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.