Culture Spark: Novium Museum preparing for celebration in anniversary year

The building was purpose built to show the remains of a Roman bath house, which had lay preserved under a car park. Now the baths are uncovered for visitors to see.

Stephanie Thorndyke has been museum manager at the Novium for just over four years having previously worked at the V&A in London.

She saw coming back to Chichester as a homecoming as she grew up in the cathedral city.

Set over three floors the museum’s exhibitions tell the story of the Chichester District over the past 500,000 years.

It also has visiting exhibitions. In the past these have included one on Chichester astronaut Tim Peake in 2018, which won a Museums and Heritage Award, and the popular Brick Wonders, which is currently at the museum until June 5.

Stephanie said: “We plan the temporary exhibitions about two to three years in advance, we have to make sure we can secure the grant funding and if we can accommodate the exhibition here.

“We try to have a mix of ones that are about history and heritage of the district but also ones we feel will engage different audiences, so for example the Lego ones are always popular but have pieces that are from periods in history so it combines the different aspects we want to include here.”

The museum’s tenth anniversary is on Friday, July 8 but it is planning a celebration on Saturday, July 9.

“There will be things going on all day, we will have activities and actors dressed in costumes. It will bring the museum to life,” explained Stephanie. “To celebrate our ten years we will be looking back at exhibitions we have had over the years.”

The museum will be hosting an exhibition in June called ‘Art of Chichester’, which will look at 60 years of culture and art in the city.

Stephanie said: “It will look at the Chichester Festival Theatre and how it has influenced the cultural movement in Chichester and the district.”

The exhibition forms a key part of Culture Spark 2022 — a season of events, performances, live entertainment and community projects being held to mark a year of culture in Chichester District, including: 60 years of Chichester Festival Theatre; 40 years of Pallant House Gallery; 30 years of Chichester Cinema; ten years of The Novium Museum and the Festival of Chichester; and 200 years of the Chichester Canal Trust.

During the 2020 lockdown the museum had to close its doors but quickly came up with virtual field trips, to ensure it was still accessible, especially when schools reopened.

Stephanie said: “We just thought it was something that we could offer during Covid, and still do now as coach prices are so expensive it means the children can experience all the museum has on offer without leaving their classroom.

“We have three topics - pre-history, toys and games and the Romans. It is really engaging and interactive, we have actors and spotlights on the items. It has a great Horrible History vibe and it is shortlisted for a Museum and Heritage award, which is the Oscars of the museum world.”

The museum is run by staff and a number of dedicated volunteers.

Stephanie said: “We are free admission and really accessible, and there is something for everyone.

“We want the community to know that we are there for them. And want them to connect with us if they have suggestions for future exhibitions, or things they would like to see more of at the museum. We want them to know that we are there for them.”

The Novium Museum started as the Chichester Museum at the beginning of the 19th century. It was founded in 1831 in the Royal West Sussex Hospital by Dr John Forbes.

Within six months a committee was formed, and the public were being invited to donate objects and money.

On June 29, 1831, the committee published a prospectus announcing 90 members (each subscribing a guinea a year to the museum) and that a number of valuable natural history specimens, antiquities and books had been donated.

The museum society then purchased No. 7 North Pallant for £400, and plans were drawn up by a leading architect to provide a museum, lecture room, elegant staircase and ornate lantern dome. The alterations were never carried out as the museum was struggling financially. Two years later 7 North Pallant was sold, and the museum moved to 45 South Street.

Interest in the museum peaked again in 1851 by the Great Exhibition in London, and by the decision of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland to hold its annual meeting in Chichester. In 1872 it had 480 members and 1100 visitors.

By the 1890s the museum was short of funds, visitors number has dropped so the committee decided to sell items form the collections, only duplicates to start with but then collection objects.

In 1914 the army commandeered the museum and by 1924 the museum’s collection had been completely sold.

In 1936 a two-week exhibition was set up in the Guildhall in Priory Park using items which had been collected and stored in the city library.

Interest rose again in the museum after a 1961 exhibition called ‘Changing Chichester’ was mounted in the Assembly Rooms this led to local architect Stanley Roth to purchase a disused Corn Mill in Little London. He suggested the council should lease it from him for a museum.

The first exhibition in the museum was in 1962, with a display of paintings by local 18th Century artists. The museum was formally opened by the Duchess of Albermarle in April 1964.

Since then the collections have grown enormously, partly because of the continuous excavations taking place around the city.

In 1974 it changed from being the Chichester Museum to the Chichester District Museum.

When it moved to Tower Street in 2012 it became the Novium Museum.

The museum is open 10am until 4.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am until 5pm on Saturday.

Admission prices for Brick Wonders are an adult (18 and over) £4, child aged two to 17 £2.50 and under 2 is free, for a family ticket maximum of five and minimum of two adults is £12. For more information visit www.thenovium.org

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