A Regional Museum Strategy for the East Midlands

2002 - 2007

Exposure Draft, April 2001

Chapters 1 & 2: Background & The Context
Chapter 3: The Policy Framework
Chapter 4: The Market
Chapter 5: Museums & Their Collections
Chapter 6: Resources
Chapter 7: Conclusions
Annexes 

101.  In April 1996 we published Facing the Future, our first regional museums strategy for the East Midlands. It recommended an approach to museum development that focused on

• providing social benefit

• encouraging creativity

• enhancing quality

• organising effective planning and management

• promoting better governance and good practice

• creating partnerships between other museums and other interests

102.  Facing the Future was seen as a beginning, not an end. It recognised the need to evolve and respond to changes in demand and circumstance. Since 1996 the world in which museums operate has been influenced by

• changing public tastes and expectations;

• increasing competition for other leisure and retail collections;

• a new government with well-defined objectives;

• movement towards regional government, and a growth of regional identity;

• the first effects of National Lottery funding programmes.

103.  Since 1998 we have charted the impact of these changes on East Midlands museums by research and intelligence-gathering. This has provided an empirical basis for developing this second regional museum strategy.

104.  Thus this revision of Facing the Future not only reports progress on implementing the recommendations in the first regional strategy, and responds to issues that have arisen since 1996 but, based on the evidence assembled, proposes actions for the coming five years. In some cases these represent no more than continuous improvement; in others proposals represent a step-change in the current arrangements. However, as a whole, it plans for no more than museums continue to play an effective and valued role in the region's cultural, social and economic life.

The Region

201.  The East Midlands region - the third largest in England, covering 12% of its land area - occupies a central position within England. It comprises the six historic counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland (the latter, from 1974 to 1997, part of the administrative county of Leicestershire). Its population is estimated at 4.2 million, or 7% of the English total. The main centres of population cluster around the cities of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, as well as the smaller city of Lincoln, and the county town of Northampton.

202.  The region is one of variety and contrasts. Its landscape ranges from the high moorland of the Peak District, through the central farmlands of Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire to the low, flat landscape of the Lincolnshire Fens, running down to the North Sea coast. These landscapes include wildlife habitats of local, national and international importance. Buildings, often using local materials, give a special distinctiveness to both town and country; there are almost 30,000 Listed Buildings, and more than 1,000 Conservation Areas.

203.  The region retains a predominantly rural character and, unlike some other regions, its towns and cities have not coalesced into sprawling conurbations. Its peripheral parts often have close links with neighbouring regions. Parts of the region have a high percentage of elderly people, while universities and colleges make the urban centres magnets for young people.

204.  Headline socio-economic indicators include:

• 37% of the population live in rural areas, the national average being 20%.

• The region is more densely populated, at 261 people per square kilometre, than the UK average (241), though Lincolnshire is the fourth most sparsely populated in England with 102 people per square kilometre.

• Between 1981 and 1993 its population increased by 6%, and is projected to increase by a further 7% by the year 2020, but with an ageing population (3% less children under 16 than at present, and 5% less 25 - 44 year olds). This represents one of the fastest rates of population growth in the United Kingdom.

• Growth will be concentrated in the smaller towns, with migration from the cities and peripheral areas. Rural areas are popular retirement areas - 31% of households in East Lindsey in Lincolnshire are single pensioners.

• Estimates are that 5% of the population (206,000 people) belong to an ethnic group described as other than white (UK 6.2%). The largest ethnic minority group (2.7% of the region's population) describe themselves as Indian - 53% of all ethnic minority groups in the region. 18% describe themselves as Black, and 11% Pakistani/Bangladeshi. Over half the ethnic minority population live in Leicestershire, with 28% living in Leicester, the highest proportion of any district outside Greater London.

• There is less business interest in information and communications technology and e-commerce than in most other parts of the UK, and the proportion of households with internet access (23%) is the second lowest in England, and is growing at only half the national average of 7%.

• The workforce has below-average skills and levels of educational attainment. Average weekly earnings at £361.70 are considerably less than the UK average of £398.70.

• The region's GDP is less than the UK average, and declined by 3% between 1993 and 1996.

• A number of areas are facing major regeneration challenges, especially reflecting the decline of industry in the coalfield areas and in agriculture.

• Economically, the region has not performed particularly well in attracting inward investment.

