Financial difficulties have prompted the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM) to abandon its Bristol home for London.
The independent BECM, which opened in 2002, is the only permanent museum in the country that charts the story and legacy of Britain's empire. It is expected to close in the autumn.
Dogged by financial worries from the outset, the BECM was denied public money. But it managed to raise £8m independently to convert the Grade I listed Temple Meads railway station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, into its home. English Heritage gave £150,000 towards the restoration.
The BECM trust owns the building and will make it available for rent. It is to form a "substantial endowment" for its move to London.
The museum's director, Gareth Griffiths, admitted it had a "difficult existence" in Bristol. The museum's annual operating budget is £2m and a quarter of that has to be raised each year.
"Outside of London, it is a major challenge," he said. "There is such a thing as donor exhaustion. The public purse is not interested in supporting us."
Detailed negotiations between the BECM trust and three central London sites - one of which is a new development - are under way. But Griffiths said an existing building close to "significant cultural institutions" and academia was the most likely option.
But what form the new museum will take remains unclear. Griffiths said he wanted the museum to "rediscover our radical roots" and a review of its remit will be undertaken in the next six months. He added: "I anticipate very substantial changes."
Madge Dresser, a reader in history at the University of the West of England and an academic advisor to the new Museum of Bristol, said: "This is a terrible thing for Bristol. It is so sad. There have been a few blows for the city. The Imax has gone, the Theatre Royal is in trouble and now this."
Felicity Heywood
The independent BECM, which opened in 2002, is the only permanent museum in the country that charts the story and legacy of Britain's empire. It is expected to close in the autumn.
Dogged by financial worries from the outset, the BECM was denied public money. But it managed to raise £8m independently to convert the Grade I listed Temple Meads railway station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, into its home. English Heritage gave £150,000 towards the restoration.
The BECM trust owns the building and will make it available for rent. It is to form a "substantial endowment" for its move to London.
The museum's director, Gareth Griffiths, admitted it had a "difficult existence" in Bristol. The museum's annual operating budget is £2m and a quarter of that has to be raised each year.
"Outside of London, it is a major challenge," he said. "There is such a thing as donor exhaustion. The public purse is not interested in supporting us."
Detailed negotiations between the BECM trust and three central London sites - one of which is a new development - are under way. But Griffiths said an existing building close to "significant cultural institutions" and academia was the most likely option.
But what form the new museum will take remains unclear. Griffiths said he wanted the museum to "rediscover our radical roots" and a review of its remit will be undertaken in the next six months. He added: "I anticipate very substantial changes."
Madge Dresser, a reader in history at the University of the West of England and an academic advisor to the new Museum of Bristol, said: "This is a terrible thing for Bristol. It is so sad. There have been a few blows for the city. The Imax has gone, the Theatre Royal is in trouble and now this."
Felicity Heywood
