Prehistoric Society response to the further proposed cuts at
Sheffield Museum
It was recently announced that Museums Sheffield had failed in their bid for £1.4m of
Renaissance Major Grant funding from the Arts Council, and are also due to face
funding cuts of 30% in real terms for 2012–2013. This exacerbates an already
alarming situation, whereby there has been no Archaeology Curator at its Weston
Park Museum for several years. As a consequence, the museum is currently
refusing to accept any archives from recent excavations in Sheffield and district,
which include major developer-funded projects that have generated large
assemblages of artefacts and associated archaeological records. Its archaeology
collections are also currently closed to researchers.
From the perspective of the Prehistoric Society, a particular cause for concern
involves the internationally important Bateman Collection, an archive of prehistoric
artefacts, notes and drawings that belonged to the noted 19th century antiquary and
barrow-digger Thomas Bateman, which were acquired by the museum in 1893. The
existing catalogue information about this collection is many decades out of date, and
needs a radical overhaul to bring it up to currently-accepted standards of
documentation. A volunteer-based project has been proposed to undertake this
work, drawing on the dedication and skills of mature students at the Sheffield
University Institute of Lifelong Learning, and members of the Hunter Archaeological
Society, one of the oldest and most respected archaeological societies in Britain.
The current museum management are refusing to allow access to the Bateman
Collection, however, and have even refused to meet with the project director Dr John
Collis, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory,
Sheffield University. To turn down invaluable work that would essentially be done for
free seems bizarre, and the Prehistoric Society view with grave concern the current
policies towards archaeological collections that have been pursued in Sheffield.
The Prehistoric Society therefore urges those in charge of Museums Sheffield to
take steps to remedy the current, unacceptable situation with regard to its
archaeology collections.
February 2012