and the Science, Art, and Technical classes that of the initial designs prepared by Hayward himself. Internally, the took place there were well attended. To these were added, ground floor employed rows of cast iron columns and first floor in 1888, the University Extension Lectures, held in the gallery glass floor tiles carried light from the main rooflight to the gallery above the Reference Library, and similarly well attended. These below. With its dramatic coved ceiling, the ethnography (new had been instigated by Miss J D Montgomery, who had close World Cultures) Gallery was one of the most ambitious gallery links with the University of Cambridge, from whence the lectures spaces built in the provences in the late Victorian period. 1895 Phase IV came. In 1891, the two-phased construction of Hayward’s freestanding Chemical Laboratories next to the Reference Library Fulford gave up architecture when he was ordained in 1891. His responded to the increasing demands of the science curriculum. firm then became Fulford, Tait and Harvey and it was Tait and Harvey who built phase IV to Fulford’s plans. By 1893 it was recognised that the various educational roles of the museum needed to be formalised and a scheme, outlined Phase IV was opened in 1895 by the Duke of Devonshire, as again by Miss Montgomery, was adopted. This resulted in the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. establishment of an institution linked to the museum and library on one hand and the University of Cambridge on the other. It was

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Building Phase V 1898-1899 At a City Council meeting in November 1917, the Governors of In 1897 the arrival of the Fisher bequest, a valuable collection the museum expressed their frustration: of 15,000 books, again put pressure on space at the museum. This, with the added incentive of Queen Victoria’s Diamond “Apart altogether from the risk of losing the Carnegie grant, Jubilee, resulted in the building of another extension on a strip of there is an urgent necessity to secure a new building in order land running along the back of the museum. This new extension, that our Public Library may develop on sound lines. The Royal begun in 1898, consisted of three stories as opposed to the two Albert Memorial was designed to accommodate a museum of the original and provided administrative rooms for the college, and a library of moderate size and importance. We have long together with more classrooms and a laboratory. It was designed outgrown the original limits in the minds of the founders. The by architects Tait and Harvey of Phase IV who used Pocombe Museum is cramped, and exhibits of value are thrust into cellars stone and Ham Hill stone for the façade and glass mosaic to fill because there is no room for them upstairs. The Library has the gables over the porch and the upper clock recess. overflowed into all sorts of odd corners and crannies, and there is reason to fear that we have suffered because of our lack of Phase V was opened by the Duke of York, later King George shelf room… V, in 1899 and as a result the whole building was renamed The In short, we have reached the point where we must give Royal Albert Memorial. ourselves elbow room or definitely announce that we no longer aspire to keep pace with our opportunities. This is only one of Subsequent Developments several matters about which we are at the parting of the ways, By 1900 the museum building had extended to fill almost all the and are compelled to decide finally and irrevocably whether available space between Queen Street and Bradninch Place. Exeter is to remain the true centre of the County of Devon or The strip of land, formerly belonging to No. 8 Bradninch Place, whether we will allow the sceptre to pass to another town, and running along the inside of the city wall was still vacant (and settle ourselves into the role of an ambling market town; a sleepy remains so to this day), but the museum extensions had reached Cathedral city. Our whole history this far has been a repudiation the steep terracing below Bradninch Place and for now could of limitations. Are we going to fail now?” Rougemont Estate View of Bradninch Place before its demolition go no further. The Land Tax plan of 1909 shows the cramped situation towards the back of the museum building. In spite of this impassioned plea wrangling over the site continued to cause delays, and the Curator of the Museum, Within RAMM the separate departments, and the College in Mr F.R. Rowley, was forced to start turning down gifts due to particular, had reached the point where they needed to expand lack of space. Rooms at Rougemont House, acquired by the and to gain some autonomy from the original institution. The Council as part of the Rougemont Estate in 1911, were already piecemeal purchase of Bradninch Place had already started in used as storage for the museum and very little extra space was 1899 with No 8, and followed in 1901 by No. 7. By 1905, available there. The situation was felt to be very “difficult and both these buildings had been demolished. The rest of Bradninch discouraging.” Place was a terrace of substantial houses, including a hotel and a Barnados home with raised back gardens running back to In 1920 the museum accepted from Mr C.V.A. Peel his collection the boundary with Rougemont Gardens. In 1904 the College of big game animals from all over the world. It was almost unique governors applied to buy Bradninch Place and two houses in for a public museum to receive from one donor at one time a Gandy Street as a site for the erection of a new building for series of nearly 50 well-mounted mammals and was it viewed additional classrooms, laboratories and a College Hall, whilst as a nationally important collection. The building proved itself still retaining their accommodation in the York Wing. quite unequal to such a collection - a window and its stonework surround had to be taken out to get the elephant in, and the The remainder of Bradninch Place was demolished in 1911 giraffe had to lie on its side until the ceiling could be raised to to make way for the College’s new buildings, built in a Neo- accommodate it. Georgian style by Tait and Harvey, the architects for Phases IV and V of RAMM. The College then formed the nucleus of what was to become the University College of the South West in 1922, and the University of Exeter in 1955.

The Library too was beginning to outgrow its place in the main building and the museum was suffering as a result. In 1909 the City Council were offered £15,000 from the Carnegie Trustees York Wing, Upper Paul Street 1899 Phase V towards the building of a new Free Public Library. The offer was accepted but plans stalled due to the on-set of the First World War and indecision about the site. The Council delayed to such an extent that the Trust money was almost withdrawn and by 1917 the situation at the Library was reaching breaking point.

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The rest of the collection was housed in what became known as not have to retrace their steps. It also made it possible to close The Peel Hut, built at the top of the terrace behind the behind the Museum independently of the College of Art so that people the museum and reached via a new corridor connected to the using the latter for evening classes did not need to enter any part small picture gallery. In this corridor were displayed plans for a of the Museum premises. Access to the College of Art was via proposed purpose-built Natural History Museum which were never the York Wing’s main entrance. carried through, but served as an acknowledgement of the present building’s inadequacies. The occupation of the York Wing by the College of Art was approved as a temporary measure until a new building could By 1922 there was still no progress on finding a site for the new be completed, but it was not until 1972 that this happened. library and the Carnegie Trustees threatened to withdraw the grant In 1980, a series of single storey structures, including a boiler if plans were not initiated by the end of 1925. They increased room and fumigation chamber, were built within the main, central the grant to £19,000 and in 1924 plans for the new library courtyard. were finally approved. The architect was Mr Greenslade who had designed the National Library of Wales and the new library In 1983, when the University building became the Arts Centre, building was completed and opened on 11 October 1930. the Peel Hut and all the other huts that had accumulated in the The removal of the Library from RAMM meant a sudden area behind the museum were demolished. In 1986, a number increase in available space for the museum. For the first time of excavations took place in the area behind the museum in the building could be viewed as a whole and issues such as order to investigate the causes of a large shear crack in the storage could be considered. The Curator’s Report of October north-west wall of Gallery no. 2. A series of small soundings 1930 demonstrates some of the problems they were dealing were excavated along the wall and they revealed the depth and with. Congestion in the exhibition spaces, overcrowding in the edges of the ditch of the outer defences of the Norman castle Art Gallery and the lack of accommodation for study collections, where it had been truncated by terracing for the museum. The Peel Hut 1930 workrooms and stores all needed to be confronted. They crack was subsequently filled but remains a cause for concern. considered using the vacated Reference library for gallery space but couldn’t due to inadequate lighting. The Natural History Also in the late 1980s, in response to rising visitor numbers Room was becoming “inconveniently crowded” and the study the City Council decided to commission a feasibility study for collections were cause for concern as they were not safe in a development plan for RAMM as part of a general review the rooms for the General Public and were scattered all over of its museums service. This study was undertaken by Harrison the building. They also needed a proper workshop: “We have Sutton Partnership. It covered the core functions of the museum, never had a convenient work room, but only a makeshift one including curatorial care, storage and methods of display, as at the top of the building, in a place partly used for stores and well as facilities such as catering, toilets and access for the with inconvenient access”. Their stores were scattered between disabled. In particular it looked at ways of drawing visitors in Rougemont House and Paul Street. The report finishes, “It will and involving them interactively in the displays. be noted that I consider it necessary to retain the Peel Annexe and to keep the historical collections at Rougemont House. While the proposals contained within the report were not To attempt to bring these into the main building would make it executed as presented, a number of alterations aimed at impossible to provide any room for expansion of the Science addressing specific needs highlighted within the study were collections. The further growth of the museum will necessitate subsequently carried-out. The Museum shop and café were the absorption of the Art School, and the York Wing at present introduced on the ground floor in 1992 and 1993 respectively. occupied by the University College”. In 1994, the main public toilet facilities were totally refurbished and, in 1996, a new passenger lift and disabled toilet were This envisaged growth was again interrupted by the onset of introduced within the lightwell of Hayward’s original Phase I the Second World War. Extensive bombing of the City in May building. In 1995, further modifications to the natural history 1942 had little direct effect on the museum but diverted all stores allowed, for the first time, a complete circuit of the ground possible funds and attention elsewhere, and parts of the museum floor. were taken over for use by the War Office. After the war a report by eminent town planner, Thomas Sharp, recommended In 1999, the museum was awarded an HLF grant of £1.17m the building of a new museum for Exeter along the clean, simple to develop the World Cultures galleries, culminating with the Bolier room and ductwork within the central courtyard 2003 lines of post-war architecture. He considered RAMM a relic from total refurbishment of two major and two minor first floor gallery the past which had no place in the post-war city. Subsequently, spaces along with related servicing and means of escape works. only part of Sharp’s plan was implemented and RAMM was left untouched. An additional £300,000 Designation Challenge Fund grant resulted in the formation of the new ethnographic storage In 1957 the University College moved out of the York Wing facilities on the second floor and newly formed mezzanine level and the Art School moved in, thus freeing up space for the of the York Wing along with a programme of conservation and museum. This increased the exhibition space available and documentation for the collection. enabled complete circulation of the first floor so that visitors did

