An early Christmas present for Wiltshire Museum
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the Assizes for Devizes project £8.5 million to transform the dilapidated Assize Court building on Northgate Street into a new home for the Wiltshire museum.
On hearing the news David Dawson, Director of Wiltshire Museum said:
“We are delighted that the Heritage Fund has demonstrated its confidence in our plans to transform the former Devizes Assize Court into the new home for a reimagined Wiltshire Museum. At last we will be able to give the museum’s internationally significant collections a fitting home, while rescuing an important at-risk listed building and providing a focal point for town centre renewal. We are grateful to National Lottery players, our loyal members and our other funders, existing and future, for their commitment and support.”
Peter Troughton, CVO CBE, Chair of Devizes Assize Court Trust, which initially saved the building by purchasing it in 2018 with the support of generous donors, said:
“The National Lottery Heritage Fund award to the Wiltshire Museum is fantastic news! It will transform the museum, save the historic Assize Court building and give the people of Devizes a community hub like no other. It will be an enormous help to the campaign to achieve the vision for the award-winning museum, already supported by the town, Wiltshire County Council and leading charitable foundations.
The current Museum comprises of five buildings, including two Georgian town houses, with 25 different floors levels which makes access difficult.
Once the Museum moves to its new home at the Assize Court in 2030, it will retain most of the current Long Street site as a Collections Discovery Centre, offering access to 500,000 objects stored on 1.4km of shelving.
Find our more on the Wiltshire Museum Website