Museums and heritage

Data from the last quarter of 2020 has revealed Tate Modern to be the most visited museum in England last year.

The museum attracted 160,814 visits from October to December - whilst coronavirus restrictions were still in place - pushing the The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum into second and third place respectively.

Altogether, it welcomed 1.43 million people in 2020 despite the pandemic closing institutions for several months.

National Museums Liverpool was the only museum outside London to feature in the top 10, placing seventh.

Data collated by DCMS shows 1.27 million people visited museums across the country in the last three months of the year, a 84.7% decrease compared to figures from 2019.

The heritage sector has criticised new Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’ decision to overturn Dorman Long Tower’s Grade II-listed status on her first evening in office, causing the building to be demolished on Sunday (September 19).

The 1950s Brutalist building had been added to the National Heritage List for England earlier in the week following the recommendation of Historic England, who valued the building as “nationally unique”.

But Dorries accepted an appeal from South Tees Development Corporation and Ben Houchen, the Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley, who argued the tower would costs the taxpayer more than £9m if left standing.

Architect George Clarke called the decision “heartbreaking”. Director of The Twentieth Century Society Catherine Croft said “a minister overturning a Historic England decision to list is always concerning”.

Dorries’ decision was based on the view the “building is not of the required special architectural or historic interest to remain listed," according to a DCMS spokesperson. 
 

A 'partnership gallery' at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery will open in 2024, the British Museum has announced.

The museum's Bronze Age displays will be "redeveloped" to make better use of gallery space and create narratives about historical local life.

Three 12,800-year-old woolly mammoth skeletons - the most complete sets in northwest Europe - will be the draw card of the gallery.

The British Museum says the partnership will allow more of Shrewsbury's nationally significant geology and archaeology collections to be shared with the public

Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation says it will remove a statue of the London hospital's founder, Thomas Guy, to "a less prominent area" over his links to slavery.

It will need planning permission to do so - something its lawyers say is "very unlikely in the short to medium term due to planning legislation and political sentiment".

The plan for the listed statue conflicts with the Government's 'retain and explain' policy on contested heritage, and a final decision may lie in the hands of the Planning Minister, Robert Jenrick.

"Clearly, the minister is likely to give great weight to his policy which is not supportive of removing or otherwise altering the statue," the hospital's lawyers concluded, warning the removal plan may not succeed.

A consultation recommended the trust retain statues of Thomas Guy and historical benefactor Robert Clayton but provide information on how the men made their wealth. Clayton's statue will remain in place, as it's considered to be less prominent than Guy's.

The Bank of England has removed 10 oil paintings and busts of governors and directors with known connections to the transatlantic slave trade.

On display within the bank’s headquarters and museum, the works from the 18th and 19th Century included its founding director Gilbert Heathcote. 

The bank announced a review of its art collection last June following last year’s Black Lives Matter protests.

It has also hired a researcher on slavery for its museum, to “explore the bank's historic links with the transatlantic slave trade in detail.”

A Bank of England spokesperson said the work will shape future museum displays interpreting these connections.