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The general approach to assessing the significance of the Royal Historical Setting Albert Memorial Museum and its site is adapted from that set out The setting of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum is both by James Semple Kerr in ‘The Conservation Plan’ (1990) and historically and culturally significant by virtue of its proximity to in particular his conservation plan for the Sydney Opera House prominent monuments from the city’s Roman, Norman, Medieval, (1993). It relies on an understanding of the physical attributes Georgian, and Victorian past. Within the modern context, the and use of the building, its relationship with the setting and the Museum forms part of a series of cultural institutions whose associations of both building and site. historic pattern of development around Rougemont Gardens has provided the catalyst for the regeneration of a new cultural Kerr suggests that degrees of significance be assigned to ‘Castle Quarter’ of the city. elements and attributes of the building in order to develop a policy for the conservation of the building. In the following Architectural Merit sections, the significance of the site, the buildings, and the The original museum buildings designed by John Hayward, and collection are assessed according to the following categories: the later additions by Robert Medley Fulford, are exceptionally significant examples of the Gothic Revival movement in the South- Exceptional: items of exceptional interest that are west of England. The neo-gothic facades along Queen Street fundamental and critical to the whole concept and Upper Paul Street, amongst the finest in Exeter, illustrate the of the asset important influence of Ruskin on British architecture. Considerable: items of considerable interest which contribute to the whole or are part of the specific Learning Contribution vocabulary of the asset The contributions the Museum makes to a broad spectrum of Some: items that have some intrinsic interest but play the public through its educational programmes and activities are only a minor role in the overall asset exceptionally significant. This ongoing commitment represents Little/Intrusive: items that have no particular merit or a continuation of the principles upon which the original museum contribution to the asset or that may even be was founded. visually intrusive View of main entrance hall The Collection Statements of Significance The quality and diversity of the museum’s Collection coupled with the historical and regional associations with its origins are Historical Development exceptionally significant. The Royal Albert Memorial Museum is exceptionally significant as it represent a historical moment in the evolution of British Cultural Role museums in the 19th Century, reflecting the nationwide search for The role played by the Museum in support of the cultural education as a social driving force. development and diversity in the region is exceptionally significant. RAMM forms the centrepiece of ECC’s Museum Civic Importance Service and has been highlighted by the Council as a key The museum is locally significant as it symbolises the exceptional component in delivering the City’s cultural strategy and fulfiling efforts of the people in and around Exeter to establish a centre strategic objectives for recreation and leisure. of learning and betterment. Founded through public subscription, the realisation of the museum as expressed in its architecture is an everlasting symbol of Exeter’s civic pride.

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The existing site is bound to the northwest by the Roman City northwest corner of the site are intrusive and of little or no Wall, to the northeast by a retaining wall to Rougemont Gardens historic significance and elsewhere by the existing museum buildings and the Phoenix • The self-seeded sycamore trees and other vegetation growing Arts Centre. Access to the site is to the southeast from Gandy in the rampart and on the wall itself are intrusive Street. The site falls within the Central Conservation Areas and an Area of Archaeological Importance and is surrounded on two The Outer Bailey Rampart and Ditch sides by the registered Grade II Northernhay and Rougemont Although no longer a visible monument, both ditch and rampart Gardens. A full description of the archaeological background of the outer defences of the Norman Castle have been traced in of the site is contained within the Archaeological Assessment and around the RAMM site through excavation, auguring, and and Field Evaluation study that was carried out by Exeter the observation of settlement cracks. From the City Wall, the ditch Archaeology on behalf of ECC in March 2003. A copy of this runs underneath the Local History gallery, roughly 30m north-east study is appended to this Plan. of the Queen Street frontage. At this point it is 12m wide and 4.1m deep, although wider elsewhere. The ditch then continues The City Wall in a broad sweep round to the library. The rampart, originally The City Wall is a Scheduled Ancient Monument which at least 15m wide, has also been identified to the rear of the underwent extensive repair works in 1983, obscuring areas site although the foundations of later buildings have substantially Historic View of Northernhay Gardens looking towards St Sidwells of ancient facework and core. However, the wall remains truncated it. remarkably intact and will form one of the key elements in the proposed redevelopment of the site. The outer bailey Rampart and Ditch can be seen as a continuation of the inner castle defences clearly visible in the Within the redevelopment site there are two surviving portions of adjoining Rougemont Gardens. However, this continuity is totally intact Roman wall. Towards the north-east extremity of the wall is obscured by the boundary wall separating the two defences and a substantial exposure of Roman rear face work c.10m in length. by the extensive disruption and loss of the outer rampart’s fabric. In this area also are surviving areas of rampart, some of which The outer ditch has been almost totally lost beneath the current have been re-earthed for protection. At the opposite extreme of museum buildings and adjacent structures. the wall is another section, c.40m in length, heavily patched, but thought to be Roman for most of its length. The exact extent of • The continuation of the inner castle defences with the historic the remnants of the rampart to the rear of the wall is unknown but form of the outer bailey rampart on the site is of considerable the original rampart may have been 10-13m wide. significance

When viewed from Northernhay Gardens, this stretch of City View of Roman City Wall walkway Wall continues unbroken towards Rougemont Castle, providing an important setting for the historic and dominant character of the wall. In contrast, the view of the wall from Bradninch Place is Detail of the Roman City wall obscured by the current car park and unattended landscaping, lessening our understanding of the monument.

Another feature of this portion of City Wall is its wall-walk. Originally designed to allow pedestrian access along the top of the wall, the wall-walk has the potential to afford impressive views contributing to a better understanding of the topography of the historic city. The wall-walk is currently inaccessible, overgrown, and in need of some repair.

• The historic setting of the city wall when viewed from Northernhay Gardens is of exceptional significance • The historic setting of the city wall when viewed from Bradninch Place is of exceptional significance • The remaining portions of city wall rampart, where intact, are of exceptional significance • The city wall-walk as an accessible part of the wall itself is of considerable significance Inner castle ditch within Rougemont Gardens The ancient city wall forms a symbolic edge • The remnants of the early 18c Bradninch Place end terrace to the site visible in the rear wall elevation are intrusive in nature but are of some historic significance • The remnants of the greenhouse abutting the wall in the Conjectural reconstruction of the Roman wall and rampart c. AD200

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.1 Significance of the Site 15

The Car Park site The main elements of the existing site apart from the City Wall and ramparts include an access road and two car parks. The lower Arts Centre car park has been tarmacked while the upper museum car park, split into two levels, is a mixture of tarmac and hardcore surrounded by grass slopes. The rest of the site is a collection of un-landscaped and poorly organised spaces left over from centuries of development and redevelopment. Brick and concrete retaining walls hold back the steeply sloping land between the main elements of the site and the existing buildings. Speckled across the site, self-seeded sycamore and fir trees are accompanied by a small stand of planted silver birch. None of the planting is protected.

The demolition of Bradninch Place and a series of 19th and

20th century temporary buildings along with recent works to View of Car park site seen from the York Wing roof the car parks have resulted in the deposition of a considerable depth of material on the site. The most striking feature of the site is the abrupt rise in level from its southernmost to northernmost points; a rise of approximately 11 metres from Upper Paul Street to the extreme north of the site. Currently, this degree of slope combined with the layout of the existing buildings at the junction View of car park Site from City Wall of Upper Paul Street and Gandy Street greatly restrict large vehicular and disabled access to the rear of the site.

