Report to Friends of Fishbourne Roman Palace AGM 2015
Rob Symmons
Admissions and Income
2014-2015 has been better than recent years. Admission numbers, admissions income and
shop income have all increased on 2013-14. We have exceeded our income budgets and the
Palace is making an overall profit. This is down in no small part to immense efforts on behalf
of the staff team and some difficult decisions and cost cutting. Difficult times will almost
certainly continue, but it is gratifying that we are heading “in the right direction”.
Education
We were visited last year by 1000 more children on school visits than in 2013-14 and the
learning team exceeded their income targets by £5,000. This also is very positive news.
The team were pleased to have been awarded the Sandford Award for Heritage Education in
2014 and have also developed a new workshop that looks at prehistory (reflecting changes in
the National Curriculum). Katrina has also co-founded the Chichester Cultural and Learning
Partnership – a coalition of Fishbourne Roman Palace, the Weald and Downland Museum,
Pallant House Gallery, The Novium, Chichester Cathedral and Chichester Festival Theatre.
The group are currently co-ordinating the Dementia Festival locally.
Events and Display
Over the last year, the Palace has held a total of 25 event days, including a new “Celts and
Romans” event, which together drew in 5612 visitors and accounted for a combined profit of
over £35,000.
There has been a new “Wine” display in the lower courtyard and the High Weald Hoard is
now on display in the reception area (on loan from Brighton Museum). The “Margary”
display has proved popular with young and old alike, so many thanks to the Friends for
funding this.
There have also been positive changes in the CDC, part-funded by the “ReFresh” project and
improvements will continue to be made in this area over the coming year.
Collections
The relocation of the water main is now complete and so the mosaics are finally protected
from any future leaks. Portsmouth Water were extremely professional throughout the works.
Wessex Archaeology carried out the archaeological evaluation along the line of the main and
the report on this is still being written up.
Over the last few years we have been processing a large donation of books on Roman
archaeology from Mr Patrick Crosbie. This is nearly complete and we hope to launch the new
library in the near future and make the resource publicly accessible.
In late 2014 Sussex Archaeological Society applied for accredited status and has been
awarded this provisionally, pending the production of a forward plan, among other things.
Working with Sussex Museums Group, Sussex Archaeological Society has recently
contributed to a “selective retention and disposal” document that helps archaeological
contractors understand what artefacts they should deposit from an excavation. This requires
some minor alterations before being launched throughout the region. This is an important
document that will likely receive quite a lot of attention nationally.
Staff
Phil Davies (Head of Operations) is due to retire in May. Following a consultation process
with staff and volunteers, it has been decided that Phil will not be replaced but instead a
“Head of Learning/Property Manager” post has been created and Katrina Burton (ex-Head of
Learning) has been offered this post. The old Head of Leaning post no longer exists. Also, a
full time assistant gardener will be recruited to assist Martin Flux (Head Gardener). Finally,
Rob Symmons (Curator) will start to spend one day per week supporting work on the
archaeological collections held in Lewes.
We are confident that these changes will all be positive, ensuring a clear management
structure at the Palace, helping keep the site in the best possible condition and improving
communications with the wider Society.
Many thanks to the Friends for all their support over the last year. The financial help is
always welcome, but knowledge that there is a band of Friendly Faces who are happy to
share their time, thoughts and ideas is really appreciated too!