The Corinium Museum has embarked on an exciting £1.6 million project – “Stone Age to Corinium: Discover the Archaeology of the Cotswolds” and has been successful in securing support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The aims are to create a museum that is more relevant to today’s communities, maximising on the building spaces, enhancing the visitor journey through reinterpretation and improved access, and working with new partners to produce a vibrant programme of archaeology related events and activities, which will help to make the museum more resilient and sustainable.
Reimagining Prehistory
The project will create new Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Early Roman interactive galleries. Objects that are currently in storage will be conserved and put on display for the first time, including rare stone and bone tools, rock art, beakers and other grave goods. This will help us to write a complete history of the pre-Roman occupation of the Cotswolds.
Reconnecting with our community
The new Discovery Centre will offer the local community and all visitors a dedicated space for understanding and interacting with our heritage and over 10,000 years of archaeology.
- School workshops covering the new curriculum topics: Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age
- Archaeological workshops & practical demonstrations of ancient crafts
- Open access research area for visitors to see and engage with behind the scenes museum work
- Historical hub for community meetings
- Family friendly holiday activities
Respecting visitors’ needs
We want everyone to have an enjoyable visit, leaving the Museum uplifted and having a real sense of place. We will achieve this by creating a clear visitor journey from arrival to departure and a new and integrated reception area. We will redevelop our garden space creating a pleasant seating area for quiet reflection.
Reinstating the building’s heritage
The project’s focus will be the Grade II listed Abberley House. The development will be sympathetic to the heritage features, opening up the original shutters and restoring its aspect as a prominent Georgian town house.
Project funding
The project total cost is £1.6m. In addition to the National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £677,000 Cotswold District Council have pledged £150,000 with Local Trusts and individual giving making up the remaining funding.
We need your help
We now need to raise a further £150,000 from other sources to complete the project. We need your help with the last big push to reach our target but we also want to give you the chance to get very personally involved with the museum displays by sponsoring an object. Sponsorship ranges from £10 to £1000 for some of the most significant objects in our collection.
adopt an object 