• The potential for archaeological remains on the site and what they may reveal about the historical development of Exeter is of exceptional significance • The site’s setting and its proximity to the City Wall are of considerable significance • The site’s proximity to a series of cultural institutions is of some significance • The current state of the site is intrusive to the setting of the city wall • The current use of the site is intrusive to the setting of the city wall

Level change between upper and lower car park areas

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In The Buildings of England: Devon, Nicolas Pevsner describes • The museum, as the most important example of John the Museum: Hayward’s secular work, is of exceptional significance In E.E. style, am impressive symmetrical tripartite composition • The strong symmetry of the elevation is of exceptional with the use of several types of coloured stone so favoured by significance Ruskin (chiefly reddish-purple Pocombe, with grey limestone • The elevation as highly visible landmark is of considerable plinth and buff Bath stone details). The tall central tower (like the significance University Museum at Oxford) of Hayward’s original winning • The contribution the elevation makes to the collection of design was ruled out, and he substituted a gable with rose buildings on Queen Street is of considerable significance window. Recessed entrance with polished granite columns and • The display of Ruskinian values through the formal use of a early Gothic capitals. In the south wing the top-lit gallery for the variety of local stone types is of considerable significance museum; in the north wing the former library and reading room, • The stonework as an early example of the skills of Harry with thin iron columns, and classrooms above. The entrance Hems is of considerable significance leads directly to the top-lit imperial stair; in an aedicule on the • The decorative stonework and ironwork promoting half landing a statue of Prince Albert by EB Stephens. At the the traditional craft skills of the time is of considerable back a venetian Gothic extension of 1894 by R Medley Fulford. significance • The strong line of the parapet, which serves to unite the Queen Street Elevation Museum and its extensions, is of considerable significance Queen Street Elevation by Hayward, Phases I & II John Hayward was an important figure in the Gothic Revival • The extensive restoration works to the existing stonework are in the South West. He advocated the use of the Early English of little significance style and his rigorous and competant application of this style • The blacking-out of windows in gallery spaces is intrusive produced many of Exeter’s finest builidings. Hayward’s architectural contribution to Exeter is of exceptional significance. Upper Paul Street Elevation Robert Medley Fulford’s 1895 extension in the Venetian Gothic At RAMM, he organised the chief Queen Street façade style was generally more flamboyant than Hayward’s original symmetrically about the main entrance bay. The elevation is designs, yet again showed the strong influence of Ruskin. The articulated 4,3,3,3,4 with the second and fourth bays being set elevation consists of five bays carefully proportioned to maintain back. The main entrance is reached via a series of steps rising the rhythm set by the ground floor plate tracery and first floor immediately from the pavement up through the central arcade. blind arcading of the adjoining Hayward building. Fulford also Hayward’s original entrance bay was to include a tower flanked continued Hayward’s use of the pierced stone parapet and by highly pitched gable bays but he was forced to alter his finials. design due to height restrictions attached to the donation of the site. The façade is set back from the street to conform to the site constraints and to allow daylight and direct street access to the Prominent elements in the Early English style include the larger basement stores; iron railings are set along the pavement at this windows employing plate tracery and the smaller windows with point. On the 1st floor, the first two bays project towards the simple trefoil heads. A circular rose window, reminiscent of 13th- street to form an alcove within the main gallery space. Two large century cathedrals, is situated above the main entrance. Tall external granite columns support this alcove. The presence of an stone pinnacles with heavy finials, some with scale decoration, existing building (since demolished) adjoining to the north forced Upper Paul Street Elevation by Fulford, Phase IV York Wing Elevation by rise above the pierced stonework parapet which unifies the the loss of one half of the last ground floor bay. Tait & Harvey, Phase V overall composition. The Upper Paul Street façade also employs capitals in the The influence of Ruskin can be seen through the variety of Byzantine style, almost certainly adapted from a drawing in building stones employed in the composition of the main the ‘Stones of Venice’ and bold quatrefoils in its ground floor façade. The main entrance columns are of deep pink granite window tracery of the same source. The carved freestone is from Aberdeen while local Chudleigh limestone is used for the Ham Hill stone from Somerset, and the columns supporting the dressings of the basement and the piers of the arcade. The first floor alcove are of polished Granite from Dartmoor. purple walling is of locally quarried Pocombe stone while the window dressings, capitals, and mouldings are made from Bath • The overall composition of the elevation as an important stone. Bishop’s Lydeard stone quarried near Taunton is used to example of the Venetian Neo-Gothic style is of considerable form the red shafts of the outer bays. significance • Fulford’s imaginative response to the demands of the site and • The overall composition of the elevation as an important the context of Hayward’s original façade is of considerable example of the Neo-Gothic movement in the South West is significance of exceptional significance • The quality of the stonework by Harry Hems is of • The bold civic statement reflected in the elevation’s execution considerable significance is of exceptional significance

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York Wing Elevation While these latter phases of development allowed RAMM to Designed by Tait and Harvey and completed between 1898 grow onto the remaining land available for expansion, the variety and 1899, the York Wing elevation responded to a brief of uses to which the buildings were put, coupled with a lack of requiring three levels of accommodation - not two, as had been vision for the complex as a whole, greatly diminish the Museum’s the case in all previous extensions. Tait and Harvey successfully overall sense of organisation. married their new building with Fulford’s, employing a more ornamented style while maintaining an overall harmony. The • The sequence of primary spaces off the main entrance hall symmetrical frontage closing off the end of Upper Paul Street and beyond is of considerable significance is punctuated by the central entrance porch and gabled clock • The current ordering of the Collection does not promote a recess. Both the clock recess and the niche over the entrance clear sequence through the building and thereby is intrusive to portico remain empty. one’s appreciation of the organisation of the primary spaces.

Again, Pocombe and Ham Hill stone were used in the façade’s Circulation construction. Existing parapet heights were respected while the Given the variety of uses to which the original building was put, line of stone courses were used to unite the new extension with Hayward needed to address the requirement of a simple yet the old. effective circulation strategy. His solution was to organise the main circulation pattern around the main Entrance Hall and grand • The overall composition of the elevation and its relationship staircase. with Fulford’s extension is of some significance From Queen Street, visitors were taken up a short flight of stairs Organisation through the entrance arcade and into the central Entrance Hall. Roof Plan Ground Floor Plan showing state on intactness The founders of the original Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial From this point, turning to the left and continuing down the main had a vision of creating an institution which would house under corridor gained access to the library and reading rooms. By one roof a museum, an art gallery, a library and reading room, turning to the right upon entering, visitors could visit the ground a school of art, and a school of science. floor museum galleries. First floor galleries could be reached by taking the grand staircase to the right hand side while the School Laid out on two principal floors, John Hayward’s original building of Art was reached by taking the staircase to the left. Science organised these activities around a central entrance hall and classrooms were to be found directly across the Entrance Hall grand staircase. The building’s primary spaces were situated at behind the grand staircase. either end of an eight-foot-wide main corridor running through the entrance hall. A number of secondary spaces were organised The main circulation route off the Entrance Hall was defined on off this corridor with the remainder forming a series of inter- both floors by a wide corridor. Gallery areas were linked so connected spaces behind the grand staircase. Toilet facilities that a circular route passing through them was made possible. were stacked adjacent to an internal lightwell off the main Folding doors off of the principal spaces behind the main Key corridor. staircase afforded additional flexibility of both use and circulation. Access to the basement areas from Queen Street was made fabric removed While his solution suited the original intent of the founders, possible by two external stairs flanking the main entrance bay. pressures to expand resulted in a series of extensions that new additions to fabric - infill progressively blurred the clarity of Hayward’s original intent. Hayward’s 1884 Phase III extension could not rely upon his original circulation strategy and a new first floor entrance off new accommodation Phases III and IV introduced major volumes on both the ground Bradninch Place was required. Alterations to the first floor Painting

volume altered and first floors, roughly axial with the original primary spaces. Room were also needed to provide access to the new Lecture Combined with the first floor Silver Gallery, these new spaces Room. alterations to allow subsequent phases encircled, and thereby created, a new internal courtyard. However, no attempt was made to use the courtyard as a formal The addition of Fulford’s extension in 1895 led to the creation First Floor Plan showing state on intactness element in the Museum’s overall organisation. Phase V, which of a secondary route connecting the main Entrance Hall with housed primarily classroom and administrative accommodation the back of the site via the newly-formed central courtyard. over three floors, was developed almost in total isolation of the Meanwhile, the growth and evolution of the various institutions rest of the Museum. occupying the buildings created ever-changing circulation patterns and problems.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.2 Significance of the Buildings 18

