24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
Exciting Plans And New Acquisitions For Norwich Castle Museum
By Katie Brinkley
27/06/2008
Image: a photo showing the great arches within Norwich Castle
Inside the Castle Keep. © Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service
An exciting array of new items, displays and services will soon be arriving at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.
Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Award of £199,500 visitors the castle will soon be experiencing some exciting the new improvements and displays.
Archaeology curator Dr Tim Pestell told 24hr Museum: “The funding will make a huge difference! The collecting cultures money will enable us to spend more time on delivery of service to our users rather than constantly trying to find funding.”
“More crucially, and less highlighted, have been all the other aspects of the project that we will now be able to embark upon.”
The Castle beat stiff competition to win their grant, which comes from HLF’s one-off development programme Collecting Cultures.
In order to gain the highly sought after funds staff had to do more than just propose a field in which to collect acquisitions or demonstrate how curatorial skills would be developed. Demands also included having to demonstrate how they would increase public involvement and enjoyment in their collections.
Image: a metal object with a persons gface motif in the centre
An earlier acquisition unearthed at a temple site in Hockwold, south-west Norfolk shows the good work between Norfolk archaeologists and metal detectorists. © Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service
Clearly then, the Castle has excellent plans for improvements in these areas. Tim Pestell explained: “We will have money for training and career development, not just for curators but our front of house staff. We will have a number of educational outreach programmes that we can now fund for five years, reaching out to disadvantaged groups.”
“I am very excited that we can finally have an open evening for metal detectorists once a year, as a thank you for all their hard work and co-operation with us. We also have money for new display cases and improving security, which will enable us to have more temporary loan displays. There is also money for developing our web-based resources, allowing people to see what is in our collections.”
The Castle spans the entire history of Norwich, a city over 900 years old and internationally renknowned for its levels of preserved heritage.
Staff work hard to support a wide variety of collections including Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Roman, Medieval, Victorian and World War I, Natural History and Arts. Despite producing more archaeological finds than any other county in Britain, the Castle has often lacked the funding needed to buy new finds.
Image: a photo of an entrance way in the side of a castle wall
© Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service
Tim revealed: “There are a number of items we have been trying to acquire for some time, but which we have been unable to due to lack of funds. Now we can progress these. But I’m not tempting providence by elaborating any further!”
The funding is about to be released and progress will begin directly, so get down to the Castle to see for yourself the difference the new funding will make.
Katie Brinkley is the 24 Hour Museum/Norwich HEART Student Writer in Norwich. Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) is the groundbreaking initiative to regenerate, manage and promote one of the most remarkable heritage resources in the UK and in Europe.
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, NR1 3JQ, Norfolk, England
T: 01603 493636
Open: Core Times (including Bank Holidays)
Mon - Fri: 10am - 4.30pm
Sat: 10am - 5pm
Sun: 1 - 5pm
School half-terms, Easter & summer holidays
Mon - Sat: 10am - 5.30pm
Sun: 1 - 5pm
Closed: 24 - 26 Dec 2008 & 1 Jan 2009
Related Articles
News In Brief - Week Ending November 14 2008
£4 Million Boost For Museum And Gallery Projects Across England
Heritage Open Days In Norwich Promise Tours, Towers and Talks
Public Explore Norwich Heritage Via Interactive Bluetooth 'Totems'
Norwich To Celebrate Its Mythical Roots With New Dragon Festival
National Archaeology Week 2008 In Norfolk And East Of England
MGM Commendations - The Best Of May 2008
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Mark Leckey Scoops £25,000 And The 2008 Turner Prize
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long Campaign For Cardiff Museum
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
Campaign To Save Captain Scott's Hut Needs Another £65,000
Open Air Lab Project Launches At The Natural History Museum
Gravity Defying Vertical Racer Drives Kids Up the Wall At MOSI
DCMS And English Heritage List Seven London Bridges
Railway Museums Launch Joint WWII Railway Worker Project
Bowes Museum Famous Mechanical Swan Goes Back On Show In December
Free Admission To Historic Scotland Sites For St Andrew's Day
Fund Raising Scheme Is Backing Great North Museum: Hancock
Tyneside Gallery Plots New Display After Funding Victory
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.