The Isles of Scilly Museum is a museum in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

, off

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England. the museum has no building but displays a selection of its collection in a range of locations on the islands.

Collections

The museum describes its collections as "extremely diverse, including material from many wrecks; a wild flower display (during the summer months); Romano-British artefacts; stuffed birds; local art and much more". They include Romano-British finds from the small island of Nornour, and the Bryher Sword and Bryher Mirror from the iron-age grave of the Bryher Woman, found on Bryher in 1999.

History

When storms in 1962 uncovered a collection of Romano-British artefacts on the island of Nornour, a group of islanders established a museum for their display, initially as a seasonal display in the Wesleyan Chapel. By 1967 they had raised funds and a museum building, with residential flats above, was built in Church Street, Hugh Town on St Mary's. The museum opened on 15 July 1967 and was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on 8 August 1967. It is run by the Isles of Scilly Museum Association, a registered charity. In June 2019 the Council of the Isles of Scilly, announced that "An engineer has assessed the building and advised that the ceiling of the museum poses a risk to staff and visitors", and in September 2019 the council informed the association that "because the Museum building was considered beyond practical and economic repair, Councillors had therefore agreed to seek vacant possession of the building with a view to its demolition."

Temporary arrangements

The museum has arranged the removal of its collections from the condemned building, and stored them in the Isles of Scilly Town Hall (an 1889 grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in The Parade, Hugh Town) and the Porthmellon Enterprise Centre. Several "Pop-up" exhibitions have been established on the various islands, under the title "Museum on the Move", and the front part of the Town Hall is in use as a Visitor Centre displaying some of the museum's greatest treasures, including Bryher Woman sword and mirror. In 2021, the museum's curator, Kate Hale, told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'':

Future

there is a plan to develop the existing Town Hall building as the Isles of Scilly Cultural Centre and Museum. In December 2022, a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant was obtained to support the development of plans, with a view to having "Museum fit out complete and building fully open" in the winter of 2025–2026.

References

External links

* * * Local museums in Cornwall Isles of Scilly {{UK-museum-stub