Hampshire County Council
Museums Panel Item 2
9 February 1999
Museums Service Development Plan : 1999 Review and Revision
Report of the Director, County Museums Service
Contact: Stephen Locke, Ext 6300
1. Summary
1.1 This report is an overview of the strategic aims of the
Museums Service within the context of Hampshire County
Council's Corporate Aims.
1.2 The twelve Action Points which were adopted for the period
1996-1998 are reviewed. These have either been achieved, or
good progress made in cases where the work is of a continuing
nature. In one case, the development of the Naval Armaments
Museum at Priddy's Hard, Gosport, work has ceased for reasons
outside of the control of the Recreation and Heritage
Committee.
1.3 Thirteen Action Points are recommended for the period 1999-
2000. These support the Corporate Aims of Hampshire County
Council and provide a balance between direct public service
and access, development and care of the collections, local
museums and countywide services.
1.4 The Action Points include preparation for meeting new or
expanded standards (e.g. Museum Registration Phase 2 and Best
Value), strategic reviews (e.g. the marketing plan and local
museum service plans) further development of collections
management (with an emphasis on documentation and information
technology) and the support of key Recreation and Heritage
Committee policies (e.g. Lifelong Learning).
1.5 Important project-based Action Points includes work at Basing
House and Grange Farm with an emphasis on improving the care
of the Ancient Monument, the restoration of historic buildings
at Grange Farm and further developing public access,
interpretation and educational resources.
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1.6 The Museums Service contributes to the work of a number
of Hampshire County Council committees, particularly the
Defence Heritage Panel, and an Action Point identifies the
conservation of the County Council's historic vessels and
support for independent museums with a defence heritage role,
as two priorities.
2. Introduction
2.1 The Museums Service Development Plan was last reviewed in 1996
(Museums Panel 13 February 1996). That review was in turn
based upon the plan adopted in 1994. The 1994 plan was very
comprehensive and used the approach recommended by the Audit
Commission.
2.2 The Audit Commission approach was widely welcomed and adopted
by museums in the UK because it emphasized the core functions
of museums in a way which was applicable in varying
circumstances. It requires an ordered review of museum
functions in this sequence:
Collecting > Stewardship > Scholarship > Access >
Marketing > Renewal.
2.3 The principles of the 1994 Review remain the underpinning
element of the development plan and are not repeated in this
report. Each of the fundamental museum functions are promoted
and controlled through key policies which are regularly
reviewed by the Museums Panel : these are indicated in
paragraph 4.3 of this report.
2.4 Since 1994, Corporate Aims for Hampshire county Council have
been clearly identified, and recently reviewed. This report
sets the Museums Service aims, functions and policies in the
context of these Corporate Aims.
3. Corporate aims and the role of the Museums Service
3.1 Developing the quality of life
This corporate aim is the one which most comprehensively
describes the overall contribution of the Museums Service.
Museums are always created in response to an expressed need to
represent 'a sense of place'. They provide enjoyment,
stimulation and education for their users. This is based upon
the collections which are the fundamental asset of the Museums
Service and which are developed and cared for on a very long
term view which aims to represent Hampshire by authentic
material drawn from its history, culture and natural
environment.
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3.2 Stewardship of the environment
Environmental enhancement is a fundamental aim of the Museums
Service which is achieved through the direct care and
management of historic buildings and sites; the development
and the care of very large collections of objects and
information which provide essential scientific and historical
evidence for environmental protection by Hampshire County
Council and other organizations; and as a valuable basis for
education in environmental understanding.
3.3 Achieving an economic prosperity in balance with Hampshire's
needs
This is a corporate aim which is generally supported by the
Museums Service provision of amenities and attractions for
visitors. 31% of the people who use the museums directly
operated by Hampshire County Council are non-local visitors.
Substantial support is also given to independent museums in
Hampshire and many of these are very important tourist
attractions which make a major contribution to the Hampshire's
economy.
The opening of Milestones : Hampshire's Living History Museum
in Basingstoke in 2000 will create a major tourist attraction
in north Hampshire which will generate substantial economic
benefits.
3.4 Providing high quality services to the public through well
trained, managed and motivated staff
In common with the majority of services which are the
responsibility of the Recreation and Heritage Committee, the
success of the Museums Service chiefly depends on the quality
of the staff. It is characteristic of the Museums Service
that the public have day to day access to the majority of
staff. x% of staff are employed to directly provide public
services, as curators, museum assistants and museum education
officers. All of the other staff have frequent contact with
the public and there is a strong ethos of direct promotion of
museum work and communication with the public through talks,
lectures, encouraging access to collections, open days,
providing facilitates for societies etc.
