The future governance of the Cromwell Museum is to be discussed by Cambridgeshire County Council on Tuesday 15th July. The papers are on the council’s web site, see http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/AgendaItem.aspx?agendaItemID=10025
The apparent reasonableness of the recommendations, in progressing the recommendations of the external consultant, masks some serious issues.
The report proposes that additional tapering funding, equivalent to the remaining balance in the Museum’s Art Fund, is the only extra funding to be made available to support the transfer of the Museum from the county to a new independent trust. The sum available is less than £16,000, the Fund having been raided to the tune of £50,000 earlier in the year, to support other parts of the council’s services.
The Save the Cromwell Museum campaign is seriously concerned that if a transfer is to be successful then funding at least at the current level is needed for a minimum of five years. Nearly 4,000 Cambridgeshire residents agreed with that view when they signed the petition to support the museum in January and February.
The meeting of the Highways and Community Infrastructure Committee will be the first time that elected members will have had the opportunity to properly consider the Museum’s future. Although it is not on the table perhaps they should be asking the fundamental question of whether devolution to a trust is the right answer. If it is the right answer then more resources are needed to give the new trust a reasonable chance of success.
If you are concerned about the future of the Museum please email the committee chairman, and your local county councillor if you live in Cambridgeshire, and make your views known. The chairman can be contacted at roger.hickford@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Save the Cromwell Museum 
I am appalled to hear that this part of our national heritage could be shut down , its unthinkable aside from the fact that tourists visit and bring in money its part of our nations history, this must be avoided its shameful.
The public funding of the Cromwell fan club and its museum is unsustainable. Cromwell stands accused of war crimes, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing on a dramatic scale.