Museums and historic houses in Cumbria are continuing to deal with the fallout from last month's floods.
The flooding has hit the National Trust hard, with Wordsworth House in Cockermouth the worst affected. The house suffered severe flooding to the basement, reception, shop and garden and some water reached the ground floor of the main house after the heavy rainfall that started on 19 November.
"Fortunately, the museum itself has not been too badly affected," said Caroline Cotgrove, the National Trust conservator for the North West, who was speaking to Museums Journal from Wordsworth House, where none of the historic contents were damaged. "The water missed coming into the main room by a matter of inches and some of the staff were able to move quite a lot of the contents upstairs."
At Wordsworth House, the main challenge now is to reduce the humidity, restore electricity and find out whether the silt that came in with the flood is contaminated. National Trust properties in the Lake District National Park have also been affected, including properties at Fell Foot Park on lake Windermere, which has been very badly hit, and the Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead, which was closed for a time because of flooding in the village but was not too badly affected.
The trust said the damage to its properties and land in the area would take years to repair.
The Lakeland Arts Trust (LAT) runs three properties in Cumbria - Abbot Hall Art Gallery and the Museum of Lakeland Life in Kendal; Blackwell The Arts & Crafts House in Bowness-on-Windermere; and The Windermere Steamboat Museum (currently closed for renovation).
"Each of the three sites experienced some degree of damage due to rain and flooding in Cumbria, with the Steamboat Museum being the most seriously affected due to its location on the shores of lake Windermere," said an LAT statement. "At the Steamboat Museum, parts of the collection were submerged as the level of the lake rose. The extent of the damage to the structures and collection has yet to be fully assessed."
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has announced a £1m Flood Recovery Grants Scheme for small and medium-sized businesses that were flooded. The NWDA is also working with Cumbria Tourism to develop a flood response plan to support the industry.
www.nwda.co.uk
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
www.lakelandartstrust.org.uk
The flooding has hit the National Trust hard, with Wordsworth House in Cockermouth the worst affected. The house suffered severe flooding to the basement, reception, shop and garden and some water reached the ground floor of the main house after the heavy rainfall that started on 19 November.
"Fortunately, the museum itself has not been too badly affected," said Caroline Cotgrove, the National Trust conservator for the North West, who was speaking to Museums Journal from Wordsworth House, where none of the historic contents were damaged. "The water missed coming into the main room by a matter of inches and some of the staff were able to move quite a lot of the contents upstairs."
At Wordsworth House, the main challenge now is to reduce the humidity, restore electricity and find out whether the silt that came in with the flood is contaminated. National Trust properties in the Lake District National Park have also been affected, including properties at Fell Foot Park on lake Windermere, which has been very badly hit, and the Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead, which was closed for a time because of flooding in the village but was not too badly affected.
The trust said the damage to its properties and land in the area would take years to repair.
The Lakeland Arts Trust (LAT) runs three properties in Cumbria - Abbot Hall Art Gallery and the Museum of Lakeland Life in Kendal; Blackwell The Arts & Crafts House in Bowness-on-Windermere; and The Windermere Steamboat Museum (currently closed for renovation).
"Each of the three sites experienced some degree of damage due to rain and flooding in Cumbria, with the Steamboat Museum being the most seriously affected due to its location on the shores of lake Windermere," said an LAT statement. "At the Steamboat Museum, parts of the collection were submerged as the level of the lake rose. The extent of the damage to the structures and collection has yet to be fully assessed."
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has announced a £1m Flood Recovery Grants Scheme for small and medium-sized businesses that were flooded. The NWDA is also working with Cumbria Tourism to develop a flood response plan to support the industry.
www.nwda.co.uk
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
www.lakelandartstrust.org.uk
