Amberley Museum is particularly pleased to have been awarded £433,766 from MEND towards the total project cost of £463,766 to undertake this important work. MEND is administered by Arts Council England, which receives its funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
The Bagging Shed area is a scheduled monument that has been identified as a historic building at risk by Historic England. It also has an important story to tell as a significant part of the original chalk and limeworks site. The Bagging Shed area includes the original route of the railway line into the site from the main line, the remains of a Victorian lime kiln, and the main visitor entrance and shop.
Richard Vernon (Chair, Board of Trustees) said:
“This is immensely exciting news for Amberley Museum as it represents the first major project that we will undertake following the challenging times we have gone through in the last few years. This project demonstrates the significance of these buildings and will help support other improvements to the site in the short and medium term.”
The work is scheduled to take place over the coming winter and early spring 2024 and the overall project should hopefully be completed at some point in 2024.
Once the work has been completed, visitors will receive a much more coherent introduction to the site, discovering the historic chalk quarrying and lime production in an evocative environment. Visitors will find it easier to navigate the entrance with improved ramp access and better interpretation of this area and the collection of artefacts that are displayed within the Bagging Shed will be better conserved and interpreted for the future.
