Spalding Gentlemen’s Society museum to close for renovation works in September

Work will soon be starting on a near-£2 million plan to repair the country’s second oldest museum and create an education and research centre.

Spalding Gentlemen’s Society will be moving out of its much-loved site in the town’s Broad Street at the end of the month and transferring over to Ayscoughfee Hall to stage exhibitions.

The society - which is the oldest provincial learned society after being founded by Maurice Johnson in 1710 - needs to take action to repair its Grade II listed museum in Broad Street from the damage being created by the sinking of a 1960s extension.

It also wants to create a flagship cultural and heritage facility in the neighbouring business centre after being awarded £1,845,335 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport earlier this year.

Chairman of the society Petronella Keeling says the Broad Street museum will be closing on Saturday, September 28 while the work is taking place.

She said: “This September is the last opportunity to visit the SGS Museum in Broad Street, Spalding for a while as our Grade II listed building will soon be repaired thanks to funding from Arts Council England.

“From 1 October, SGS will co-locate at Ayscoughfee Hall, with exhibitions and reading rooms to provide access to our collections for all.

“SGS is hugely grateful to South Holland District Council and Ayscoughfee Hall Museum for allowing us to co-locate in the home of the Society’s founder. The Society is excited to be working with Ayscoughfee Hall Museum on projects funded by the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership’s Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation grant.”

The society announced plans for this exciting facility and repair project in August last year and was notified earlier this year that it had received the funding for its exciting new project.

Mrs Keeling said: “Plans are now being created to build a flagship cultural and heritage facility for the region on the site. This will enable the society to grow its engagement activities; mount more ambitious exhibitions; grow its work with local schools, colleges and universities; diversify its partnerships and programmes; and provide rich, inclusive and engaging heritage, arts and cultural events for all.

As part of the preparation for this project, SGS began to exhibit some of its enormous collection in a ground floor gallery of Ayscoughfee Hall - which was the home of its founder - since last October and will continue to mount rotating exhbitions there.

Earlier this year, the society transferred its local history library operation, known as the Centre for Fenland Studies to a first-floor room at Ayscoughfee Hall. This archive allows researchers and the public can access print and digital resources relating to the history and culture of the Fens.

The centre is already hosting a new public research project on Fenland churches and a new history of Spalding as part of the Victoria County History series. Anyone interested in visiting the centre or using the resources should contact fenland@sgsoc.org.

Next Spring, SGS will open another gallery at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum, which will hold rotating exhibitions of our Original Collection (1710-1814) - which was recently recognised as a Designated Collection of National Significance by Arts Council England. This is only the second collection in Lincolnshire to receive Designated status.

The 2024/25 lecture season will be held as usual in the Broad Street Methodist Church, starting on Friday, September 27 ,at 7.30pm.

Mrs Keeling said: “SGS has been a membership society since its foundation in 1710 and warmly welcomes everyone who wishes to become a member or to join our team of more than 100 volunteers. If you are interested in heritage or culture and want to know more about membership, contact membership@sgsoc.org.

“If you are interested in volunteering, SGS provides opportunities in all of its areas of activity, from education and community events, to conservation and collections care, to stewarding and leading tours. Contact outreach@sgsoc.org for more information.”

The Broad Street museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm until Saturday, September 28.

It’s collections will be open in Ayscoughfee Hall Museum from Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 4pm.