3.5 Promoting involvement, participation and partnership to
achieve the development of strong communities in Hampshire
The Museums Service has an important role in supporting this
aim and the whole development of the Museums Service has
largely been as a result of a strong pressure from
communities, chiefly the boroughs and towns of Hampshire to
have a local museum which expresses their history and
distinctiveness.
The museums have strong direct community links. Promoting
these links is a core role of curators, and in almost all
museums there is a Friends organization which is 'owned' by
local people and acts as an important focus for partnership
with the community.
The partnership with district councils which is an integral
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element of the Museums Service probably represents the most
comprehensive and structured partnership with district
councils which exits with Hampshire County Council. There are
formal joint management agreements for 10 museums, with 8
district councils and active working partnerships with a
further district and Dorset County Council.
District councils contribute x% of the Museums Service budget.
Relationships with town councils have become more important.
4. Museums Service generic standards and policies
4.1 The Museums Service maintains as a minimum the standards
required by the Museums and Galleries Commission for full
Registration. During the life of this plan it is expected
that the Museums Service will be invited to apply for Phase 2
of the national Registration Scheme, which develops the
standards of Phase 1 to some extent. We expect to meet these
standards.
4.2 The Museums and Galleries Commission also promote more
advanced standards for a number of important functions related
to both public services and collections management. The
Museums Service normally aims to achieve these standards.
4.3 There is a comprehensive range of functional, generic policies
which underpin all the work of the Museums Service. These are
reviewed on a regular basis by the Museums Panel.
* Acquisitions Policy
* Collections Management Policy
* Access Policy
* Marketing Plan
* Education Policy
* Staff Training and Development Policy
4.4 Similarly, there are a range of generic Hampshire County
Council corporate policies (in addition to the Corporate Aims)
which govern the overall approach of the Museums Service as a
department of the County Council.
5. Progress with Action Points for 1996-1998
5.1 This section of the report summarizes progress with the Action
Points adopted in the previous Service Development Plan.
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5.2. Implement revized acquisitions policy in 1996
The revized acquisitions policy was formally adopted by the
Recreation and Heritage Committee in 1996 and is implemented
by the Museums Service as one of its most important core
policies. The acquisitions policy must be formally reviewed
again by the Committee not later than 2001 as part of the
Museums and Galleries Commission Registration standard.
5.3 Review the future storage requirements for the County
archaeological collections
This review has been completed in the context of county,
regional and national developments and a report made to the
Museums Panel on 29 September 1998. The Museums Panel
resolved to consider options for providing for the known
demand for additional storage at the Museums Service HQ
including the possible establishment of a regional centre for
the study and storage of archaeological material, with funding
support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
5.4 Seek significantly improved opportunities for displaying the
ceramics, costume and related collections
The re-display of the Allen Gallery, Alton, has been
completed, making the most use of this museum for the display
of ceramics and decorative art and maximizing public access
and enjoyment and educational use as far as the rather limited
space available allows.
The cataloguing and storage of the large collections remaining
at the Museums Service HQ are being improved in order to make
them better available for use in special exhibitions and for
study. This work will also facilitate the provision of these
important collections to a county fine and decorative arts
museum if that could be achieved.
5.5 Promote a museum of Hampshire transport and technology at
Basingstoke
The achievement of this objective through the creation of
Milestones : Hampshire's Living History Museum, is regularly
reported to the relevant committees and only a brief summary
is needed. Milestones will be a regional museum with
collections of national importance. The total cost of the
project is approximately £10m of which £6.083 is contributed
by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The museum is being developed
in partnership with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council at
West Ham Leisure Park, Basingstoke. It will provide proper
standards of care for the majority of the County's collections
of transport, work and the home, and excellent and innovative
interpretation and educational opportunity, to a target
audience of at least 100,000 people p.a.
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5.6 Develop proposals for the museum-based heritage at Priddy's
Hard
A joint management agreement was created with Gosport Borough
Council for the creation of a major museum to display the
nationally important naval armaments collection within the
historic buildings at the ex-naval armaments depot, Priddy's
Hard, Gosport, with financial aid from the Millennium
Commission. Detailed concept plans for the museum were
created and collections management initiated. In October 1998
Gosport Borough Council decided to proceed with the overall
development of the Priddy's Hard site without the aid of the
Hampshire County Council, following concerns by the County
Council about the approach being adopted by Gosport Borough
Council to the site as a whole. It is understood that the
museum concept remains as originally conceived.
