Agricultural artefacts currently housed in a temporary storage facility could soon find a new home where they can be restored and displayed to the public.
A total of 130 historical objects from the Coate Agricultural Museum Store, which were damaged by a fire in December 2016, could soon be acquired by other museums in accordance with the Council’s Collections Development Policies 2016 – 2021.
The items, which have varying degrees of damage as a result of the fire, have been stored in a temporary location since August 2017.
During that time, a specialist agricultural and rural life assistant curator was appointed to undertake research into the items and to work with staff at the Council’s three museums, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, STEAM and Lydiard House, to identify material which could be appropriately kept within these three museums.
As part of this process, some of the historical objects have been identified as not being relevant to these museums, so are now being offered free of charge to other museums if they express a particular interest.
The re-homing of these agricultural items, following Arts Council England guidelines, will ensure that the Council’s three owned and operated museums retain their accredited status.
Cllr Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “We have received several expressions of interest from a number of museums regarding these items. However, as the two month offering period is still underway, no decisions have been made regarding the future of the historical objects.
“We are working hard to ensure that these items go to the most suitable location where they can be restored and displayed to the public once again. We are keen to see these items go to new homes, especially to other museums in Swindon where residents can enjoy them.”
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