• Nottingham was the only local authority area in the region to fall within England's 20 most deprived areas in 2000, at 12^th place. Next, at 28^th position, was Leicester. A further nine districts fell within the 100 most deprived. Nineteen of the region's forty districts (including unitary authorities) fell outside of the 200 most deprived areas. However, apparent affluence often masks pockets of disadvantage in these largely rural areas.

• The East Midlands is recognised by its residents as having a high quality of life - five per cent of the total land area is Green Belt, and three per cent Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

What is a Museum ?

205.  Museums, in popular usage, are buildings used for the storage and exhibition of collections of natural, artistic, historical and/or scientific objects. They are founded on four inherent human characteristics:

• curiosity and inquisitiveness;

• the desire to pass on things of worth to future generations;

• the impulse to acquire and collect; and

• the wish to communicate and learn in social situations.

206.  Museums are distinguished from being mere accumulations of specimens, or exhibitions of interesting things, by using intellectual capacity, academic knowledge, and good judgement to create rational and systematic collections.

207.  Although some museums are privately-owned, the majority hold collections for the benefit of society at large. It is these 'public museums' that are the focus of this strategy. The Museums Association has defined such museums in the following way:

Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.

208.  Thus, beyond popular perceptions of the term 'museum', public museums are defined by the following characteristics:

• they focus on public service, and belong to everybody;

• they balance their role as guardians of the legacy of past generations, and adding to this inheritance for people to come, with recognising and addressing the needs of today;

• they seek to reach all people, irrespective of social, economic or cultural background, and participate actively in the lives of their communities;

• they respond to changing circumstances.

The Value of Museums

209.  Museums can make a unique and positive contribution to society by using their collections and associated material to

• provide opportunities for learning;

• enable the use of collections and associated information to expand human knowledge;

• stimulate creativity and the spirit of enquiry;

• provide a sense of pride of place and social cohesion;

• support local economies through tourism and image-creation;

• offer opportunities for personal development;

• create a sense of security at times of change in society;

• celebrate cultural distinctiveness;

• entertain and educate.

210.  This represents an enormous potential scope, and no museum has sufficient resources to exploit fully all these opportunities at a single point in time. Successful museums are those that

• understand the political, social and economic environment in which they operate;

• provide activities and programmes that focus on the contribution most appropriate to the current environment; and

• maintain a long-term perspective that will enable the museum's collections to be relevant in a changed environment.

Museum Development in the East Midlands

211.  The first museum in the East Midlands - that of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society - was founded in 1710. It is the second-oldest in the United Kingdom, predated only by Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, which had been established in 1683. The region's first public museum was founded in 1835 by the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society; the Derby Town and County Museum and Natural History Society followed the next year. Tables 1 and 2 show the pattern of development thereafter:

Table 1: Foundation of East Midlands Museums by Location

Source: East Midlands Museums Service

Table 2: Foundation of East Midlands Museums by Type

Source: East Midlands Museums Service

212.  Thus most of the region's museums have been founded during the past fifty years, and more than a third during the last two decades. Growth during 1950 -1980 was mainly due to branch museums being opened by the city museum services at Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, and smaller councils founding new museums (such as the Erewash and Bassetlaw Museums at Ilkeston and Retford) following local government reorganisation in 1974. County museum services in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire also developed provision outside of the county towns. The major area of growth since 1980 has been in the independent sector, based on local interest and rooted in local communities, or special enthusiasm for certain types of material.

213.  It is perhaps remarkable that, given this explosion in the number of public museums, only half-a-dozen or so have closed never to re-open. When this has happened, their collections have invariably been incorporated within other public museums.

214.  Since 1989 most public museums in the region have participated in the Museum Registration scheme, which provides a minimum national standard for museum provision. This is further described in para 304 et seq.

Organisation

215.  The region's museums fall into two main groups - those run by local authorities (county, district and town councils, and unitary authorities), and those run by charitable non-governmental organisations ('independent museums'). The latter group includes museums operated by regimental trusts and The National Trust. Table 3 shows the size of these constituencies.

Table 3: East Midlands Registered Museums by Organisation

1. Charnwood, Harborough and Melton Museums are run jointly with the respective district council
2. Northampton Borough Council is Sole Trustee of the Northamptonshire Regiment and Northamptonshire Yeomanry regimental museums

Source: East Midlands Museums Service

University Museums

216.  There are no Registered museums in the East Midlands run by universities, though most hold collections that could be eligible to participate. These are described in Totems & Trifles: Museums & Collections of Higher Education Institutions in the Midlands (2000), which we published with the West Midlands Regional Museums Council.

