New Lease of Life for the Cottage Museum at Woodhall Spa

November 18, 2013

It was quite a while ago that a small group of Woodhall Spartans, from diverse professional backgrounds, met together to attempt to save an important photographic and ephemera cache, vital to the heritage of Woodhall Spa, a small village in Lincolnshire.

Founded in Victorian times, very little of this spa’s story had been recorded or made available in the public domain, even though there were folk still alive who could remember their grandparent’s recollections of its founding. The securing and safeguarding of this cache is an exciting tale in itself! These brief extracts from the local newspaper, The Horncastle News, of May 22nd 1986, gives a flavour perhaps…

Deadline Nears for the Museum!

Members of Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum Trust met last week to continue their work to save the former home of Mr.John Wield, the deadline date of purchase of which is rapidly approaching

Because the bungalow is Victorian and unique, The Trust feels every effort must be made to save it for future generations.

Just 15 donations of £1000 or 30 of £500 or 150 of £100 would save the building together with its unique spirit and atmosphere for the community of the future.”

Well the future is now the present…

and 26 years on there is indeed a new lease of life for the Cottage Museum, which had first opened its doors in May 1987. New storage, new community facilities, an in-house archive, space to conserve fragile material or prepare for the outreach to all age groups – all is in full use and much appreciated by the user or visitor, but without the loss of the atmosphere so important to the site.

Thanks to the dedication and hard work of a volunteer force working from around 2004 to lay the foundations of the bid and a renewed effort from 2009 by an equally amazing volunteer group from the community, led by such indomitable team leaders and Chairman Jackie Goodall at the helm, we can rejoice!

Inspired, they and their teams faced every setback with enthusiastic determination, guided by their experience over 25 years, museum advisors and most importantly, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund award of £677,600, some £83% of a project worth £813,936 in total.

The outstanding balance, being made good from a number of sources, both public and private, is gradually being reduced: but of course fund-raising and research never stops!

Emma Sawyer, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund, East Midlands, said:

“What is fascinating about the museum is that local history is told from the perspective of real people’s lives and by conserving this historic building and revitalizing the exhibitions, this project will create new opportunities for visitors from far and near to learn about the heritage of Woodhall Spa.”

A final quote from one of this year’s visitors ”A repeat visit- such a joy, delightful staff, so helpful. Shall come yet again!”

An update on the success of the Cottage Museum from David Radford, Founding Chairman.

Find out more about the Cottage Museum at Woodhall Spa here.

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