The completion of the York Wing in 1899 introduced a new glass in the lantern to control the quality of light within this major independent entrance off Upper Paul Street. A stair serving all space. This lighting was supplemented by a series of ornate gas three levels was contained within the new wing; however, no standards resting on Bath stone pedestals at each angle of the level access was provided to the existing extensions on the upper staircase. levels. The present colour scheme was devised in the 1980’s to reflect Today, modern accessibility requirements have begun to affect Victorian tastes of the time. Ironically, a lack of funds at the circulation through the Museum. Recent works have led to the time of the Museum’s official opening meant the Entrance Hall formation of a new disabled access entrance into the York received no decoration whatsoever as lamented by George T Wing; the introduction of a new passenger lift in 1996; and Donisthorpe in ‘An Account of the Origin and Progress of the modifications to the Natural History stores in 1995 which Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial Museum’ written in 1868. allowed for the first time a complete circuit of the ground floor. • The original entrance sequence is of exceptional significance • The clarity of the original circulation routes is of considerable • The decorative stonework is of exceptional significance significance, although subsequent phases of expansion have • The statue of the Prince Consort, symbolising the Museum’s served to diminish its strength connections with the Prince, is of exceptional significance • The blocking of the doorway connecting the Roman and • The mosaic commemorative plaque and its message are of Archaeology galleries is intrusive considerable significance and are in need of restoration • Modern disability requirements have led to minor, yet • The stone plaque dedicated to Thomas Dyke Acland is of intrusive, interventions to the fabric some significance • The replicate corner plinth on the corner landing is of little Internal Spaces significance Intrusive reception desk within main Entrance Hall Statue of Prince Albert within the Grand Stair entrance area • The terrazzo flooring and the carpeting to the stairs is of little Entrance Hall significance The centrepiece of Hayward’s original design was the top lit • The conservation of the stonework involving sandblasting central Entrance Hall and grand staircase. Immediately upon proved too invasive and the results are intrusive entering the Museum, the visitor is confronted be a wide flight • The positioning of the main reception desk is intrusive of stairs leading up to the first landing where Edward-Bowring • The inconsistent style and use of signage and display boards Stephen’s statue of the Prince Consort, Albert, stands dominating within the main space is intrusive the space dressed in the robes of the Chancellor of the University • The introduction of modern track lighting within the arcade of Cambridge. and the clumsy wall-mounted emergency light fittings in the main volume are intrusive From this point, the rear face of the ground floor arcade can be • The smoke detector suspended by a system of cables and viewed. Two sculpted heads, said to be depictions of Queen wires within the central lantern is intrusive Victoria and Prince Albert, rest at the junction of the arches above the richly carved Bath stone capitals in the Early English Primary Spaces style by Harry Hems. A commemorative plaque set in mosaics Apart from the main Entrance Hall, the original Museum and can also be seen above the main entrance door. its subsequent extensions provided a number of primary spaces 1931 porceline exhibition in former Free Library space on Hayward’s designed for a variety of uses. Typically, all of the major first floor ground floor From this first landing, the stair splits to the left and right spaces were top lit and, apart from the Silver Gallery and Fine leading to the first floor landing over the arcade below via Art Gallery, were supported by ground floor cast iron columns corner landings. Ground floor passageways run beneath these contained within similarly proportioned rooms below. The main intermediate landings connecting the Entrance Hall to the characteristic of the first floor spaces was the sense of volume accommodation beyond. created by the use of various roof forms, rooflights, and lanterns. Coved and vaulted ceilings of panelling and plaster rose above Within the Entrance Hall, Hayward continued his imaginative carved stone corbels and plaster mouldings. use of stonework, employing polished Ipplepen marble for the principal columns and a grey limestone, possibly from Plymouth, The corresponding ground floor spaces were generally uniform in the smaller shafts at the sides of the hall. Bath stone capped in height, relying upon proportion, fenestration, and structure to with Ipplepen marble was used for the staircase with a grey define each space. Varying combinations of cast iron columns stone from Curry Mallet, Somerset used for the steps. and beams were used through the development of the Museum. Tall windows on to the streets and internal lightwells provided Above, carved Bath stone corbels support a ribbed coved natural light to these spaces, supplemented by gas, and later ceiling surmounted by a central lantern. Hayward used obscured electric, light fittings. Fulford’s ground floor gallery also benefited

Fine Art Gallery (vaulted ceiling and lantern currently concealed behind false ceiling) RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.2 Significance of the Buildings 19

from top light passing through the glass tile floor of the gallery Further storage was placed beneath the present Silver Gallery. above. The York Wing housed primarily classrooms and related education space organised over three floors on a more domestic As the Museum grew, the new primary spaces were connected scale. Finally, the freestanding one storey Chemical Laboratory, to the existing fabric by means of inter-connecting doorways and built in 1891by Hayward, provided two laboratory/store rooms passages. Originally designed as lecture halls, libraries, reading and ancillary space. rooms, and art galleries, a majority of the primary spaces are now used for the display of the Museum’s collection. Today, many of these secondary spaces have been placed under considerable pressure to provide additional storage Other notable volumes include Hayward’s original double-height capacity and work space. Some rooms have been totally top lit space with first floor gallery, currently housing Gerald the reconfigured to provide more useful space. Furthermore, the Giraffe; the first floor double-height Cast Room, now used as recent Designation Challenge project significantly altered the a fine art store; and Fulford’s ground floor science rooms with upper floors of the York Wing. carved stonework windows onto the central courtyard. • The quality of the original administration spaces within • The appreciation of the original volumes of the primary Hayward’s initial phases are of some significance spaces, including vaulted ceilings and other related features, • The modern modifications to the York Wing accommodation is of exceptional significance are of little significance • The original provisions for the daylighting of the primary spaces is of considerable significance Structure • The use and expression of iron columns on the ground floor is of some significance Developed between 1865 and 1899, the main phases of • The language of details and finishes within the primary the Museum were constructed using sound Victorian building spaces is of some significance materials and techniques. The following description of their Storage occupying a significant Ground Floor space • The heightening of the guard railing within the Mediterranean structural make-up is based upon historical documentation, site Gallery is of little significance investigations, and the findings of Paul Carpenter Associates • The introduction of false ceilings within the Rowley, Fine Art, ‘Limited Report on the Structural Condition of the Buildings’, and Temporary Exhibition galleries is intrusive January 1990. • The introduction of makeshift mezzanines within the Fine Art 1931 Iron Columns within the former Lecture Hall (present day Local History store and Studio gallery is intrusive Roofs Gallery) • The subdivision of the original ground floor gallery and its The requirement to provide top lit space within the original subsequent use are intrusive buildings was reflected in a wide variety of rooflight constructions • The subdivision of the current Americas gallery to provide throughout the Museum. study space is intrusive • The subdivision and introduction of a storage mezzanine to In Hayward’s original buildings (Phases I & II), the main entrance the ground floor Natural History store is intrusive hall roof consisted of a series of built-up timber roof brackets • The introduction of large picture stores within the Fine Art springing from Bath stone corbels to support a lantern of inclined gallery is intrusive glazing surmounted by a leadwork roof. • The truncation of the Rowley and Archaeology galleries along Queen Street is intrusive The roofs in the present-day Americas Gallery and Rowley • The lobby introduced within the Fine Art gallery is intrusive Gallery were constructed using curved timber ribs strengthened • The blocking and removal of windows to the galleries is by a truss made from wrought cast iron rods and ties. Both of intrusive these elements were in turn supported on a cast iron shoe and • The roller shutters introduced in the temporary exhibition Bath stone corbel. Timber purlins, rafters and boarding provided galleries to meet Government Indemnity Standards are the external mansard form. A rooflight set at the same pitch as intrusive upper slope ran along either side of the ridge. Elsewhere, the entire roof over Hayward’s Small Gallery was glazed, supported Secondary Spaces by curved timber beams springing from stone corbels. Both Hayward’s original building and the subsequent extensions contained a series of facilities and administration spaces to In Phases III & IV, the roof construction over the Silver Gallery, support the wide range of institution. Administration was generally Temporary Exhibition Gallery, and Gallery One were generally located within the original building off the main corridor, and similar and consisted of built-up roof trusses and primary beams False ceiling and ad hoc services installations diminishing 1931 view of the Temporary Exhibition Gallery (false ceiling currently installed) later in the York Wing. Storage facilities were relegated to spanning across the shorter span of the space. Flat roof joists the significance of the the Temporary Exhibition Gallery basement areas including wine stores and the Hems store. covered with boarding and leadwork were in turn supported

