Museum in need of new premises

This is the 32nd season of the society. The museum opened in 1964 in the undercroft of the town hall, but artefacts in the collection were being damaged because of the damp atmosphere.

In 1977 they became a charitable trust and obtained a lease from Arun District Council on premises that were shared with the Tourist Information Centre in the High Street.

They are wondering if they can keep going much longer as they have been given notice to quit these premises at 61, High Street, Arundel, because the owners, Arun District Council have put the building up for sale for 1.75 million.

One excuse Arun is giving for the notice to quit is that there is no disabled access.

The Tourist Information Centre have premises to go to but no provision is being made for the museum, so they are trying to find storage space for their many artefacts and more than 1,000 documents.

Some people have offered their garages and the use of a barn is also being considered.

The museum committee is being asked to fund the entire project to build new premises.

An architect came up with a design costing 2.5m.

This is obviously way beyond what a voluntary society can afford. A second, cheaper design by the same architect would cost 1.5m '“ still way beyond the society's means.

The society believe it is essential to keep a presence in the town and so they are having a Port-a-cabin erected after an archaeological dig. This will be only a temporary measure as they will be unable to show even a small part of their collection. They recently stopped charging entry fees to the museum premises and visitor numbers quadrupled.

With the increase in visitors, their income remained the same as before through donations.

The museum is a great asset to the town and attracts many tourists.

It is hoped that some solution to their difficulties can be found soon. It seems that the ADC is very remiss in not offering some assistance.

The speaker was thanked by the president, Robin Lowe, who hoped that some way forward would soon be found.

It was also announced that Five Village Society chairman Joanna Williams had won Person of the Year award at the Sussex Heritage Trust lunch, held every year when awards across the county are made to architects, designers and builders for exceptional and innovative building work.

The award is for involvement with conservation and planning work with ADC and other groups, with a mention for the Five Village Society.

The next meeting of the society will be on Friday, November 30 at 7.30pm in Barnham Village Hall.

The speaker will be Julie Bolton, WSCC Tree Warden Co-ordinator, giving an illustrated talk on Landscape, Trees and Woodland.