Coronavirus: Ditchling Museum announces month-long closure

The venue, on Lodge Hill Lane, has announced that it will shut temporarily for a month.

It comes after the government advised new measures to curb the spread of the virus on Monday (March 16), including avoiding gatherings and crowded places.

In a statement issued online yesterday (March 17), a spokesperson for the museum said: “The health and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and volunteers is our top priority.

“We are therefore following the recommendations of public health experts who advise that social distancing is critical to reducing the spread of the coronavirus.”

All public and private events during the month-long period are to be postponed, or cancelled, it said, with tickets to be refunded or rescheduled.

The spokesperson added that financially that the situation is ‘very challenging’ and asked members of the public to consider donating the cost of their ticket.

They said: “As an independent museum and charity with no regular sources of grant funding the present situation is very challenging for us financially.

“We rely on income from entry tickets and events to care for our building and collection. If you have tickets booked, we would like to ask you to consider donating the cost of your ticket to the museum instead.”

Adding: “We continue to closely monitor further advice from the government and Public Health England and aim to be open again as soon as possible. We look forward to reopening in the near future and welcoming our visitors back once this critical situation has passed.”