Museum collections to find permanent new home

A collection including 10 paintings previously housed in a Cheshire museum deemed not fit for purpose is set to be permanently relocated.

West Park Museum in Macclesfield was found to be unsuitable for its collections in 2015, with a number of items moved to the Silk Museum in the town.

Cheshire East Council now wants to permanently relocate collections to the Silk Museum and Macclesfield Town Hall.

It was estimated that refurbishing the museum would cost £1.5m which a council report said was "not currently within the council's capital programme."

West Park Museum, which was located in West Park, was donated to the town by Marianne Brocklehurst and her brother Peter Pownall Brocklehurst.

Ms Brocklehurst was a 19th Century explorer, and the daughter of Macclesfield's first MP, and acquired a number of Egyptian artefacts on visits to the country with her life-partner Mary Booth.

Cheshire East Council owns the museum and collection, but it does not operate a museum service so care and access is managed by a trust.

In 2019, the council submitted an expression of interest to the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the museum, but this was unsuccessful.

Conservators in 2022 recommended the immediate removal of all remaining items, which were all either sent to the Silk Museum, for conservation work or into storage.

Under the proposals, ten paintings are set to be moved to Macclesfield Town Hall with the remainder of the collection to be displayed at the Silk Museum.

The majority of the collections are already at the Silk Museum and have been "well received by visitors", a report to councillors said.

Councillor Michael Gorman, chair of Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee, said: "This collection is very important, especially to residents of Macclesfield and its nearby towns and villages, so securing its long-term future locally is a priority."

John Varney, chair of the Silk Heritage Trust, said: "The Silk Heritage Trust is committed to protecting and celebrating the remarkable collections created by Marianne Brocklehurst, Mary Booth and others.

"Their story is important in showing how the wealth made from the silk industry helped bring to the town important Ancient Egyptian artefacts and fine art paintings."

The plans to relocate the collections will be discussed at a meeting on Tuesday (14 January).

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