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.2 Significance of the Buildings 20

around the perimeter flat roof areas. In the central areas, the The ground floor structure generally consisted of boarding on built-up roof trusses formed a lead lined upper pitched roof with timber joists resting on sleeper walls, primary basement walls, vertical glazing along the long edges and timber boarding at or primary steel beams over basement storage areas. Brickwork the gable ends. Internally, a timber framed and boarded vaulted vaults and piers support the floor construction above the original ceiling was created. wine cellars. In other instances, over non-basement areas, the floors are of a concrete construction. Ground floor finishes, Fulford’s solution to the Ethnography Gallery roof was more again, were generally timber boarding or parquet. Stone flags complex. A combination of heavy timber beams, iron tie rods were used in the main entrance areas while tiling was used in the and built-up timber trusses and brackets produced a timber Conservation Laboratory building and rooms beneath the Silver boarded vaulted ceiling rising in two distinct sections to support Gallery. a tall glazed timber lantern surmounted by a slate-tiled pitched timber roof. The lantern was set back on all sides from the slope • The glass tile flooring within the World Cultures gallery is of of the lower slate-tiled roof. The flat portion roof created was considerable significance lead lined and surrounded by an ornate ironwork railing. • The existing timber parquetry flooring within the primary spaces is of some significance Aerial view of existing museum Historic view of current Silver Gallery The remaining roofs were generally constructed in one of two types: sloping roofs comprising natural slate tiles on battens External Walls and boarding supported by roof joists or flat rooks formed by The external walls of Hayward’s original buildings were built leadwork on battens and boarding on flat roof joists. Leadwork from local brickwork with extensive areas of stone facework. gutters and flashings ran along brickwork and stonework The walls are generally solid masonry in the order of 500- parapets and abutting walls. The underside of the roof was 600mm thick. The construction of the walls used in Phase III was typically lined with lathe and plasters ceilings on ceiling joists generally solid brickwork approximately 600mm thick. and battens. The Phase IV buildings and the Conservation Laboratory were The York Wing roof consisted of two pitched roofs with an constructed using a cavity wall comprising two leaves of 230mm intermediate valley gutter. The slate tile roof covering was thick brickwork with a 50mm cavity. The construction of the supported on timber rafters on purlins and roof trusses. external wall of the York Wing is also considered to have been of a similar cavity wall construction. • The original provisions for daylighting within the primary spaces by means of rooflights and lanterns is of considerable Parapets on the principal elevations are primarily stonework while significance in other areas the parapets are constructed in brickwork with • The removal of existing rooflights and lanterns to all primary stone or curved brick copings. spaces is intrusive False ceiling supports and blocked rooflight lantern over Silver Gallery • The use of corrugated asbestos roof coverings over the • The quality of brickwork to the rear elevations of the Museum Rowley, Fine Art, Silver, and Temporary Exhibition galleries is is of some significance intrusive and should be eliminated • Modern rendered areas of external walling are of little significance Floors Original Ethnographical Museum in use as a reading The first floor structures were very substantial, consisting of Internal Walls room (present day Giraffe Gallery) boarding on heavy timber joists resting on intermediate and The primary internal walls were generally constructed from primary steel and timber beams. In areas of larger spans, brickwork varying in thickness from 112mm to 600mm. In the beams are supported on cast iron columns. In a number some instances, these walls were originally external walls which of areas, lime and sand pugging resting on boarding fixed to accounts for their substantial thickness. The internal walls were battens filled the gaps between floor joists. Typically, a lathe and typically lined with plaster, lathe and plaster, or a Hessian lining. plaster ceiling lined the underside of the floor construction. In Phase II, Hayward also used timber panelling in a number of first floor spaces. First floor finishes were predominantly timber boarding or parquetry, however, an area of flagstone is known to have run • The significance of internal walls is linked to the context within from the main entrance hall to the Rowley Gallery. Fulford also the associated spaces formed and is covered elsewhere. introduced the use of glass floor tiles set within a cast iron grating in the World Cultures Gallery which allowed natural light to reach the gallery space below. The grating was supported on Historic view of Hayward’s original museum gallery with Fulford’s secondary steel beams resting on brackets fixed to the primary gallery beyond - note toplighting through glass floor in background. beams.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.2 Significance of the Buildings 21

Building Services • The proliferation of surface mounted wiring and containment The main services required by the original Museum were limited throughout primary and secondary spaces is intrusive to heating, lighting, and providing public conveniences. In • The inconsistent mix of lighting systems and fixture types within response, Hayward introduced a ‘heating apparatus’ in the the primary spaces is intrusive basement which fed warmed air through a series of ducts and • The blocking-up or removal of a number of original vents flues to all major spaces within the Museum. When necessary, within Hayward’s phase I and III galleries is intrusive open fires were used to supplement this system. Natural daylight • The blocking-up or removal of fireplaces within Hayward’s through rooflights, lanterns, and rows of windows supplemented phase I and III galleries is intrusive the gas-fed lighting system (electric lighting only appeared in 1902, after all major phases of the Museum had been realised).

When the Museum opened in 1868, public conveniences were provided on both ground and first floors. These original facilities remained the only toilets available for use by the public until the mid 1980’s despite the substantial growth of the Museum and the increase in the total number of visitors.

The other building services, however, could not keep pace with the development of the buildings and the demands of conserving the Collection. The requirement to control lighting and heating levels within the gallery and specialist storage areas led to the blocking of windows and rooflights; the installation of modern lighting systems and forced air handling plant above the temporary galleries; and the introduction of false ceilings, services cupboards, and plant mezzanines.

In 1980, a new plant room was erected within the central courtyard housing a boiler, which now provides heating to the buildings supplemented by a series of night storage heaters. Domestic hot water is provided by localised heat sources scattered throughout the Museum. Additional services, including security and fire detection systems, have been introduced to Night storage heater and false ceiling within Clocks Gallery meet modern requirements. The recent World Cultures and Ethnography projects have also resulted in modernisation of M&E Hayward’s Phase III extension extending the system of flues and ventilation ducts services within the affected areas of the Museum.

Such piecemeal development of the M&E services infrastructure has, by and large, created a series of conflicts with the original fabric. Furthermore, the existing systems fail to reliably provide the level of control required by Government Indemnity Standards and expected by visitors and staff.

• The original system of Victorian ducts, flues and fireplaces is of some significance • The reproduction light fittings within the main entrance hall, as examples of the original fittings, are of some significance • The air handling plant, distribution ductwork, and wall- mounted air conditioning units serving the temporary exhibition spaces are intrusive • The introduction of the boiler room within the main courtyard is intrusive • The use of portable plant within gallery spaces is intrusive • The electrical distribution board mounted within the Hayward’s original ventilation flues obove Temporary Exhibition gallery is intrusive Temporary Exhibition gallery

1931 view of Clocks Gallery

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 4.3 Significance of the Collections 22

The museum’s collections originated from the amalgamation Antiquities of a number of small museums and private collections Viewed over the entire time span from Palaeolithic to post- assembled in Devon in the early 19th century. Most medieval, Exeter shows strengths over a very wide range, important was that of the Devon and Exeter Institution, which places it among the top dozen collections in Britain. founded in 1813, which built up significant collections in the The museum holds a very extensive lithics collection for fields of natural science, ethnography and antiquities, some the Mesolithic and Neolithic of regional importance. For reflecting the distinguished members’ roles in exploration the Neolithic, RAMM holds the finds from the series of in the Arctic and the Pacific. Private museums included ‘classic’ excavations conducted on hilltop sites which remain those of F.W. L. Ross of Topsham (mainly natural sciences fundamental to a discussion of the Neolithic in the South and ethnography). The donation of these collections was West. The Museum also holds most of the material from complemented throughout the late 19th century by many Roman Devon. gifts, bequests and purchases. Natural sciences figured most strongly, but virtually all the modern fields of collection were The collection provides the best-stratified sequence of established. From its foundation in the 1860s the museum ceramics in Southwest England while the medieval and later was international in scope, reflecting the prominent role archaeological collection is one of the most important in played by Devonian families in the navy, army, and colonial Britain. The Antiquities collection also contains a wide range service and as seamen, missionaries and traders. A more of Architectural fittings and foreign archaeology. detailed description of the Collection extracted from the History and Descriptions of the Collections: An Academic • The national importance of the Archaeological collection Handbook is appended to this Plan. is of exceptional significance Postcard showing original Ethnography Gallery - note prismatic glass tile flooring • The wide range and quality of the collection is of Natural History exceptional significance The Natural History collection is one of the Museum’s • The importance of the collection in telling the story largest, containing British and foreign material of high quality of Devon society through its history is of exceptional and scientific importance (including type specimens) in the significance fields of Botany, Zoology, and Geology. The Museum’s Natural History objects were predominant amongst the early Ethnography accessions, some arriving from already well--established There is good representation of material from every part of museums and private collections, hence containing material the globe. The greatest strengths are from the Pacific, North dating from the early part of the 19th century. The Biology America, Southern Nigeria and central Africa, but there are Curators Group Surveyor’s summary of findings of zoological outstanding individual items from many other places, including holdings (1980) places RAMM in their international museum Mexico, the Amazon region, Peru, Japan, China, Australia, category, while the botanical holdings’ status would be that Burma, India, the Middle East, Eastern and SE Africa. There of regional centre collection. are about 10,500 items in all. The Ethnography collection was awarded designated status in 1998. • The Sladen Collection of echinodermata, virtually unchanged since its installation in 1910, is an • The historic importance of this Designated collection is of internationally important collection of exceptional exceptional significance significance • The cultural importance of this Designated collection is of • The regional, national, and international importance of exceptional significance the Zoological collection is of exceptional significance • The importance of the designated Collection’s • The regional importance of the Botanical collection is of connections with the region is of considerable significance considerable significance • The storage of parts of the Collection within the Hems • The regional importance of the Geological collection is of Early Display Cabinet basement is inappropriate and therefore intrusive; exceptional significance however, this situation is currently being phased-out

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 23

Fine Art The Fine Art collection comprises oil paintings, drawings and watercolours, prints, and a few examples of 19th-20th century sculpture. The works range in date for the 17th-20th century and include examples of some of the better-known artists and movements in the history of British art.

