ITEM CA10
CABINET – 16 - SEPTEMBER 2008
SOLDIERS OF OXFORDSHIRE MUSEUM
Report by Head of Community Services
Introduction
1. Following the bicentenary exhibition of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry in 1998, the County Museums Service has maintained a close working relationship with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and the various other military units associated with the county. Members of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and other regimental Trusts of the county have since combined to form ‘The Soldiers of Oxfordshire’ (SOFO), a charitable Trust dedicated initially to establishing a military museum within Oxfordshire and which has expanded to embrace the history of all county citizens and their parts in the nation’s conflicts.
2. On 30 September 2003 the Council’s Executive ‘agreed in principle that the military collections of Oxfordshire described in the (accompanying) report (and options appraisal) should be housed in the Oxfordshire Museums Store at Standlake, subject to funding and implementation of the Phase II development of the Store…’. Last year, 2007, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that our application for funding that Phase II development had not been successful.
3. Meanwhile the Slade Barracks at Headington, where the SOFO museum and archives have been held, has been sold and the need to find a new and permanent home for the collections has become more acute. They are currently stored in temporary accommodation at Caversfield (currently available until March 2010). Negotiations with SOFO have continued, chaired by the Cabinet Member for Social and Community Services. Another option considered in the 2003 report was to locate the SOFO collections at The Oxfordshire Museum. This idea was revived and has been very warmly welcomed by SOFO.
SOFO Museum at The Oxfordshire Museum
4. In March 2008 Oxfordshire County Council (on behalf of SOFO) commissioned a Feasibility Study (Phase I) to consider the possibility of building a new museum within the grounds of The Oxfordshire Museum; that Study concluded that such a proposal would be possible using the site of the Pratten Building at the northern end of the garden – a temporary building of sub-standard construction and well-past its replacement date.
5. The Pratten Building is currently occupied by 6 staff from Countryside Services, including the Woodlands and Wychwood teams, and 4 staff from ‘Hands on Oxfordshire Heritage’ (HOOH: the heritage services outreach to day care services and schools). The Council’s capital programme includes funding in 2009/10 and 2010/11 to relocate all Countryside Service staff together on one site. There is not yet an agreed way of achieving that. The HOOH staff are due to be relocated to the Museums Resources Centre at Standlake.
6. In June, Phase II of the Feasibility work was started leading towards more detailed ideas about planning the new building. SOFO have invited local schools to be involved in this developmental stage and pupils from the Marlborough School are currently meeting with Oxford Architects, the consultants appointed by the Council, to contribute their ideas.
7. In preparation for a new museum SOFO has also decided to consult widely with the public. Temporary exhibitions on various military themes will be presented in The Oxfordshire Museum from October 2008, curated and funded by SOFO. The public will be invited to comment on these exhibitions and their comments will help to inform the more detailed exhibition planning of the proposed museum.
Possible Legal Arrangements
8. The idea of locating the SOFO Museum at Woodstock is entirely compatible will the role of The Oxfordshire Museum – the SOFO collections relate to the whole county, they represent an integral and very significant element of the county’s history (from the Civil War to the present day) and they can be interpreted imaginatively to be of wide interest to all visitors; they can also have a very significant educative value – focusing on contemporary issues such as citizenship, Empire, immigration, law and order. SOFO have stated that they do not want to create a ‘regimental museum’, rather a museum that is ‘about and for the people of the County’.
9. The military collections will remain in the ownership of the various military Trusts; the County Museums Service is working with SOFO to negotiate collection care and other arrangements with service agreements to maximise the benefits and efficiencies of integration as far as possible.
10. The SOFO museum will add to the critical mass of visitor attractions at The Oxfordshire Museum site – enhancing the offer, increasing the number of visitors and increasing opportunities for income generation.
11. In this context, and recognising the long-standing and mutually beneficial partnership between SOFO and the museum service it is proposed to work with SOFO to deliver a new building on the site where OCC grant a lease on terms which reflect the full capital funding provided by SOFO., A lease for a minimum of 75 years is likely to be required in order to satisfy the possible funders of the project (including the Heritage Lottery Fund).
Financial Implications
12. The construction costs of the new building, estimated at about £3 million, fees, miscellaneous project costs and on going operational costs will be met by SOFO; details of the operational costs have yet to be confirmed but arrangements are likely to include a service agreement with the museums service for collection care, security, and other support services.
RECOMMENDATION
13. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED:
(a) to approve in principle the location of the SOFO museum within the grounds of the Oxfordshire Museum; and
(b) to instruct officers to draw up a Memorandum of Understanding for the SOFO museum, following completion of the Feasibility Study (Phase II) and conclusion of other detailed negotiations, to be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Social and Community Services
RICHARD MUNRO Head of Community Services
Background papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Martyn Brown, Tel 01993 814114
August 2008
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