Maritime museum's future unclear

Wednesday 26 September 2018

As plans progress to replace the roof of the maritime museum at Castle Cornet, the curators have another tough job on their hands in deciding what will replace it.

With some of the artefacts heading for storage, and some planned to join displays at either Candie or Fort Grey, staff have said they have no idea what might go back into the museum alongside the Hatton Gallery when it is ready to reopen.

Pictured: The roof of the maritime museum is showing signs of damage. 

The roof needs replacing after years of damage caused by wind and rain. Doctor Jason Monaghan, the Head of Heritage Services in Guern said he was sitting in the Hatton Gallery during an event last Christmas when he felt rain water drip down his back from the ceiling.

He said the damage is now visible in the ceiling of the maritime museum, with salt visible on the walls of the Hatton Gallery itself. The roof over the gallery will be replaced first with the work expected to take months in total.

Pictured: Salt damage is showing on the walls of the Hatton Gallery where a number of public and private events are held each year.

When Castle Cornet closes this November for the winter months, work will start to strip out the maritime museum, although larger artefacts will have to remain and will be covered while the roof is removed and replaced.

That work will happen in stages from early spring 2019, starting at the northern end of the building, over the Hatton Gallery. 

While the work to the roof is ongoing, the museum curators will be considering what to put in the current maritime museum space when it is able to reopen. Doctor Monaghan said it may not be a maritime museum anymore.

Pictured: The current maritime museum has been in place since 1992.

The maritime museum displays were put together in 1992 and have been in place ever since. Doctor Monaghan said that means it is well overdue a refresh.

"The museum was put in in 1992 and a museum gallery has a life of about 12 years before it starts looking tired, and it's not just the things you see, it's all the electrics, plumbing and the ventilation. And the ventilation system doesn't work here anymore, and things like the caption boards get faded and the interactives don't work and things of that nature. 

"Locals in particular say, 'well I've seen that before' and they're not going to come back, and back and back, to keep seeing the same old thing. So it's time the maritime museum had a refresh anyway and we're going to try and fit that in with a schedule of generally upgrading the castle."

With tens of thousands of items in storage at secure sites across the island, Doctor Monaghan said Guernsey Museums could utilise the space in the current maritime museum in new ways following the new roof being fitted.

"The main task is replacing the roof on the building because that was put on in the very early 1990s. They're cement slates and they're at the end of their useful life. We're in a very exposed position here anyway with the wind and the rain and the water comes in. 

"It's very tightly controlled, and everything's been through planning and you've got to sort of do it by the book and use appropriate materials. Not only so that it looks right but also so that it suits the structure and the function. There are some places in this building where people have done some inappropriate repointing and it might have looked ok at the time but it doesn't work with the historic structure and you've got to work with historic buildings, and treat them with sympathy."

Doctor Monaghan said anyone wanting to see the displays in the maritime museum should do so now, before it is too late. And he said work will continue throughout 2019 and 2020 to breathe new life into the dated museum space.

"Come and see it between now and October half term, because it won't be going back in the same form as it is in there at the moment.

"If you've not seen it, or you've got a particular affection for it then come and see it."

"It won't (reopen) in 2020, because that's too soon to actually put a new museum in, but by then we will have plans for what we're going to do, and whether it's going to be a refreshed version of what's in there at the moment or if it's going to be something completely new, we'll know by then."

Pictured top: The maritime museum in pictures.