• The topographical collection contains material of exceptional local significance • The range and quality of the Collection is of considerable significance

Decorative Art The Decorative Arts collection covers a wide variety of object in the following areas: West Country Silver; Costume and Textiles; Ceramics; Glass; Horology; Firearms; and Musical Instruments. Of these, the Silver Collection, consisting of some 500 objects made in Exeter and the West Country between 16th and 19th centuries, and the Costume & Textiles collection, ranking as one of the most important outside of London, are considered pre-eminent.

• The national importance of the Silver collection is of exceptional significance • The regional importance of the Costume & Textile collection is of exceptional significance • The importance of the Hems collection of medieval West Country woodwork is of exceptional significance Fine Art Collection • The importance of the Horology and Glass collections is of considerable significance

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.0 Defining Issues 5.1 Current Organisational Problems 24

The primary issues affecting the significance of the Royal Albert Space Management Archives and Libraries. Through this initiative, the museum will Memorial Museum stem from the demands placed upon the The historical development of the RAMM is one of constant receive extra funding to lead and support other museums in the building’s fabric and the surrounding site. These issues, ranging expansion and evolution within a series of Victorian buildings and region. from the actual physical state of the fabric to the pressures of spaces. As the Museum grew, libraries and lecture halls were operating a modern museum in a series of buildings conceived transformed into galleries; galleries converted into cafes; and The award to the South West Hub is for over £9 million in the within a Victorian framework with all of the inherent inadequacies, classrooms turned into workshops and stores. Once all existing three year period to 2006. Deployment of the funding in each need to be addressed in any future redevelopment plans for the space had been acquired the Museum expanded into the central of the five Hub institutions is being informed by an operational Museum. courtyard, rooftop areas, and the site at the rear of the Museum. and business planning process. The pressures resulting from the opportunities of this additional funding, together with a This expansion, coupled with the response to the growing heightened regional role, themselves create space and facility pressures on the facilities, has led to an inappropriate use of issues within the building’s fabric. space in certain areas. Fine Art and Archaeological stores occupy primary spaces within Hayward’s original building; Access the original Ground Floor Gallery has been converted into The current provisions for disabled access into the museum a workshop, café, and staff room; and a series of storage are inadequate. The flight of steps leading from Queen Street and plant mezzanines and cupboards have been introduced to the main entrance hall creates a barrier for a number of throughout the public realm. These alterations to the fabric have visitors. Disabled users are forced to use a secondary entrance greatly affected the appreciation of the galleries as historic into an isolated part of the museum at the end of Upper Paul spaces in their own right. Street requiring the assistance of a member of the museum staff. Additionally, the lack of an appropriate drop off space on Furthermore, the current state of the car park and the surrounding Queen Street, coupled with the abrupt rise from the pavement land abutting the City Wall and Rougemont Gardens fails to into the museum, can create congestion for visiting groups. respond appropriately to the significance of its historic setting. Opportunities to provide a better understanding of the Roman Within the museum, the introduction of a passenger lift in 1996 wall & rampart and the Norman outer castle defences are serving ground and first floors has greatly improved disabled currently neglected. access to the public areas. However, a number of back-of-house areas, including the conservation unit wing, the basement storage Resources areas, and the upper levels of the York Wing remain beyond The Royal Albert Memorial Museum’s operating costs are totally reach of disabled visitors or staff. financed by ECC, amounting to some £1.6m per year. In order to sustain this level of financial support, both politically and in Vehicular access to the site for deliveries is also inadequate. the eyes of rate-payers, the Museum is under sustained pressure Currently, large delivery vehicles must off-load on Queen Street to deliver a high quality service to meet or exceed the public’s into a smaller van provided by the museum. This van must then expectations. manage the circuitous route to the rear of the museum to either the loading bay situated at the end of the Clocks Gallery or,

Disabled access route into the museum through the York Wing Steps leading to the main entrance on Queen Street producing a Additional revenue sources are few. The museum operates a free via an external series of steps and passageways, to the (note slope of main road) barrier for the disabled admission policy to both permanent and temporary exhibitions Conservation Unit wing. Such arrangements compromise the while the Museum shop and café generate a relatively low level safety and security of the items in transit and make it difficult to of income. fulfil the best practice recommended by Government Indemnity Standards for environment and security. Under the current arrangements, the total level of Council funds available for capital works is very low with building works Access to the rear of the site and along the top of the City Wall typically confined to the maintenance of the existing buildings. is currently neither encouraged nor desirable. Pedestrian access All proposed works to the buildings are either generated by to the car park has been poorly considered while the link to the Council contracts database or proposed by the Museum Rougemont Gardens along the City Wall has been blocked. Service. Due to overall annual budgetary restrictions, only Any future development of the site will need to address these a proportion of works requested are carried out. Proper issues. maintenance of the buildings would be greatly enhanced by the introduction of a quinquennial survey of the fabric.

In recent years, new projects have depended on grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Designation Challenge Fund. Earlier this year, the museum was recognised as part of the South West Regional Hub by Re:source, The Council for Museum’s,

Current access route down external stair to Conservation Unit wing

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.2 Provision of Services 25

The current use of space, condition of the fabric, and other Many of the pressures faced by the Collection’s conservation spatial limitations affect the overall significance of the service the are encountered in the provision of temporary exhibitions. museum provides to the public. In a number of instances, conflicts Furthermore, the requirements of the Government Indemnity arise which place pressures on the fabric while diminishing the Standards constantly stretch the technical capacities of the fabric level of services provided. and environmental controls of the temporary exhibition galleries.

Learning Public Expectation The physical separation between the Museum’s classroom-based The Public’s high expectations of the Royal Albert Memorial activities run out of Rougemont House, and the potential learning Museum have evolved alongside the Museum since its inception experience provided by the collections creates an inadequate in 1865. Today, visitors expect a range of amenities unheard of educational provision. Furthermore, the Museum’s entrance during the Victorian period. sequence does not lend itself to the effective management of school groups upon arrival or departure and it is extremely The Museum shop and café, while providing a popular service, difficult to accommodate school parties needing to eat packed adversely affect the legibility of the original volumes and restrict lunches. Together, these issues and the lack of suitable learning the use of surrounding spaces. The public’s desire for increased facilities within the Museum limit the total number of visits possible levels of comfort places additional pressure on the building’s per day. fabric and mechanical services.

Set against this background, the Museum is committed to The role played by the Museum and the Site in the broader achieve the highest level of standards set-out in the ‘Inspiring context is brought into focus during the Exeter Summer Festival. Learning’, the learning and access framework for museums, During this period, events held in close proximity to the rear of archives and libraries published by re:source. the Museum serve to highlight the poor state of the site which is unable to respond to the needs of the Festival appropriately. Current storage facilities place pressure on the collection Learning opportunities within the galleries Collection Improvements to these areas could create a powerful asset in a conservation The display of the Collection is directly affected by the lack of heart-of-the -city location. available exhibition space which greatly reduces the percentage of the potential collection on display at any given time. This has led to increased pressure being placed on the Museum’s storage facilities. As a result, Collections are currently being stored in a range of inappropriate spaces within the museum and at off-site facilities at Rougemont House and Haven Banks. The spatial constraints associated with these facilities further limit the accessibility of the Collection to researchers and other special interest groups.

The conservation of the Collection must contend with the environmental shortcomings of the existing fabric, the inappropriate delivery and internal access arrangements, and an isolated Conservation Unit unable to expand in response to the growing demand for its services. Measures taken to preserve the collection have also given rise to areas of conflict. The protection of the collection from high levels of natural daylight has led to the blocking of windows and the removal of rooflights and lanterns.

