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Cutty Sark Saved As Major Lottery Grants Handed Out
By Gordon Scott
26/01/2005
The Cutty Sark is an iconic feature of the London landscape, but is in desperate need of conservation work. © Cutty Sark Trust.
The famous clipper ship Cutty Sark, which is in desperate need of extensive conservation, has been given a life-saving grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
"The Heritage Lottery Fund has effectively saved the ship" said Richard Doughty, the Chief Executive of the Cutty Sark Trust. "Without this funding we would be looking at its closure in 2007 and perhaps even her demolition."
The two-stage £12.95m grant represents half of the £25m needed to conserve and regenerate the last remaining fast clipper ship at her Greenwich home.
The grant will be given in two parts, a £1.2m development grant and the pledge of £11.75m for when £12m in match-funding has been raised. Overall it marks a breakthrough in the bid to keep the ship afloat.
Image: Shows a graphic impression of what the conserved Cutty Sark will look like.
A graphic impression of what the conserved Cutty Sark will look like. © Cutty Sark Trust.
Developed with architects Grimshaw, the groundbreaking project will not only conserve the fabric of the ship, but ensure she maintains her status as a world class tourist attraction. A revolutionary new support system will see the Cutty Sark raised and suspended in a Kevlar web, which will preserve the shape and enable visitors to walk underneath the famous ship.
Built in Dumbarton in 1869, the Cutty Sark takes its name from the Scottish phrase for a short shift dress, which features in the famous Robbie Burns poem Tam O’ Shanter. A boy, Tam, sees witches dancing in the wood, one of whom, Nannie is wearing a very revealing cutty sark.
Nannie became the figurehead on the newly built ship and fittingly, over 100 years later, the HLF grant was given on Burn’s Night, January 25.
"We believe the Heritage Lottery Fund decision reflects the feeling of the nation for this much loved ship," said Maurice de Rohan OBE, Chairman of the Cutty Sark Trust and Agent General for The State of South Australia. "But we are not home and dry yet, we must match their funding for the project to go ahead, and we have one year to get pledges for the other £12m. It’s time to visit Cutty Sark again."
David Livingstone manuscript showing a drawing of a fish found in Lake Nyassa, part of the John Murray Archive. Courtesy National Library of Scotland.
As well as pledging millions to the future of the Cutty Sark, the Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a round of grants that are set to transform a series of institutions up and down the UK.
A massive £17.7m has been earmarked to help the National Library of Scotland acquire the John Murray Archive, considered to be an incomparable piece of 19th century history.
Established in 1768, the Edinburgh-based firm became one of the most highly regarded and influential publishing houses in the UK. Consisting of 150,000 manuscripts, papers and correspondence between the publisher and such figures as David Livingstone, Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott and Benjamin Disraeli, it includes the most extensive collection of Byron's work in the world.
Major funds, £15m are also set to make their way to Glasgow and the development of the city’s new Riverside Museum.
An artist's impression of what one of the new galleries at the Great North Museum will look like. © Casson Mann.
As well as providing a new home for the Museum of Transport, the institution will form an integral part of the £800m regeneration of Glasgow Harbour. A development grant of £990,000 has been handed over, with the £15m to follow.
A little to the south £8.7m has been earmarked for the Great North Museum project, which will see a new institution created at the Hancock Museum of Natural History.
The Hancock's collection will be combined with those of the Shefton Museum and Museum of Antiquities to create a unique focus for Newcastle's developing cultural quarter.
Dorset’s Tank Museum now looks set carry out major work following the award of £496,000 in development funds and the earmarking of a further £8.7m.
A glass or two is raised at the Tank Museum in Dorset as news of the £8.7m grant is announced.
It is hoped that the At Close Quarters project will result in a truly state-of-the-art institution. As well as more exhibition space, the tanks will be better interpreted, while accessibility and environmental conditions will be improved.
Heading further west, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter also looks set to benefit from an £8m overhaul. The city council intends to completely transform the visitor experience.
The Grade II listed building, built in the 1860s, will be thoroughly refurbished and an extension added to house a temporary exhibition space and education facilities.
"From the conservation of an iconic ship in a world heritage site to saving a truly unique archive for the UNESCO City of Literature and transforming four museums, today’s announcement demonstrates the extraordinary breadth of our work in supporting heritage that really matters to people," said Carole Souter, Director of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark, King William Walk, Greenwich, London, SE10 9HT, England
Open: Due to the fire at Cutty Sark in May 2007 there is currently no visitor access. Please see www.cuttysark.org.uk for further developments.
National Library of Scotland
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EW, Lothian, Scotland
Open: General Reading Room:
Monday - 09.30-20.30
Tuesday - 09.30-20.30
Wednesday - 10.00-20.30
Thursday - 09.30-20.30
Friday - 09.30-20.30
Saturday - 09.30-13.00
Closed: Sunday
Museum of Transport, Glasgow
Museum of Transport, 1 Bunhouse Road, Glasgow, G3 8DP, Strathclyde, Scotland
Open: Monday-Thursday & Saturday 10am-5pm, Friday & Sunday 11am-5pm
Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery
Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RX, Devon, England
Open: N.B. Main Museum building currently closed for refurbishment, re-opens Spring 2010
However, you can visit RAMM in the Library, Exeter Museum's city centre home while the Queen Street building is being redeveloped.
Based next door to Exeter Central Library in Castle Street, Exeter, RAMM in the library has a range of objects on display and there are also hands-on gallery activities. RAMM in the Library is an ideal place for family visits.
RAMM in the Library is Open Mon-Sat 1000-1700, Admission Free.
Please see our listings on 24 Hour Museum website or the Museum's own website for the wide programme of exhibitions, events and activities taking place around Exeter and Devon whilst the main Museum building is closed.
You can also visit St Nicholas Priory - A Tudor Home, at the Mint, off Fore St Exeter. In part of what was once a medieval priory this splendid building was later lived in by the wealthy Hurst family. It is now presented as their Elizabethan town house with replica furniture, sumptuous fabrics and rich colours. Come and feel at home in this historic family home. Open on Saturdays and on weekdays during school holidays 10.00 - 17.00. Admission £2 for adults (£1.50 concessions), children free. All children aged under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. www.exeter.gov.uk/priory
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum, Bovington, BH20 6JG, Dorset, England
T: 01929 405096
Open: Daily 1000-1700
Closed: Limited opening at Christmas. Please see website for this and details of other closures.
Great North Museum
Barras Bridge, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE2 4PT, Tyne & Wear, England
Closed: The Hancock Museum closed its doors to the public on Sunday 23 April 2006 to begin its transformation as part of the Great North Museum - an exciting and innovative world-class visitor attraction designed for the 21st century. The new Museum opens in 2009.
Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle
Museum of Antiquities, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NE1 7RU, Tyne & Wear, England
Open: The Museum is closing, permanently, from April 19 2008. Collections will be moved to the Great North Museum.
Until then, open Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00.
Closed: Closed Sundays.
Closed on January 1st, Good Friday and 24-26 December.
Shefton Museum of Greek Art & Archaeology
Shefton Museum of Greek Art & Archaeology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, Tyne & Wear, England
Open: Mon-Fri 1000-1600
Sat-Sun Bank holidays Easter & Christmas Period Closed
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