Hartlebury Castle purchase to go ahead despite fire
Preservation trust would maintain museum
Plans by a preservation trust to purchase Hartlebury Castle are to go ahead despite a fire at the museum.
A blaze in a 20th-century outbuilding did not spread to the 18th-century reception building of the Grade I-listed castle that houses the Hurd Library and Worcestershire County Museum.
However, most of the material in the educational loans store was destroyed, including documents and other resources lent to schools.
The museum reopened quickly following the fire, which was thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, but its transport gallery and picnic area remained shut for several days due to problems with fire detectors.
Rachel Robinson, visitor experience manager at Museums Worcestershire, said up to 400 boxes of learning materials were lost, while a darkroom and computers were destroyed.
“Fifty or 60 of the most popular boxes were out at the time, so we have a nucleus that we can use for now,” she said. Hartlebury Castle has been put on the market by its owner, the Church Commissioners.
Robinson said the fire would not affect the proposed sale to the Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust, which would maintain the property as a museum.
The preservation trust has submitted a Heritage Lottery Fund stage one application for £4,682,700. A decision will be announced on 22 November.
A blaze in a 20th-century outbuilding did not spread to the 18th-century reception building of the Grade I-listed castle that houses the Hurd Library and Worcestershire County Museum.
However, most of the material in the educational loans store was destroyed, including documents and other resources lent to schools.
The museum reopened quickly following the fire, which was thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, but its transport gallery and picnic area remained shut for several days due to problems with fire detectors.
Rachel Robinson, visitor experience manager at Museums Worcestershire, said up to 400 boxes of learning materials were lost, while a darkroom and computers were destroyed.
“Fifty or 60 of the most popular boxes were out at the time, so we have a nucleus that we can use for now,” she said. Hartlebury Castle has been put on the market by its owner, the Church Commissioners.
Robinson said the fire would not affect the proposed sale to the Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust, which would maintain the property as a museum.
The preservation trust has submitted a Heritage Lottery Fund stage one application for £4,682,700. A decision will be announced on 22 November.