Local Authority Museums

217.  The provision of museum services is a discretionary service for local authorities, and can be discharged at any tier. The Public Libraries & Museums Act 1964 provides enabling powers for county, unitary and district councils, and the Local Government Act 1972 for town and parish councils. Thus in some parts of the region museums are provided by county or unitary authorities, in others by districts and/or town councils, occasionally by both county and district, or district and town councils, and in parts of the region by no local authority at all.

218.  Table 4 summarises to what extent local authorities discharge their powers. This shows that more than half of the local authorities in the region make no museum support whatsoever, and most that do so focus on direct delivery rather than enabling provision by independent museums and the voluntary sector. Exceptionally, North-West Leicestershire District and Rushcliffe Borough Councils have specific museum policies to guide their financial support to such museums.

Table 4: Local Authorities & Museums by District

Note: New Mills Town Council in Derbyshire and Newark Town Council in Nottinghamshire both provide Registered Museums

Source: East Midlands Museums Service

Independent Museums

219.  Most independent museums in the region are small, volunteer-run organisations founded during the past twenty years; the middle-sized and larger museums found in other parts of England are less common in the East Midlands. Only the National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire and the Galleries of Justice at Nottingham have a turnover in excess of £250,000.

220.  For large parts of the region the only museum provision is that of voluntary museums. The role of this constituency in the Derbyshire Dales and East Lindsey - in both cases with no regular financial support from the respective district council - is significant.

221.  Less than a quarter of independent museums receive any recurring support from their local authority, and only one - the Creswell Heritage Trust - receives support of any substance. The lack of financial and other support for independent museums has doubtless discouraged the development of independent museums of the scale and substance similar to those found in other regions.

222.  Some county councils have taken responsibility for providing development support to voluntary and independent museums. No similar provision has been made by any district authority. However, the level of county council support to the voluntary sector has diminished since 1991, as Table 5 demonstrates:

Table 5: Support by Local Authorities for Independent Museums 1991 - 1999

223.  With the reduction of local authority support for voluntary museums, responsibility for advice and services has shifted to the East Midlands Museums Service. While this has some drawbacks in terms of regularity of contact, it has benefited museums from economies of scale, a greater range of experience and expertise than would be possible in a single development worker, and better linkages with national and regional policy developments.

224.  A number of museums supported in this way over the past ten years have gone on to win national and international distinction, and many are exemplars for how a well-run local museum can contribute to community cohesion. Achieving and sustaining this potential requires continuing - though not continuous - support.

Economy

225.  Chart 1 shows the East Midlands museums economy, including both direct expenditure and the value of volunteer support, by category and county. This demonstrates wide variations between counties - the Derbyshire activity is fairly evenly divided between local authority museums, independent museums, and The National Trust. In other counties local authorities undertake the bulk of activity. Only in Nottinghamshire is there an independent museum constituency of any scale.

Profile

226.  77% of museum visits in the region are by local residents, and 83% of people travel for less than an hour. Longer travel times are associated with smaller rather than larger museums.

227.  This is reflected in awareness of individual museums by the region's residents. Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery has the highest awareness across the region (60%), followed by the National Tramway Museum at Crich (45%). Both these figures have dropped since 1995 - by 9% and 10% respectively.

228.  However, these averages disguise considerable variations when examined on a sub-regional basis. For example, awareness of Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery was less than half in Northamptonshire than in Nottinghamshire. Awareness tends to be based on local knowledge, and visits follow awareness. Thus less than 30% of Northamptonshire residents have visited Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, and only 14% the National Tramway Museum.

229.  On this basis, it would be hard to argue that any museum in the region occupies a premier position. While this in part reflects the diversity within the region, it also reflects the size and scope of the region's museums, and the significance of the collections they hold beyond their immediate locality.

230.  In a number of cases this lack of profile does a disservice to the collections of the region's museums, and increased awareness of the region's collections, whether through marketing or virtual access through the Internet, is vital if these collections are to maximise their potential.

 

Chapters 1 & 2: Background & The Context
Chapter 3: The Policy Framework
Chapter 4: The Market
Chapter 5: Museums & Their Collections
Chapter 6: Resources
Chapter 7: Conclusions
Annexes