Questions have been raised about the decision by Derbyshire County Council to relocate Buxton Museum & Art Gallery and sell off its existing building.
The council announced last month that the museum would leave the historic Peak Buildings complex, where it has been since 1928, due to structural issues caused by dry rot. The council says it intends to find a new permanent premises in Buxton for the museum in due course.
More than 200 people attended a public gathering in front of the Peak Buildings over the weekend in a show of solidarity for the museum.
Museums Journal understands that there are concerns among the institution’s supporters that the council is planning to reduce the size of its museum service following the move.
There are also fears that the closure of the institution, without long-term plan in place for its future, will result in the permanent dispersal of its collection. The 40,000 objects held by the museum are currently being decanted to a number of storage sites.
The decision to close the building appears to have been confirmed for some time. A local source with knowledge of the situation told Museums Journal that some long-term loans had already been returned and archives were being moved before a public announcement was made.
“These collections are publicly owned, some being specific bequests for the town or county. Constituents are angry and are anticipating this loss,” said the source.
Financial difficulties
The council is facing significant financial difficulties. In June 2023 it made a multi-million pound payout as part of a settlement over a failed waste treatment plant, while in May this year the BBC reported that the council is owed £11.4m from a local hotelier in defaulted interest-free loans.
In autumn 2023, the council announced it was facing a budget deficit of £46m, since reduced to £33m, and introduced a spending freeze, cuts to frontline services, as well as the review and potential sale of many publicly owned buildings. The council previously closed its arts department in 2022.
Museums Journal understands from the source that some council departments have been at odds for some years over the high cost of running the museum. The source said that in 2019, the council commissioned a feasibility study into a plan to replace front-of-house staff with volunteers. The proposal was dropped following union advice.
The source said that although the council closed the museum abruptly in June 2023, it had been known for some years that there was dry rot in the building. Supporters of the museum have been questioned why the dry rot was not discovered or addressed during a lottery-funded refurbishment of the building in 2017.
‘Extremely sad’
The council has described the decision to relocate the museum as “extremely sad” but says it is “no longer viable” for it to operate in the building.
The council told Museums Journal that no staff are being made redundant as a result of the move and there are “no current plans” to reduce the museum service.
A council spokesperson said: “A programme of work is commencing that will curate the artefacts, making them more readily accessible for use at other premises.
“The artefacts are being packaged carefully and will be stored in a secure, professionally managed heritage storage facility within Derbyshire. Elements of the collections will be used in temporary displays within Buxton with trusted partners.”
Asked if the new premises for the museum would remain in Buxton, the council said: “The availability of suitable property is a determining factor but it is intended that the longer term solution will include permanent premises in Buxton.”
The spokesperson added: “Derbyshire County Council is committed to the provision of an Accredited museum service from a permanent, physical location in the long term.
“To make sure residents and visitors to Derbyshire can access the museum offer, the council is also committed to securing shorter term solutions which could see artefacts housed in temporary locations and presented at local events, fairs and festivals to provide a ‘hands on’ experience, bringing the service closer to customers. There are no current plans to change the size of the service.”
Asked what role the council’s financial difficulties had played in the decision, the spokesperson said that “all decisions made by the council are in the context of the financial situation”.
Building assessment
The council says the extent of the dry rot was not known when the museum shut last year, and that an initial estimate had indicated the museum would only be closed for three years while the issue was addressed.
A council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, as works have proceeded to decant the museum, we have exposed further areas of rot which would extend the programme. The assessments have indicated the combined costs of addressing all these elements runs into several million pounds.”
The council said it had explored external funding sources for the repair of the building but that “the particular circumstances of the Peak Buildings and the museum meant that grant criteria couldn’t be met”.
Council leader Barry Lewis has indicated that the council will “retain the sale price [of the building] and re-invest in the museum when we find a new and appropriate location”.
The spokesperson added that the 2017 refurbishment related to a specific exhibition and had therefore not uncovered structural issues in the wider building. The council said: “The 2017 development works related specifically to the creation of the Wonders of The Peak area; during that work, dry rot was not identified.”
Responding to concerns that the council may have to pay back the grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) towards the refurbishment, the council spokesperson said: “The NLHF is being kept appraised of the current position. At present no request for repayment has been made, as DCC is working to relocate the museum to a new site, which will include the displays funded by NLHF.”
The council has recruited two fixed-term posts, a museum manager and an assistant collections officer, to “drive the museum through the current transition period”.
It says the long-term management of the service will be reviewed once a new location is secured.
Show of solidarity
The We Are Buxton Community Forum, a coalition of eight local groups, has called on the council “to ensure that a suitable long-term solution is swiftly secured with a view to establishing a viable single venue for the collection in Buxton”.
The forum says it supports the council’s efforts to establish “extensive and ongoing interim activities to ensure that the museum and gallery remain accessible to as many people as possible”.
Following the public gathering on 8 June, We Are Buxton spokeswoman Jean Ball said: “We organised this opportunity for local people in response to a groundswell from our community looking to show how much they care.
“Now we are amazed and impressed at the scale of the passion demonstrated by the number of people who turned out in support of Buxton Museum & Art Gallery.”
Ros Westwood, who retired as Derbyshire museums manager last year after 25 years at Buxton Museum, said at the gathering: “I come here standing on the shoulders of 10 previous curators who have worked tirelessly for the town to have – at the people’s request – this museum. It was very much the people who asked for it and it is the people’s collection.”
