This month provides the last chance to visit the country’s second oldest museum before it closes for repair works.
The grade two listed building which houses Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Museum (SGS) in Broad Street, Spalding will be repaired thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm until Saturday, September 28 and then from October 1, will co-locate at Ayscoughfee Hall.
Ayscoughfee Hall Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 4pm.
SGS has exhibited its collections in a gallery at Ayscoughfee Hall since October 2023 and will continue to mount rotating exhibitions.
In June SGS transferred its local history library to Ayscoughfee Hall. This room will host SGS’s Centre for Fenland Studies, where researchers and the public can access resources relating to the history and culture of the Fens.
Next spring SGS will open another gallery at Ayscoughfee, which will hold rotating exhibitions of the Original Collection (1710-1814), which was recently recognised as a Designated Collection of National Significance by Arts Council England. This is only the second collection in Lincolnshire to receive designated status.
During the building works, the society will continue and grow its engagement activities in Spalding and the wider area.
The 2024/25 lecture season will be held as usual in the Broad Street Methodist Church, starting on September 27 at 7.30pm.
With funding from a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to help with the grant application, the society has been awarded £1,845,335 by the UK Government Museum and Estate Development Fund, to repair the building.
This work requires the modern extensions of the building to be demolished in order to preserve the original 1911 museum building.
To enable this work and provide room for expansion, the society has purchased the neighbouring business centre. Plans are now being created to build a flagship cultural and heritage facility for the region on the site.
This will enable the society to grow its engagement activities; mount more ambitious exhibitions; grow its work with local schools, colleges and universities; diversify its partnerships and programmes; and provide rich, inclusive and engaging heritage, arts and cultural events for all.
