What's New

Arundel’s New Museum Plans Take a Huge Step Forward

We start the New Year with some really good news. Our first round bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has been successful.

This means that we have been awarded a grant of £102,800 to develop our plans. A big thank you to those who spent time putting the first round grant application together.

We can now progress to the second round of the HLF application process and have until the autumn to submit more detailed development plans and apply for up to £888,000 support for our £1,978,550 project. There is still a great deal of hard work to be done but we can now employ the professional help needed to bring the new building even nearer.

Stuart McLeod, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East said 'This grant provides the opportunity for Arundel Museum to develop their proposals to offer high quality space and facilities so that local people and visitors alike can learn about the history of Arundel. We also hope it will be a huge boost for the volunteers that work so hard to keep the museum open'.

The fact that HLF like our plans and think they are worth supporting means a great deal; it raises the profile of our project and will, we hope, encourage others to support it. Of course, we still have to raise the additional money required, and there will be some major fundraising efforts during the coming year.

Join Us at Our Events

You are welcome to join us at the events that Arundel Museum Society organises throughout the year.

Hot off the press, we have the following:

• Shrove Tuesday Fish Supper.
• Sell and Sign Session for Rosemary Hagedorn's New Local History Booklets. See below.
• Bonhams Valuations.
• The Museum Bash.
• Shops and Shopping: A History of the Small Shop through the Ages.
• Sponsored 10k Family Walk. See below.

Special mention should be made of the Family Walk. Please act now to join up for the walk, or support it by sponsoring walkers.

Please click here for full details of these and our other events, and for booking arrangements.

Just Walk Sign up now for a sponsored 10k family walk on Saturday 15 May starting and finishing at Goodwood (Horse) Racecourse near Chichester. Enjoy a walk, with your family and friends, experience breathtaking views over the picturesque South Downs, and help raise money towards our new museum at the same time. Organised by Across the Divide and called Just Walk, this is an exciting sponsored charity walk for anyone, including children, wanting to raise funds for the charity of their choice. So sign up now, and we will send you a sponsorship form so you can start getting sponsors immediately.

If you cannot do the walk yourself, then please sponsor our walkers.

Please click here to visit our events page for full details of this event, including how to sign up.

Two for One Offer for Members at the St Mary's Gate Inn

Terry Bedford, the landlord of the Mary's Gate Inn, is again supporting the Museum by giving this Two for One Offer. Two members may now eat for the price of the more expensive meal from the Winter menu.

• Lunch - 12.00-3.30pm (not Sunday).
• Evenings - 6.00-7.30pm (not Jazz Nights on last Friday of the month, or premium dates over Christmas).

Valid membership cards must be shown.

Local History Booklets by Rosemary Hagedorn

Many thanks to everyone who expressed an interest in the proposed book on the Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk. After a few teething problems, the publication has evolved into a series of 40 page booklets, with black and white illustrations.

The first two titles will be available shortly, price £4.95. These are:

• Earls and Dukes: a Brief History of the Arundel Dynasties.
• The Making of Arundel: a Brief History of the Architectural Legacy of the Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk.

A third title, Arundel Through the Ages: a Brief History of the Town from 1000 AD, is in preparation. Further titles in the series are planned.

The author, Rosemary Hagedorn, will be available for a sell and sign session upstairs in Grounds coffee shop in Arundel High Street, from 2pm to 4pm, on Saturday 13 March.

Following that the books will be on sale from the History Store in Mill Road Car Park, and at Museum Society events. Other outlets will be advertised when available.

Profits will support the museum development project.

Copyright 2010 - Arundel Museum Society