5.7 Continue to improve the documentation of the collections and
investigate the use of IT to provide public access to this
information
The fundamental recording of the collection has continued to
plan using a national standard museum documentation system
(MODES) adopted in 1989. This system has proved to be able to
consistently meet the needs of museum documentation and to
respond to developments in information technology. For
example, the Museums Service was probably the first UK museum
service to place the whole of its electronic collections
records (80314 records) in the public domain through HANTSWEB
and the WWW, thus fulfilling an important obligation to
facilitate public access to the County collections. Other
examples of the practical utilisation of the same system are
its use for research into local tradespeple, building an
historical gazetteer of Hampshire and recording the
conservation of the collections.
The creation of user friendly websites promoting our public
museums is now being developed, and Gosport Museum is being
used as the model. This website includes a database of
pictures by the local artist Martin Snape, coinciding with an
important new exhibition of his work.
Large numbers of detailed collection records are being created
for the Milestones museum, and an application made to the
Millennium Festival for a grant to create a Tasker Website
with digitised images of the important archive of the
agricultural engineers Taskers of Andover, including original
engineering drawings of their products.
5.8 Develop the management of local museums so as to enable
specialist staff to devote as much of their expertise as
possible in their special field
The curatorial staffing structure has traditionally been based
on curators fulfilling two roles, as local museum curators and
as countywide collections specialists. As the demands on
local services have increased, the time available for
developing knowledge and use of the County collections has
decreased. The structure agreed at LGR aimed to improve this
position by identifying three distinct Keeper of Collections
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posts for art, archaeology and natural science. This
structure has not been properly implemented because of
budgetary constraints, and archaeology and natural science
collections responsibilities are still shared with museum
curatorships, and the keepership of art is also a part-time
post.
Nevertheless more priority has been given to countywide
collections responsibilities and some movement of resources
has taken place.
5.9 Keep under review the management of heritage sites currently
being developed, especially those potentially affected by LGR
This objective focused on the need to maintain the integrity,
critical mass and benefits of networking implicit in the
County Museums Service during the threat of Local Government
Reorganization. In the event, this has been achieved, with
some rationalization of responsibility for sites with a strong
museum-based heritage value. Responsibility for Basing House
and Grange Farm was transferred to the Museums Service, and
the Museums Service is working with the Arts, Countryside and
Community department to enhance the museum elements of Manor
Farm (including the Bark Store at Botley), Calshot Castle and
Netley Abbey. The County Council retained responsibility for
Treadgolds at Portsmouth.
5.10 Develop the use of SEARCH (the Museums Service centre for
'hands-on' access to history and natural science) and continue
to provide educational values in exhibitions and public
services
The main role of SEARCH is to provide a special service to
schools using museum collections in support of the national
curriculum in history and natural science. Planned targets
have been fully met by this highly valued service.
In addition, efforts have been made to use the resources of
SEARCH for a variety of other audiences, and successful
projects have included:
* pilot reminiscence workshops to plan for an ongoing
service to elderly people in the community,
* a popular range of hands-on sessions for school children
with special needs,
* Museums Week and National Science Week open events for
families and a full programme of summer activities
during 1998
Examples of the education work to support exhibitions and
services in the local museum are:
* interactive shows, with associated workshops include
'Adventures in Time' and 'Discover This' have been
programmed into the exhibitions service in local museums
to target families with young children
* story telling has been used to animate the ceramics
collections on display at the Allen Gallery, Alton for
school children and families.
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5.11 Provide strategic support to independent museums
The Museums Service provides Curatorial Advisers to 5
independent museums in Hampshire to enable them to be
Registered with the Museums and Galleries Commission. Advice
and service is provided to many museums across the full range
of museum functions. Particularly important examples include
a major contribution to the conservation of the historic
submarine Holland 1 at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum,
support for the successful Heritage Lottery Fund application
by The Wakes at Selborne, which resulted in a grant of c.
£800,000, and financial aid to the New Forest Museum and
Visitor Centre at Lyndhurst for the purchase of the lease of
their premises. Revenue support for Whitchurch Silk Mill has
been consolidated through the joint management agreement with
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
A strategic programme to support independent museums was
initiated in 1996 in partnership with the South Eastern Museum
Service (SEMS). This aims to develop an understanding by
independent museums (particularly, but not exclusively, the
smaller, military museums) of their existing audiences, the
needs of education, and the opportunity to broaden their
audience. x museums have participated in this programme,
which it is hoped to continue with support from SEMS and the
Heritage Lottery Access Fund. The programme has concentrated
on the practical aspects of visitor research, the design of
services and facilities to satisfy and encourage particular
audiences, and evaluation: with an overall emphasis on
increasing the museums own capacity to achieve this.
