Council seeks new homes for agricultural artefacts

Since the fire at the Coate Agricultural Museum Store in December 2016, staff at Swindon Museums and Heritage have successfully found new homes for 62 large objects, of which 32 have been given to museums.

Other artefacts have been gifted to private collectors, local farm shops, a pub, a heritage railway and a town council. All items which have been given a new lease of life have remained accessible to the public in some way.

The Council is now seeking new homes for more than 630 smaller objects such as agricultural tools, components, parts and other miscellaneous items which also survived the fire in 2016.

Many of these small items are in poor condition, with limited or no provenance, and are neither rare nor unusual. Therefore, the decision has been taken to seek authorisation to dispose of the items.

The objects will be offered free of charge to accredited museums in the first instance, but expressions of interest from organisations and private individuals within the borough of Swindon are more than welcome.

Cllr Garry Perkins, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “After a rigorous process to identify items that should be retained within the council’s three accredited museums, we’re now seeking new homes for these small items which had been kept in the Agricultural Museum Store at Coate.

“We’re keen to see as many items go to new homes as possible, with a preference for sending items to other accredited museums.

“We would welcome applications from organisations or individuals within Swindon, and priority will be given to those that can demonstrate a commitment to ensuring the objects remain accessible to the public.”

The full list of objects seeking new homes, as well as information about how to express an interest, can be found on the Museums Association’s ‘Find an Object’ website at: https://www.museumsassociation.org/collections/find-an-object.