A LOTTERY grant of nearly £1.8million is set to help develop an internationally significant gallery at Salisbury Museum.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the museum £1,794,600 for the Archaeology of Wessex gallery, which will tell the story of Salisbury and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to the Norman Conquest.
Museum director Adrian Green said: “We are absolutely overjoyed with this news. This project is part of a partnership with English Heritage and Wiltshire Heritage Museum which is developing an integrated approach to the interpretation of Stonehenge.
“It means we will be able to open new archaeology galleries at Salisbury Museum that relate to the new displays in the Stonehenge Visitor Centre.”
The gallery will show why Salisbury has a unique place in the region’s and nation’s history.
The museum’s collections include some of the most important archaeological finds outside a national museum in Britain, including artefacts from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, the Pitt Rivers Wessex Collection and the Amesbury Archer.
The gallery will place the story of Stonehenge within its wider chronological and regional context.
The total costs of the new gallery will be £2.4million, and the museum has already raised more than £500,000 towards this target Another £85,000 is needed, but the museum is confident that the gallery will be open by the beginning of 2014.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here