Museum shop in original school of science classroom

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.3 Physical Condition of the Museum 26 and the Site

A limited report on the structural condition of the buildings was A new rooflight to reinstate the original, which has since been carried out by Paul Carpenter Associates (PCA), Consulting removed, should also be provided over the Rowley Gallery. The Engineers in January 1990. Observations and investigations rooflight should comprise sealed double-glazed units laid in the into the current state of repair have also been carried out by same pitch as the roof. members of the Design Team and key Museum and Council technical staff. The combined results of these investigations are External Walls summarised below. Generally, the external walls are in good condition following an extensive series of stone restoration and stabilisation works Existing Structure that were carried-out by ECC in 1994. However, in the areas It has been apparent for some time that substantial settlement affected by the pronounced settlement of the building, making of the building is occurring along the line of the medieval outer good of the vertical cracks will be necessary. ditch of Rougemont Castle that runs beneath the north-eastern range of Museum spaces. This settlement has caused serious Refurbishment of the Upper Paul Street railings along with a cracking and distortion to the walls of a series of galleries and rub down and redecoration of all external rainwater goods, storage areas. As a result, underpinning is required beneath the railings, windows, doors, etc. should be undertaken. Repair and Detail of external stonework external wall of Clocks Gallery and beneath the pronounced redecoration of all external rendered surfaces should also be vertical cracks in external wall on northwest side of building and considered. the internal walls of Local History Gallery and the Geology Gallery. Internal finishes Generally, all internal finishes outside of the areas recently Fireproofing to exposed iron columns and the supporting refurbished are in need of attention. Repair works to the walls structure of the area of glazed flooring beneath the World affected by the building settlement will also be required. Existing Cultures gallery will also need to be carried-out to meet current parquet flooring to the ground floor Geology Gallery, Bird and regulations. Butterfly Stores, and the first floor Fine Arts and Silver Galleries requires repair, sanding, and re-finishing. Roofs A certain number of the existing roofs have recently been A recently completed asbestos survey has also identified areas of refurbished and, as such, do not require any additional works at asbestos whose removal should be considered. present. These areas include the roofs over: the main entrance stairwell, the Ethnography Store at the corner of Bradninch Basement areas Place and Gandy Street, and the refurbished World Cultures, Due to the high levels of damp encountered in the Basement, Americas, Mediterranean, and Sladen galleries. all areas will require damp proofing to the internal faces of external walls. Vertical dpcs in all flanking walls should also be All other roofing areas (including all lower level roofs) require considered. Existing floor surfaces are uneven and don’t appear refurbishment. Most of these should be refinished with new to be sound. New floor coverings should be installed to suit the leadwork over new underlay and plywood substrate. All proposed use of each space. Tanking may also be required in refurbished roofs will require new insulation and vapour barriers the most severe areas of damp. to be installed. Additionally, the roof structure over the Silver Gallery may require strengthening as it has begun to sag.

The original lanterns over the un-refurbished gallery spaces have long been lost, and replaced with corrugated asbestos coverings on softwood framing. Replacement lanterns should be considered over the Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, Silver Gallery, and Fine Art Gallery. Each replacement should comprise a raised lantern with sealed double-glazing units to the vertical faces with a Deformed parapet to Fine Arts Gallery roof terne-coated stainless steel roof covering to match the recently refurbished rooflight over the World Cultures Gallery.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.3 Physical Condition of the Museum and the Site 27

Services The current mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems servicing the Museum are inadequate given the requirements of the Collection’s conservation and meeting the public’s expectations. The piecemeal development of the services infrastructure over the past century has not kept pace with changes of use or the demands of running a modern museum.

Apart from the recently completed World Cultures Galleries and Ethnographic Stores, the existing M&E provisions do not provide the degree of flexibility required within the gallery spaces, nor do they deliver the level of control necessary to ensure the long-term conservation of the collection and the fabric of the Museum itself. The mechanical installations of the 1960s are unsympathetic to the fabric while the original system of Victorian flues and ducts, which could be re-utilised, lay forgotten.

The inadequacies of the existing infrastructure are highlighted by the use of portable humidification and dehumidification plant within the temporary exhibition galleries to meet Government Indemnity Standards. The visual impact of both temporary plant and other intrusive services detracts from the quality of the spaces served.

Services intrusions apparent in major gallery spaces In summary, all services require rationalisation and reorganisation. Ideally, all surface mounted fixtures, wiring, controls etc. could be stripped out; new concealed items installed; and the finishes made good and repaired. Furthermore, the existing air handling equipment serving the Temporary Exhibition and Rowley Galleries and the prolific night storage heating system require replacement.

The introduction of specialist plant to maintain tight environmental control should only be considered where absolutely necessary. Utilisation of the existing building’s fabric and mass should be considered in the control of temperature and relative humidity, thus contributing to a more sustainable approach to the building’s management.

Obtrusive mechanical equipment in major gallery space Air handling plant located on a new mezzanine within the Studio Gallery

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.4 Future Development of the Museum 28 and the Site

The key issue surrounding the future of the original Museum However, ownership of the strip of land connecting the rear of buildings is how to move them forward with a new relevance the museum site with the potential drop-off point at Musgrave as gallery spaces while respecting the integrity of the Row lies with the Council and a mix of private interests. original spaces. This perception involves not only defining the Redevelopment along this route to improve access to the site shortcomings of the present situation but also involves seeing the may be affected by this current arrangement. relevance for the future of the buildings that house the museum. Similarly, ownership of the entire City Wall is split amongst a As the Royal Albert Memorial Museum is controlled by the range of groups and private individuals, including the Council. Museum Service of ECC Leisure & Museums Unit, any future While ECC has the powers to repair parts of the wall which redevelopment plans will reflect the Council’s vision of the are in a dangerous condition or are detrimental to the amenity role the Museum should play in the future of the City’s cultural of a neighbourhood, the success of any proposals for the City development. Wall affecting areas beyond of the Council’s control cannot be guaranteed. In 1988 a feasibility study was commissioned by the Council’s Leisure Committee to establish a development plan for RAMM. More recently, the role the Museum should play in the cultural life of the City has been highlighted in a series of initiatives establishing key strategic objectives for the City. This includes the Exeter City Council Strategic Objectives, the Exeter Vision 20:20, the city’s Cultural Strategy, and the Exeter Local Plan. However, the future redevelopment of the Museum will be most greatly affected by the Council’s emerging Castle Quarter proposals.

The Council sees the redevelopment of the Museum as a catalyst in the creation of a cultural quarter encompassing the Museum, Phoenix Arts Centre, Rougemont & Northernhay Gardens, the Main components of the Castle Quarter Public Library and the recently acquired Rougemont Castle. Plans to improve pedestrian links to the site and along the City Wall and to create an urban square connecting Rougemont Gardens with the Museum and the Phoenix Arts Centre will greatly influence future plans for the site.

Political and financial support for the Castle Quarter scheme is strong while Council funds for the redevelopment of the Museum have already been identified. These City Centre regeneration proposals will further support the planned evolution of the museum and its role in a broader social and economic context. place further pressure on the evolution of the Museum.

Site Ownership The freehold interest of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and the adjoining site is held by Exeter City Council, identified as Asset Nos. 064 and 064/A in the Council’s Land Ownership Register. The adjacent Phoenix Arts Centre and surrounding land are jointly owned by the Council, Devon County Council and South West Arts (Asset no. 065). Furthermore, the ownership of the City Wall forming the north-west boundary of the site is vested in the City Council (ECC Act, 1987). Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens also fall under the ownership of ECC. Control of these sites should facilitate any future development of the Museum and its site.

Aerial view of Castle Quarter

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 5.5 Statutory Controls 29

Any major alterations to the listed Grade II museum buildings would be subject to Listed Building Consent and a detailed Planning Application. Redevelopment of the site may also require Ancient Monument consent due to the proximity and setting issues affecting the City Wall, Northernhay Gardens, and Rougemont Gardens. A range of groups and organisations would also become involved during the consultation phases of such procedures. Additionally, the determination of statutory matters relating to proposals presented on behalf of ECC would need to be handled through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). proposed redevelopment site While every effort is made to determine statutory matters within a reasonable time frame, more complex, higher-profile submissions tend to involve a greater number of interested parties and the time taken to process an application can increase. Furthermore, conditional approval or outright refusal cannot be ruled out. As a result, additional resources and appropriate amounts of time must be allocated to properly address the necessary statutory requirements.

Archaeology Future development of the site would inevitably involve the disturbance of archaeological deposits to some degree, potentially leading to project delays and modifications. While a number of archaeological excavations have been carried out in the vicinity in recent years, including the Council commissioned assessment and field evaluation of the proposed redevelopment site, the full extent of remains affected by redevelopment will not be known until a full site investigation is performed.

Existing plan showing assumed extent of Roman rampart The results of such investigations could potentially reveal a wealth of information about the site, furthering one’s understanding of its historic setting and informing future approaches to its redevelopment.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 6.0 Conservation Policies 30

The conservation policies outlined in this section are intended to from Northernhay Gardens should be preserved when provide a framework for the future development, maintenance, considering development on the site. and conservation of the Museum which retains and recovers the building’s architectural significance while responding to the site’s 2.2 The impact upon the setting of the City Wall when historic setting. The conservation care of the Collection is subject viewed from Bradninch Place should be improved when of other policy & strategy documents under current development. considering development on the site.

