Over the last six months a lot has happened with regard to our Development Plans. Most importantly, we have undertaken an options appraisal and as a result have made the decision to plan the building work in two phases.
The first phase would see the Cart Lodge on the Green (generously leased to us by the Friends of Ditchling) and currently in a very poor state of repair, sensitively restored. This beautiful listed building would come to life again as Museum entrance, shop and Information Centre. On the upper level there would be a small meeting room which would be available for community use. Until the second phase of the project was completed the Cart Lodge would also house a small café. A new covered walkway would link the Cart Lodge to the existing Museum and new visitor toilets would be built. At the other end of the site, the cottage would be transformed to create new space for education and research. A landscaping scheme would be drawn up for the Museum grounds, sensitive to the needs of existing wildlife.
The second phase would see the construction of a new building between the Cart Lodge and the Museum to provide new galleries, storage and staff offices. At this stage the café would move out of the Cart Lodge into the new building.
We intend both phases to be designed to the highest standards using traditional materials reflecting the quality of the surroundings in the Ditchling Conservation Area. To that end we have appointed Adam Richards Architects to lead us through the first phase.
We are grateful to all those who have contributed their time and enthusiasm to get us to this point. Detailed proposals will be on display on Saturday 17th May and Sunday 18th May 2008 between 10.00am and 4.00pm in the Barn on Ditchling Village Green which is only a short walk from the Museum. We hope that as many people as possible will take the opportunity to come and meet us during that weekend and give us their views on the plans.
Jenny KilBride – Chairman of Trustees
Joanna and Hilary Bourne founded Ditchling Museum in the former village school in 1985. Their aim was to document the village’s history and its role in British artistic and craft traditions. Since becoming a registered collection, the Museum has attracted public funding for further purchases of important works. In recent years, the collection has grown rapidly now includes works by many important artists and craftworkers who lived and worked in Ditchling.
However, the present facilities have reached the limit of their capacity and if the Museum is to continue to care for the collection and to encourage access for all with events, exhibitions and workshops the Museum site needs to be developed. This important development will firmly establish Ditchling as a unique heritage site of national importance that transformed the long rural traditions of skill and community into a creative leading movement that continues to influence 21st century life.
The Trustees are committed in their duty to share Ditchling's extraordinary history with wider audiences, both local and global and to ensure that the development will be sensitive to the needs of the community. It will be designed in recognition of the wider village interests, and the Development Plan will continue to value both the old and the new. The old Victorian school building will be retained, but some later elements will be demolished to make way for new buildings designed on the best current principles of museum design from public access, sustainability, energy conservation, to environmental management.
Development will allow works to be available to a wider constituency of scholars and researchers and wide-ranging education and training programmes focussing on arts and crafts will be developed to bring the resources of the Museum to schools and the local community, support the work of contemporary makers and attract visiting researchers. Additional professional staff will be employed to manage the developing Collection, continue to develop the exhibition programme and provide support to visiting researchers.
The Plan is expected to cost around £3m and take about 5 years to complete. A major fundraising campaign is being mounted to raise this sum, and the Trustees welcome your support. The full development plan is available at the museum, and those who would like to know more should contact the museum via the address on the website.