The George Eliot Hospital Museum in Nuneaton, North Warwickshire, is to close because the hospital trust is £8.6m in debt. Ann Cahill, the museum's curator, told Museums Journal that the chief executive officer of the trust had told her in February that the museum would close.
The trust has stopped paying Cahill, who works 16 hours a week, and her full-time assistant. The future of the collection, which features some 7,500 objects, is uncertain.
'The museum was fully registered,' said Cahill. 'The trust has had to make a snap decision in order to balance the books and has not fulfilled its legal and ethical obligations.'
The Havant Museum in Hampshire may also have to close in 28 months after Havant Borough Council revealed it will be withdrawing its annual grant of £50,000 at that time.
A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council, which contributes £116,000 a year to the museum, said: 'We understand that Havant Borough Council is in financial difficulties, but we believe that withdrawing funding from the museum is a very short-sighted move, as once a museum service is lost to Havant it will be very hard to restore it.'
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has also made savings by closing the Lewis Textile Museum in Blackburn and moving the collection to the Blackburn Museum. The post of visitor services assistant will remain unfilled, saving the council £23,000 a year.
According to Paul Flintoff, the curator at Blackburn Museum, visitor figures were dropping dramatically and there was a lot of work to be done to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act if the building was to remain open.
The Silk Industry Museum, part of Macclesfield Museums Trust, is to close for six months each year from the end of October to April. The museum's receptionist will be made redundant in October and the post of exhibitions and collections officer, currently empty, will not be filled.
Richard de Peyer, the director of Macclesfield Museums Trust, said that he was looking to make savings of £25,000 a year, which he wanted to put into education projects and maintenance. Costs were higher than expected, he said, and the museum was only achieving half of its projected 10,000 visitors a year.
The county and borough councils, which contribute some £130,000 a year to the museum, had both been consulted, he said, and the funding would not be affected by the changes.
Falkirk Council is currently consulting on proposals to shut the Kinneil Museum in Bo'ness and transfer its budget, collection and staff to nearby Callendar House and to the Hippodrome, which, according to the proposals, will be revamped as a 'heritage interpretation space'. Bill Bruce, the chairman of the Bo'ness Community Council, opposes the proposals: 'Kinneil Museum is an asset and should be treated as such.'
Finally, St Edmundsbury Borough Council has put in a planning application for the Manor House Museum in Bury St Edmunds, which closed to the public in April. A spokeswoman for the council said: 'The building was valued at £800,000, but planning permission for residential use will increase its value further.'
Simon Pott, the chairman of the Bury St Edmunds Society, said that he had written to the council to reject any proposal to turn the museum into private housing. The society is currently trying to raise £150,000 to take over the running of the museum from the council.
Patrick Steel
The trust has stopped paying Cahill, who works 16 hours a week, and her full-time assistant. The future of the collection, which features some 7,500 objects, is uncertain.
'The museum was fully registered,' said Cahill. 'The trust has had to make a snap decision in order to balance the books and has not fulfilled its legal and ethical obligations.'
The Havant Museum in Hampshire may also have to close in 28 months after Havant Borough Council revealed it will be withdrawing its annual grant of £50,000 at that time.
A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council, which contributes £116,000 a year to the museum, said: 'We understand that Havant Borough Council is in financial difficulties, but we believe that withdrawing funding from the museum is a very short-sighted move, as once a museum service is lost to Havant it will be very hard to restore it.'
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has also made savings by closing the Lewis Textile Museum in Blackburn and moving the collection to the Blackburn Museum. The post of visitor services assistant will remain unfilled, saving the council £23,000 a year.
According to Paul Flintoff, the curator at Blackburn Museum, visitor figures were dropping dramatically and there was a lot of work to be done to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act if the building was to remain open.
The Silk Industry Museum, part of Macclesfield Museums Trust, is to close for six months each year from the end of October to April. The museum's receptionist will be made redundant in October and the post of exhibitions and collections officer, currently empty, will not be filled.
Richard de Peyer, the director of Macclesfield Museums Trust, said that he was looking to make savings of £25,000 a year, which he wanted to put into education projects and maintenance. Costs were higher than expected, he said, and the museum was only achieving half of its projected 10,000 visitors a year.
The county and borough councils, which contribute some £130,000 a year to the museum, had both been consulted, he said, and the funding would not be affected by the changes.
Falkirk Council is currently consulting on proposals to shut the Kinneil Museum in Bo'ness and transfer its budget, collection and staff to nearby Callendar House and to the Hippodrome, which, according to the proposals, will be revamped as a 'heritage interpretation space'. Bill Bruce, the chairman of the Bo'ness Community Council, opposes the proposals: 'Kinneil Museum is an asset and should be treated as such.'
Finally, St Edmundsbury Borough Council has put in a planning application for the Manor House Museum in Bury St Edmunds, which closed to the public in April. A spokeswoman for the council said: 'The building was valued at £800,000, but planning permission for residential use will increase its value further.'
Simon Pott, the chairman of the Bury St Edmunds Society, said that he had written to the council to reject any proposal to turn the museum into private housing. The society is currently trying to raise £150,000 to take over the running of the museum from the council.
Patrick Steel
