Some of Britain's most gruesome reminders of its penal past will soon be on display to the public in Nottingham, after plans were announced to re-locate the Prison Museum collection from Rugby to the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham.
The move has been made possible by a funding package, drawn up by Nottingham City Council, Nottingham County Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency, which will allow the councils to buy the Galleries' existing home, Shire Hall, from the museum for £1.5m.
The Galleries, which will remain in the building, will use £800,000 from the sale to refurbish existing facilities and reopen the building's 1833 wing, which has been shut for five years. A further £300,000 will go towards paying off debts and £400,000 will be spent on staff.
Mich Stevenson, the chairman of the Galleries, said he was delighted by the news: 'We see it as a real compliment that the Galleries was selected to house this prestigious national collection.'
To help with the transition, which is expected to take 15 months, the city and county councils have pledged to provide the Galleries with a monthly subsidy of £20,000.
Michael Edwards, the deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, said both councils were fully behind the plan: 'This is a small price to pay to help sustain both a nationally significant attraction in Nottingham and its important contribution to the local citizenship and crime reduction agenda.'
In addition, the prison service will be providing £25,000 of the £100,000 needed to move and install the collection.
The Prison Museum collection will be housed in the refurbished 1833 wing - previously only 5 per cent of the collection was available for viewing, often only by special request. The new space will mean that 30-40 per cent of the 20,000-object collection, which includes Oscar Wilde's prison cell door, can now be displayed to the public.
The Galleries will remain open during the refurbishment and the Prison Museum collection will be available for viewing in Shire Hall from Easter 2005.
Flemmich Webb
The move has been made possible by a funding package, drawn up by Nottingham City Council, Nottingham County Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency, which will allow the councils to buy the Galleries' existing home, Shire Hall, from the museum for £1.5m.
The Galleries, which will remain in the building, will use £800,000 from the sale to refurbish existing facilities and reopen the building's 1833 wing, which has been shut for five years. A further £300,000 will go towards paying off debts and £400,000 will be spent on staff.
Mich Stevenson, the chairman of the Galleries, said he was delighted by the news: 'We see it as a real compliment that the Galleries was selected to house this prestigious national collection.'
To help with the transition, which is expected to take 15 months, the city and county councils have pledged to provide the Galleries with a monthly subsidy of £20,000.
Michael Edwards, the deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, said both councils were fully behind the plan: 'This is a small price to pay to help sustain both a nationally significant attraction in Nottingham and its important contribution to the local citizenship and crime reduction agenda.'
In addition, the prison service will be providing £25,000 of the £100,000 needed to move and install the collection.
The Prison Museum collection will be housed in the refurbished 1833 wing - previously only 5 per cent of the collection was available for viewing, often only by special request. The new space will mean that 30-40 per cent of the 20,000-object collection, which includes Oscar Wilde's prison cell door, can now be displayed to the public.
The Galleries will remain open during the refurbishment and the Prison Museum collection will be available for viewing in Shire Hall from Easter 2005.
Flemmich Webb
