Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro faces 'imminent closure'

The Royal Cornwall Museum says it faces closure after a bid for council funding failed.

Chief executive Jonathan Morton called it "devastating" and said it would "directly lead to the imminent closure" of the museum.

Carol Mould, Cornwall Councillor responsible for culture, said the bid for cash "did not measure up".

She said the council would be working with the museum to keep it open.

Cornwall Council said it had had 51 applicants to its culture and creative investment programme from 2022-26, but the museum was not a successful bidder.

Its investment programme was "very popular and heavily over-subscribed", seeing requests totalling nearly £7m for the £1,868,000 it could allocate for the four years.  

Mr Morton and artistic director Bryony Robins said in a statement: "This decision will directly lead to the imminent closure of Royal Cornwall Museum and the Courtney Library.

"We are still in the process of understanding why, and the decision is even more disappointing considering the great successes we have had over the past two years."

Ms Mould said: "Everybody was asked to submit a bid under a clear set of criteria and unfortunately in this instance it did not measure up.

"Nobody feels good about this but the bidding criteria has changed more to output and the calibre of submissions was really high."

She said the council would be talking to the museum about its future and she "really hoped" it could stay open.

Local historian Barry West, from St Austell, told BBC Radio Cornwall the museum should have a "special status".

"It should be treated differently, this is going to be a massive blow to schools and education," he said.

Mr Morton said staff had been "overwhelmed" by "incredible support" in letters, emails, phone calls and social media for the "community hub [which] holds the story of Cornwall, and it is a resource for the whole of Cornwall".

He said: "The museum is a key part of the tapestry that makes Cornwall unique and draws people, tourism and funding to Cornwall and to Truro."

Ms Robins said staff were to "continue to seek urgent dialogue with Cornwall Council".

The museum is home to a significant archive of local mining history and materials, as well as the Courtney Library and Archive.

Its latest financial figures to the Charity Commission said that, in the financial year up to the end of March 2021, its income was £514,000 - including £136,000 from two government grants - and its expenditure was about £609,500.

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