News - Museum project for Barnsley at last becomes a Reality

RARE archaeological finds discovered in Barnsley will soon be coming home to a new £2.6 million museum and archives centre to be created in the Town Hall.


Experience Barnsley is the first museum telling the story of the borough. The project is being made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The museum will feature collections and stories spanning thousands of years to the present day and will be put together over the next two years.

The project has also attracted £62,400 in funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.

The cash is to pay for research into Barnsley’s archaeological treasures and provide opportunities for people to see the collections and become involved with projects working with them.

The museum is being put together with The University of Sheffield’s Department of Archaeology, with a whole team of researchers working on different areas of the collections.

Axes and hammers from the Neolithic period – 4,000 BC to 2,300 BC – from Langsett, Dunford and Penistone are some of the stone tools that will go on show include.

There will be an arrowhead and spearhead from the Bronze Age – 2,300 BC to 700 BC – from the Penistone and Crow Edge area and coin hoards from Darfield.

Also on show will be a bronze bracelet from Billingley from the Roman period and pots from Monk Bretton Priory from the medieval period.

The museum will offer activities and events to schools, interested groups and individuals around the borough, culminating in a major exhibition in the Town Hall.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/museum-project-for-barnsley-at-last-becomes-a-reality-1-4531882

News - EFCF Awards £372,764 to Six Projects (Barnsley)

The Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, managed by the Museums Association, has awarded grants to six projects, from a total of 118 applications for its second round of funding.

Abingdon County Hall Museum received £23,346 to conserve and develop display and interpretation of a mid-sixteenth-century tempera on parchment map of the Thames.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Arts and Museums Service received £62,400 to research and develop use of Barnsley’s archaeological collections to allow research of the collection in partnership with Sheffield University and add to skills sharing across the region for caring for archaeology collections.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens received £50,450 to review the museum’s natural history collections with subject specialists and enthusiast groups getting together to identify and find significant specimens.

Kirklees Museums and Galleries, with Calderdale Museums, Wakefield Museums, Bradford Museums and Galleries, and Leeds Museums and Galleries were jointly awarded £72,768 to review and reinterpret the textile collections of the partner museum services and to create the West Yorkshire Textile Heritage Trail.

Museum nan Eilean and Archaeology Service (Western Isles) received £85,000 to research the Udal archaeological collections and investigate potential for an Archaeological Resource Centre on North Uist.

The National Media Museum received £78,800 to research and develop the use of the Ray Harryhausen Collection.

Sally Cross, the MA’s collections coordinator, said: “Individually, the projects that have been awarded grants speak for themselves in terms of the quality of the collections and the creativity and ambition of the projects.

“Together, I’m really pleased with how they look for their diversity – it’s becoming clear that this fund is supporting a range of types of collection, types of museum and projects on different scales.”

Round three applications

Due to the high volume of applications to the EFCF, the MA has introduced a two stage application process.

The selection criteria for round three remains the same, but museums will be asked to complete a brief initial stage application.

The MA will then invite a shortlist to complete full applications.

The MA will advise applicants ahead of the deadlines to help bring out the key points that the selection committee will look for.

After receipt of stage one applications, the MA will invite a small number of applicants to move onto the second stage.

Those selected will be asked to complete a full application for consideration by the EFCF board and will have access to more detailed advice and feedback from MA staff. Organisations invited to complete a full application will have a 40% chance of being funded.

Closing date for round three initial applications is 5 April 2012.

Invitations to full application will be issued to successful applications on 16 April 2012.

From: http://www.museumsassociation.org/news/29112011-efcf-awards-372764-to-six-projects