5.12 Achieve a better strategic and sustainable approach to
responding to the demand for local museum services
The demand for the creation of museums in the smaller historic
towns of Hampshire continues and cannot be met simply by an
increase in County Council provision of capital for buildings
and museum development and revenue funding for operational
costs. The policy has been to facilitate the development of
local organizations with a degree of professional support from
the County Museums Service. To implement this policy requires
some capital support for building development and a degree of
revenue support for the provision of professional curatorial
services.
The most successful result has been the creation of the St
Barbe Museum at Lymington, where an excellent building has
been provided through the conversion of an old school provided
by New Forest District council with capital support from
Hampshire County Council. The local museum trust obtained a
major Heritage Lottery Fund grant (again with the support of
the local authorities) and the whole project is well on the
way to completion. Half of the salary of the professional
museum curator is paid by Hampshire County Council who is
employed by the Museums Service on behalf of the trust.
A museum is also being developed at Petersfield by a local
museum trust in premises in the old magistrates court provided
by Hampshire County Council. Support for the regeneration of
the museum at Lyndhurst is mentioned in paragraph 5.11.
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5.13 Continue to develop sources of income
Admission charges continue to be reviewed each year to ensure
that they are set at the correct level and opportunities for
increases are taken at the appropriate time.
Profits from shop sales continue to improve, as a result of
regular reviews of prices and improved stock control.
Specific collections related products such as a series of
Flora Twort prints have proved extremely popular.
6. Action Points for 1999-2000
6.1 This section of the report proposes revized Action Points for
the next two years.
6.2 Prepare the Museums Service for Museums and Galleries
Commission Registration Phase 2
6.3 Implement priority elements of the Collections Management Plan
* review and reorganization of storage following transfer
of collections to Milestones.
* improve storage of natural history collections
6.4 Provide enlarged and improved storage for the County
archaeological collections
* review the options at the Museums Service HQ and plan
the most effective solution
6.5 Continue to seek significantly improved opportunities for
displaying the ceramics, costume and related collections
6.6 In preparation for Best Value, take stock of the services
provided by local museums to:
* ensure services respond to the demands of local
communities
* ensure services are provided efficiently and cost
effectively
* ensure that the skills and experience of staff is put to
best use
6.7 Prepare Local Service Plans to manage the workload of museums
6.8 Review the Museums Service marketing strategy
.9 Continue to develop sources of income
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6.10 Protect and enhance Basing House and Grange Farm
* improve knowledge of this nationally important site.
* implement improved long term maintenance of the ancient
monument
* restore historic structures, especially at Grange Farm
* improve access and interpretation for the public
* develop the educational potential of the site.
6.11 Support the Defence Heritage policy
* conserve the historic vessels owned by Hampshire County
Council (M33, MTB71 and MTB331)
* support the development of independent museums which
contribute to the care of and public access to the
defence heritage
6.12 Develop opportunities for lifelong learning within the Museums
Service
* consolidate schools audiences and develop services for
families and visitors with special needs at SEARCH, the
Hands-on Centre for History and Natural History
* target families, young people, adult education and
schools through temporary exhibitions and associated
workshops
* develop facilities and learning opportunities for
schools, families and adult visitors at Milestones :
Hampshire's Living History Museum
* develop lifelong learning opportunities as expressed in
local museum service plans
6.13 Continue to improve the documentation of the collections and
access to the data
* improve security of the database which holds about
110,000 records and represents an enormous investment of
resources
* improve the content of records, particularly for
movement control, valuations of items, and record
photography
* update the access to the collections through the world-
wide web and extend this access to uses in galleries and
for sale on CD ROM; and improve the use of the database
within the Museums Service itself
* achieve better computer networking between museum staff
with collections management responsibilities
6.14 Provide strategic support to independent museums
* target support to Registered museums and museums aiming
to meet Registration standards
* support and guide museums own aspirations
* develop sustainability
* focus on structures which have strategic benefits to
these museums
* stress the need to consolidate existing audiences and
develop new audiences
RECOMMENDATION
1. That this report be adopted and progress with the Action
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Points described in the Museum Service Development Plan 1996-
1998 be noted.
2. That the Action Points recommended for the period 1999-2000 be
approved and recommended to the Recreation and Heritage
Committee for adoption.
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