The policies seek to encourage the reinstatement of a number of 2.3 Reinstatement of the City Wall rampart to return the wall to original spaces within the context of a modern redevelopment its original condition should be pursued where possible. plan which addresses the needs of the fabric; the requirements of the Collection; and the expectations of the public. Furthermore, 2.4 The restoration and re-opening of the City Wall walkway, the policies serve as a guide for the potential expansion of the allowing one to more fully understand the topographical Museum on the site, outlining the advantages to be gained by setting of the Roman and medieval city should be pursued. integrating new Museum facilities within a revitalised corner of the historic City. 2.5 The likely impact on below ground archaeological remains should be evaluated and justified in terms of the Use of the Building overall benefits gained by development of the site prior to The continued use of RAMM as a museum is of prime commencement of works. importance. The relevance of Hayward’s original buildings and Fulford’s subsequent extensions as public institutions remains 2.6 Policies for the redevelopment of the site should coordinate strong. Hayward’s building is commonly regarded as the most with those set out by other statutory and governmental distinguished of the generation of provincial museums which bodies. arose after the Great Exhibition of 1851. 2.7 Any building development on the site should be seen as 1 Proposals for the adaptation of use of the RAMM buildings an addition to the historic sequence of cultural buildings should be consistent with the retention of the cultural constructed within the vicinity of the site. significance of the place. 2.8 The setting of the Museum buildings and their formal 1.1 The use of the RAMM buildings as a museum should be relationship with the site should be redefined in ways maintained. This continuation of use should seek to ensure appropriate to the historic elements of the site and the that the Museum retains and, where practical, recovers its potential increase in public access. original character and significance. 2.9 Existing buildings and elements within the landscape should 1.2 Any proposed changes of use within existing areas of the be thoroughly recorded before any alteration work is museum should be considered within the context of a co- undertaken. ordinated plan for the buildings as a whole. External Fabric 1.3 The type of use within the significant spaces of the existing The exceptional significance of John Hayward’s Queen Street buildings should be compatible with the original intent of elevation and that of Robert Medley Fulford on Upper Paul the space. Street needs to be protected. Any proposed alterations to these facades must demonstrate clear and substantial gains for the Use of the Site future viability of the Museum. The historic significance of the site contrasts sharply with its current state of neglect. The opportunities to re-engage this 3 Proposals for the alteration of the existing external building forgotten corner of Exeter with the surrounding gardens of fabric should be compatible with the retention of key Northernhay and Rougemont; to re-establish access along heritage features. the City Wall; and to promote a new focus on the site for the Museum’s activities should be supported. 3.1 The external form and elevation fronting Queen Street are key aspects cited in the listing and they should be retained 2 Proposals for the development of the RAMM site should be in any development scheme. consistent with the retention of the cultural significance of the site. 3.2 The external form and elevations fronting Upper Paul Street are architecturally significant and should be retained in any 2.1 The impact upon the setting of the City Wall when viewed development scheme.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 6.0 Conservation Policies 31

Internal Fabric Management of the Building Over the past half-century, layers of modifications and alterations As the role of the Museum continues to evolve, the demands to the Museum’s internal fabric have accumulated, leaving placed on the existing fabric increase. Management of the fabric behind a series of poorly proportioned and misused spaces. must respond to these demands while keeping abreast with the The spatial impact of the original sequence of primary spaces ever-changing conservation techniques and philosophies. has been lost. Efforts to restore the quality and collective strength of these volumes should be pursued. 6 Management practices should be put into place to continue the maintenance of the existing RAMM buildings. 4 Proposals for the alteration of the existing internal building fabric should be compatible with the retention of key 6.1 Effective procedures for managing the repair and heritage features. maintenance of the existing historic buildings to ensure their continuing viability should be undertaken and specialist 4.1 The reinstatement of the primary spaces within the Museum advice sought where necessary. to their original stature and volume should be established. 6.2 Work to the original fabric should be based on expert 4.2 The reinstatement of significant original features, either lost knowledge and specialist advice; coordinated and or obscured, should be pursued. recorded thoroughly

4.3 The reinstatement of natural daylighting to the main Accessibility exhibition spaces should be considered in conjunction Extending physical accessibility to all visitors and staff is a policy with the conservation issues surrounding the collections on consistent with both current legislation and the Museum’s aims display. & objectives. However, considerable thought will be required in realising these objectives while respecting the historic fabric. 4.4 The removal of intrusive elements that damage or diminish the state of the original fabric should be pursued wherever 7 Policies to allow disabled access throughout the site should possible be put in place.

Learning and The Collection 7.1 Disabled access from Queen Street to the main entrance at Expanding the scope of formal and informal learning ground floor level should be established. opportunities provided by the Museum through increased physical and intellectual access to the Collection and through the 7.2 Disabled access to all levels of the York Wing should be introduction of appropriate facilities is to be supported. established.

5 Operational policies for the museum should be developed 7.3 Disabled access to the basement level of the main Museum which build upon the cultural significance of the Collection. buildings should be established.

5.1 The current visitor experience should be broadened to 7.4 Disabled access between any proposed extension and the include a wider range of interpretive experiences and main Museum buildings should be established. extended education programmes. 7.5 Disabled access should be established to all publicly 5.2 The conservation and storage of the Collection should be accessible areas within the redeveloped site. addressed to ensure that the importance of the Collection as a heritage asset is maintained. 7.6 Additional disabled toilet facilities should be established within any substantial extension of the Museum buildings.

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003 7.0 Implementation and Review 32

The primary objectives of the Conservation Plan are: recently published Community and Cultural Strategies, and by the level of investment the relatively small district council is prepared • to define the unique qualities of the original Museum to make in the enhancement of the asset and the service. buildings designed by John Hayward and Robert Medley Fulford Development Plans • to highlight the exceptional historical attributes of the City Aspirations for improved facilities at the Royal Albert Memorial Wall Museum have existed for many years. The 1990 feasibility • to focus on the sites’s historic setting study into the Museum’s redevelopment highlighted a number of objectives which sparked a series of incremental improvements to These are very significant features which future policies for visitor facilities. The recently completed World Cultures Galleries the Museum might seek to recapture and reinforce. The Plan and Designation Challenge funded projects have gone some suggests that recognising and working imaginatively within the way to raising the standards of collection display, storage, and character and constraints of the original spaces might be the access in the affected areas of the collection. most fruitful route in taking the original Museum spaces forward to meet modern requirements. The Council operates a centralised system of coordination for all aspects of building maintenance and enhancement. Known To allow the Conservation Plan to fulfil these objectives, it is as AIM (Asset Improvement and Maintenance), the system is important to understand: the nature of the client body which operated by a group consisting of the Heads of Treasury, Estates retains control of the Museum; the aspirations and objectives for and Contracts, who agree an annual works programme based the Museum’s future redevelopment; and the consultation process on the budget available and a prioritised list of works. through which the Museum’s future will be shaped. Additional works to the Museum, originating either from the Exeter City Council Museum Service or generated by the centralised system, are The RAMM Conservation Plan was commissioned by Exeter approved by AIM, which also has responsibilities for all non- City Council as part of its commitment to a major enhancement housing Council properties. of the services the museum provides. The Museum Service, part of the Leisure and Museums Unit, is responsible for the care of However, this can create coordination difficulties and a Model of current redevelopment proposals the collection; organising exhibitions and events; carrying out quinquennial survey is recommended. This will enable a better research and conservation duties; and providing educational and match with the overall aspirations of ECC’s goal to redevelop learning activities. Maintenance of the fabric is a corporate issue, the museum buildings in line with the Council’s strategic cultural managed under the AIM process (see below), but the day to objectives while securing the future sustainability of the museum care and supervision of the building falls to the Specialist Services itself. team within the Museum section with additional advice of the Technical Services Project Architect. The prime aims of this goal involve the reorganisation and extension of the existing buildings and to engage the extended The ECC Economy & Development Directorate deals with Museum with its historic setting, forming a key component in the the broader issues of culture and tourism and offers advice Council’s emerging Castle Quarter vision. The Conservation Plan concerning the strategic direction taken by the Museum’s must play an active role in the consideration of such proposals. development. Their awareness and recognition of the policies outlined within this Plan is vital. Future Consultation The Conservation Plan should be used as one of the main tools The continuing development of the Royal Albert Memorial in any future preparation and presentation of proposals for the Museum is overseen by the Head of Leisure & Museums and the Museum and its Site. Conservation Policies must be seen to have Museum Manager. The Museum Service has demonstrated a been addressed, regardless of the scale of the works involved. strong commitment to the care and preservation of the Museum Furthermore, adoption of these policies needs to be consistent building as a whole. The Service’s natural empathy with from one phase of development to another. conservation issues and experience in heritage matters makes their involvement in implementing the Conservation Plan policies All relevant parties and statutory authorities involved in the critical. An understanding of the Plan must also extend to the consultation process should be made aware of the Plan’s curatorial and conservation specialists actively engaged with the findings. The Plan itself should be periodically re-visited and fabric of the Museum’s buildings, site, and collection. reviewed in response to the ever-changing demands of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum’s continuing conservation. The Museum Service is an important part of the Council’s cultural services, as demonstrated by the role given to the museum in the

RAMM Conservation Plan Allies and Morrison September 2003