‘It’s okay to shed a tear, but it is not the end of Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, says Derbyshire County Council

Peak Building, which used to house the museum and art gallery, will be up for auction by early 2025, says Derbyshire County Council (DCC).

A DCC spokesperson said: “Since the announcement that the relocation of the Buxton Museum and Art Gallery was necessary, we have been working hard to identify suitable alternative premises to house the collections and re-open the museum and art gallery in a new location in the town.

“Working with partners a number of potential locations have been identified over the past few months, and a feasibility study is now underway to assess what it could cost to convert one of the sites identified into an accessible, modern museum and art gallery space.

“We will know the results of this study in the next few months, and a decision will be made on whether it would be suitable as a temporary or permanent home.”

The museum was temporarily closed in June 2023 after dry rot was discovered in the building and, almost a year later, DCC announced the museum would not be reopening on Terrace Road.

More than 5,000 people signed a petition to keep the museum in the town which was presented to DCC in the summer.

In August We Are Buxton, the campaign group fighting to save the museum and art gallery and who organised a 200-strong protest outside of the venue, said the Town Hall and four further options, all in lower Buxton, have been identified as possible new premises.

However, Derbyshire Council has not disclosed the locations they are looking at.

The DCC spokesperson said: “It would not be useful at this stage to raise expectations about this building until we have the full facts, including a strong indication of what costs may be involved.

“In the meantime museum staff are continuing with the complex task of packing away the thousands of artefacts and artworks housed at the museum.

“Some items will go into safe storage until a new home is found and others will be displayed in alternative venues, including Buxton Library, where staff will be temporarily working.

“Staff are aiming to move all the museum collections from Peak Buildings by early 2025 and it will then go for sale by auction.’’

The museum has been in the same location for 96 years and over that time has amassed quite a collection.

A DCC spokesperson said: “The staff have been preparing to move. As you can imagine, with around 100,000 museum objects in the collection that all require individually checking, documenting and repacking, they are quite busy.”

The collections will move into secure storage until a new home is found. In the meantime, the museum team will be based at Buxton Library where they will run an interim service.

Two new staff have been appointed to oversee the transfer and help shape the future of BMAG. New Derbyshire Museums Manager Martha Jasko Lawrence brings a wealth of museum experience with her, as well as a fresh vision.

Martha once worked at BMAG as Assistant Manager so is well acquainted with the collections. New Assistant Collections Officer Nancy Wilson has also brought additional knowledge, skills and ideas.

BMAG has been housed in Peak Buildings for nearly 100 years.

In 1928, the first floor was opened as the town’s public library with the ground floor occupied by the museum. Initially, there was a need for somewhere to deposit and display the multitude of local archaeological and geological discoveries.

Until its closure to the public in June 2023, BMAG was still using some of the original display cases.

The DCC spokesperson said: “Of course, the museum collection has expanded considerably over the last 96 years, not just with fossils of animals and plants that were here millions of years ago and the remnants of ancient humans that passed through but also collections of artwork, photographs and social history that reveal the more recent history of the town.

“Over the last two decades, BMAG has ventured beyond its image of a small museum exhibiting local discoveries and blazed some big trails

“So, it is the end of an era, and it’s okay to shed a tear, but it is not the end of BMAG.

“Derbyshire County Council have announced their commitment to a museum in Buxton.

“The staff consider the move from Peak Buildings not just an end but also the beginning of something new and exciting.”

While going through the collections museum staff have unearthed items which have not seen the light of day for a while, such as a Knitting for the R.A.F. book, a copy of the Daily Mail announcing Queen Victoria's death, an ancient predecessor of children’s TV character Morph as well as a letter from 1770 with the wax seal still intact and J.W.J Jackson’s personal photographs of expeditions to Egypt in the same box as porcupine spines.

The museum have been holding a variety of pop up events during the closure and the next Friends of Buxton Museum and Art Gallery talk will be Under Whittle and the Pollen from the Bog: How a Peat Bog Changed the Story" by Dr Ian Parker Heath on Friday November 22 at 5pm in the Pump Room.

Free for members. £4 for non-members. No booking required.