Weald & Downland Living Museum looks to future with confidence

The Weald & Downland Living Museum finds itself in a strong and confident position for the autumn and winter seasons ahead.

Clare de Bathe, who has been museum director for a year now, said it had been a good summer in which the museum had matched its attendances from last year – a significant achievement given the ongoing cost of living crisis.

“We have also been undertaking a programme of works at the museum to create accessible paths, a new adventure play area, marble run and conservation works over 2026.”

All of which puts the museum in a good place: “We have been very stable. We have kept the same performance as last year which has been great especially when you think of the difficulties of the cost of living crisis with everything going up. We have had some wonderful living history weekends where we have brought in living history groups to ensure that the relevance of the museum remains on people’s agenda. And we've made lots of improvements on site to make it more accessible. We will have a new adventure play area ready for October half-term.

“We did a lot of consultation to see what people wanted. We talked to visitors and stakeholders to see what is good and what we could improve. The big focus was on accessibility and on injecting some more fun into the museum and to make sure that we are clearly telling the story of our buildings and keeping rural life alive.

“We are building a really coherent programme of events. Rather than the huge events that we used to have which have been difficult to do since Covid, we have been doing more of the living history weekends and more events just reflecting the seasons.”

Their efforts have been reflected in the loyalty of visitors and also staff: “We have got people that have worked here for more than 30 years, both staff and volunteers, and with the visitors we've got grandparents bringing their grandchildren to come along to the museum that they themselves first visited 50 years ago.

“I have been trying to get out and about at different conferences nationally, and it has been very interesting to see how many people with a career in the museum sector got into it because of their visits here as children. Their school visits led to careers for them which is lovely to know.

“Covid was challenging for everyone. After Covid we had really good numbers but then the numbers fell back a bit to pre-Covid numbers. And also I think people were giving less and also less with legacies. I think funding was more of a challenge, and for a couple of years that was quite a problem but we have been able to secure nearly £700,000 in external funding which has enabled us to do lots of things. Admission money will never be enough.”

After a couple of years of making a loss, the museum is now able to break even.

“We have a big membership. We have about 2,500 active members. They pay an annual membership, and many come maybe once a week. They keep us going. Those members are the beating heart of the museum.”

Key to the museum's success too has always been the museum’s unique combination of location and people, set in the heart of the South Downs National Park and served by people with the spark to bring history and heritage to life.

On top of that, the museum provides a busy programme of events. They are particularly delighted to be part of the national programme marking the return of the Bayeux Tapestry.

The Weald & Downland Living Museum will be a national partner in Bayeux Around Britain, the British Museum’s nationwide programme marking the historic return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.

The original Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed at the British Museum in London until July 11 2027. The Weald and Downland’s Bayeux Around Britain exhibition is planned to run from February to June 2027. More details about the exhibition and a programme of associated events, workshops and learning activities will be announced over the coming months.