When Seaford Museum in Sussex applied for a £130,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant to carry out much needed repairs, little did it realise that 15 months of hardship lay ahead. Funding and building delays meant the tiny museum, housed in the Martello Tower on the seafront, was half-starved of an income for more than a year.
The work had become essential because wind and rain had penetrated the museum's roof, causing water and salt compounds to drip into exhibits below. Museum spokesman Mick Barret said: 'A lot of things got damaged and dirty. It's not the best atmosphere for a museum. The decking above had deteriorated and water was seeping through. We had a selection of stalactites hanging from the ceiling.'
Things were even worse before shingle beach defences were erected in 1987. Then water would wash over the top of the tower during heavy storms, as a photograph in the museum dramatically shows. Something had to be done, and a HLF grant was applied for in mid 2001. It came through at the end of 2002. But there was also funding to be arranged with the two local councils.
Lewes District Council, which owns the building and charges the museum a peppercorn rent, agreed to give £30,000, and Seaford Town Council chipped in with £5,000. The museum itself put in another £5,000, and guaranteed doing at least 4,000 'volunteer hours.' Kay Turvey the chairman of the museum said getting the legal ends tied up also took longer than anticipated.
The main part of the plan was to waterproof the roof which covers half the Martello tower's moat and forms part of the esplanade. So the section of museum beneath this was closed in at the beginning of 2003.
The museum's hardy band of volunteers removed office equipment and archives to temporary homes either inside the tower or into one of two Portacabins lowered into the moat at the back. They wrapped the remaining artefacts in acres of black plastic sheeting to protect them from dust, dirt and water spray while the builders worked around them.
Management had hoped work would start in January that year, but it was May before the builders arrived, and they didn't start work until June.
When they did, they had to support the roof by welding pillars to existing girders, to make it safe for the heavy equipment that would roll across it later. This meant museum volunteers had to move more displays and transfer the office and archive material into the second Portacabin in the moat. (One bonus was that while digging the foundation for the pillars, builders found a shoe dating back to the early 1800s.)
With the supports in place, work could start outside on plugging holes, removing the drains and waterproofing the roof. A cambered Tarmac coating completed the job, so that water would run off at each end.
When the builders moved inside again, Turvey's biggest nightmare began. 'We reached rock bottom when they told us high-pressure water jets had to be sprayed on the ceiling to clean off all loose concrete before they could apply a cement like covering. Because of this some of the things got beyond repair and had to be scrapped. But we didn't lose any of our precious things.'
There were also money worries: 'We were getting a little worried about the delay, as we are entirely voluntary and rely on fundraising activities as well as an entrance charge, for our income.'
The museum was able to keep the tower open, and to charge half price entry fee of just 50p. But many money-making schemes had to be either altered or abandoned, which resulted in a big income drop. One of the biggest money spinners, a marketday fair which was usually held inside the moat, had to be cancelled. Income was halved over the 15-month development period.
The ceiling completed, the builders went on to build an archive and office room, with a bigger room next door to serve as a meeting room, classroom and art gallery.
Once they'd left, the cleaning began. Barrett says that it was a mess: 'The builders had sprayed a lot of water about. Some items had deteriorated even under the black bags.' Help came from local tradespeople, who gave their services free, and from ladies of the Martello Womens' Institute, who made cleaning the museum and the thousands of exhibits part of their Community Challenge.
The WI ladies had played such a valuable part that when the museum was formally opened by local MP Norman Baker in mid May, they were given seats of honour.
Project data
Cost: £170,000
Funding: HLF £130,000, Lewes District Council £30,000, Seaford Town Council £5,000, Seaford Museum £5,000
Contractors: Dawn Construction, Brighton
Electrical specialist CH Seymour, Seaford
Structural work JF Construction, Eastbourne
Steel PM Trading Ltd, Lewes
The work had become essential because wind and rain had penetrated the museum's roof, causing water and salt compounds to drip into exhibits below. Museum spokesman Mick Barret said: 'A lot of things got damaged and dirty. It's not the best atmosphere for a museum. The decking above had deteriorated and water was seeping through. We had a selection of stalactites hanging from the ceiling.'
Things were even worse before shingle beach defences were erected in 1987. Then water would wash over the top of the tower during heavy storms, as a photograph in the museum dramatically shows. Something had to be done, and a HLF grant was applied for in mid 2001. It came through at the end of 2002. But there was also funding to be arranged with the two local councils.
Lewes District Council, which owns the building and charges the museum a peppercorn rent, agreed to give £30,000, and Seaford Town Council chipped in with £5,000. The museum itself put in another £5,000, and guaranteed doing at least 4,000 'volunteer hours.' Kay Turvey the chairman of the museum said getting the legal ends tied up also took longer than anticipated.
The main part of the plan was to waterproof the roof which covers half the Martello tower's moat and forms part of the esplanade. So the section of museum beneath this was closed in at the beginning of 2003.
The museum's hardy band of volunteers removed office equipment and archives to temporary homes either inside the tower or into one of two Portacabins lowered into the moat at the back. They wrapped the remaining artefacts in acres of black plastic sheeting to protect them from dust, dirt and water spray while the builders worked around them.
Management had hoped work would start in January that year, but it was May before the builders arrived, and they didn't start work until June.
When they did, they had to support the roof by welding pillars to existing girders, to make it safe for the heavy equipment that would roll across it later. This meant museum volunteers had to move more displays and transfer the office and archive material into the second Portacabin in the moat. (One bonus was that while digging the foundation for the pillars, builders found a shoe dating back to the early 1800s.)
With the supports in place, work could start outside on plugging holes, removing the drains and waterproofing the roof. A cambered Tarmac coating completed the job, so that water would run off at each end.
When the builders moved inside again, Turvey's biggest nightmare began. 'We reached rock bottom when they told us high-pressure water jets had to be sprayed on the ceiling to clean off all loose concrete before they could apply a cement like covering. Because of this some of the things got beyond repair and had to be scrapped. But we didn't lose any of our precious things.'
There were also money worries: 'We were getting a little worried about the delay, as we are entirely voluntary and rely on fundraising activities as well as an entrance charge, for our income.'
The museum was able to keep the tower open, and to charge half price entry fee of just 50p. But many money-making schemes had to be either altered or abandoned, which resulted in a big income drop. One of the biggest money spinners, a marketday fair which was usually held inside the moat, had to be cancelled. Income was halved over the 15-month development period.
The ceiling completed, the builders went on to build an archive and office room, with a bigger room next door to serve as a meeting room, classroom and art gallery.
Once they'd left, the cleaning began. Barrett says that it was a mess: 'The builders had sprayed a lot of water about. Some items had deteriorated even under the black bags.' Help came from local tradespeople, who gave their services free, and from ladies of the Martello Womens' Institute, who made cleaning the museum and the thousands of exhibits part of their Community Challenge.
The WI ladies had played such a valuable part that when the museum was formally opened by local MP Norman Baker in mid May, they were given seats of honour.
Project data
Cost: £170,000
Funding: HLF £130,000, Lewes District Council £30,000, Seaford Town Council £5,000, Seaford Museum £5,000
Contractors: Dawn Construction, Brighton
Electrical specialist CH Seymour, Seaford
Structural work JF Construction, Eastbourne
Steel PM Trading Ltd, Lewes
