PRESS RELEASE
Lyme Regis Museum is thrilled to announce that its doors will reopen to the public on Monday 17th July 2017 following the completion of its new £1.5million Mary Anning Wing extension.
Thanks to National Lottery investors and other funders, the museum can now offer a new interactive fossil gallery and Fine Foundation Learning Centre, as well as a larger shop and improved visitor facilities including a lift. The new extension is contemporary in feel and constructed in glass and zinc, robust materials ideally suited to the museum’s exposed position on Lyme’s seafront. The first floor of the extension has magnificent sea views across Lyme Bay – the only public building in Lyme Regis to offer this. The original museum building has been repainted and refreshed throughout, and retains its Edwardian charm.
Museum Director David Tucker said “The Mary Annning Wing will enable our museum to do much more to make Lyme’s fascinating history accessible to very many more people, as well as ensuring that we are better able to protect the town’s exceptional heritage for future generations. It will enable the museum to host more events, improve the offer to the town’s many tourists as well as work with larger museums and universities to encourage the study of Lyme’s unique geology. Lyme Regis is the birthplace of the science of palaeontology, and our museum is built on the site of the home of the world’s first, and greatest fossil hunter, Mary Anning.”
The Mary Anning Wing has been generously funded by Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, The Wolfson Foundation, The Fine Foundation, the Monument Trust, The Garfield Weston Foundation, Dorset County Council, West Dorset District Council, the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership and the Friends of Lyme Regis Museum.
David added “we are very grateful to all our funders for their help. The range of support we have received has been amazing. Our sister-charity, the Friends of Lyme Regis Museum raised £68,000, the National Lottery contributed £798,000 and we received many smaller but equally valuable gifts, including £10.00 from a fifteen year old who donated her pocket money after visiting us”.
The Mary Anning Wing has been designed by Robert Battersby of Bristol firm Architecton Architects, constructed by Devon company Skinner Construction and Project Managed by Currie and Brown. The new geology gallery has been designed by specialists Smith and Jones Designers.
Commenting on the new extension, Chair of the Museum Trustees Stephen Locke said, “The Mary Anning wing is the most important transformation of the Museum since it was built over a century ago. It will give the Museum a vigorous future – educating, inspiring and entertaining our many visitors. None of this would be possible without the enduring commitment and enthusiasm of our many volunteers and supporters, not least my fellow trustees and Lyme Regis Town Council. I thank all those who have helped us on behalf of the thousands of diverse people who will enjoy Lyme Regis Museum in the years to come.”
Situated at the heart of the Jurassic Coast, the museum has a spectacular collection of local fossils and runs very popular fossil walks on the same beaches that Mary Anning walked 200 years ago. The museum also tells the story of Lyme’s other great events and people, its famous writers (Jane Austen and John Fowles), the Monmouth Rebellion (the last attempted invasion of England) and, as the birthplace of Thomas Coram, Lyme’s ‘greatest citizen’ and founder of the Foundlings Hospital, England’s first charity.
“The range of support we have received has been overwhelming”, added David. “The National Museum of Wales, The University of Oxford and the British Geological Survey have loaned very important fossils, including finds that relate to Lyme’s great fossil hunters. On a daily basis we have received guidance and help from the museum’s very able volunteers, without whom the museum simply couldn’t operate”.
Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin MP commented “The Lyme Regis Museum is a wonderful place, a great adornment for this ancient town, and a splendid introduction to the Jurassic Coast. The construction of the new Mary Anning Wing will not only provide a further enhancement of the Museum for those who are visiting or studying in this remarkable part of the world but also make a significant contribution to the long-term viability of the Museum as a whole.
I strongly welcome the energy that is being injected into this historic museum, and I hope that this exciting new project will receive support from every quarter.”
Nerys Watts, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund South West, said: “Home of geological and charitable ‘firsts’, the inspiration of literary greats and the place to go for generations of people fascinated by fossils, Lyme Regis has an extraordinarily rich heritage. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the new Mary Anning Wing provides fossil enthusiasts and fossil novices alike a gateway into the inspiring story of its namesake and the museum’s fascinating collections. We look forward to the grand reopening!”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Images are available on request
About Lyme Regis Museum Trust
The promotion of object-centred learning in its widest sense is the foundation on which the Trust is anchored. The Trust’s mission is to educate, inspire and entertain its visitors and users, encouraging aspiration in current and future audiences. Our Trust recognizes that our museum has the potential to change lives through its activities, and this will be the guiding principle shaping our actions.
Lyme Regis Museum, a charity, is open all year and is supported by a talented team of volunteers who provide governance, expert advice on business and academic matters and research into Lyme’s history. Volunteers also actively fundraise on behalf of the museum, and operate the museum’s admission point and shop. Its auspicious patrons include author Tracy Chevalier, Professor Richard Lane, Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, Sir Crispin Tickell, Sir David Attenborough and previous Honorary Curator Max Hebditch. It is the most used museum by schools in Dorset.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about – from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and use #HLFsupported.
Contact Information & Images
Please contact the Museum Team on 01297 443370 for more information
Images are available on request