The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon is under threat of closure. The Museum, which was set up in 1962, is earmarked for closure from the end of 2014. The Friends of the Cromwell Museum are determined to prevent this if at all possible. Please support the campaign.
The Museum is run and funded by Cambridgeshire County Council, which like all local authorities, has to make significant budget reductions. The County’s Business Plan for 2014-19 contains a reference to the planned closure of the Museum from 2015-16 to achieve a saving of £20,000. The County Council’s case for the complete withdrawal of support is based on the need to make savings and the fact that the provision of the Museum is not a statutory requirement.
The Friends of the Museum are opposed to the closure on the grounds that it would be a significant loss, locally, regionally and nationally, and that the level of savings proposed is miniscule compared to the authority’s budget as a whole. The County does many things which are equally non-statutory, from the provision of ‘real-time’ bus information on bus stops, to a Mediatheque at Cambridge Central Library. Many other local authorities provide museum services to a far greater extent than Cambridgeshire because they recognise their cultural and economic value. The Friends believe that the Cromwell Museum contributes to the County Council’s wider objectives, and should continue to receive support.
The budget proposals also refer to the option of transferring the Museum to another operator. The Friends support an initiative to investigate this option further, but are not optimistic that an alternative will be found. The Friends urge the County Council to guarantee support for the Museum, at no less than the current level, for five years, unless and until, another viable means of operating the Museum is in place.
If the Museum is to be saved for the future it is critical that concerns are raised now. Join the campaign to save the Cromwell Museum.
Save the Cromwell Museum 
As a St. Ivian I was privileged to first visit the museum aged 8 in 1966 and have been back many times, often with my children. A wonderful collection in a wonderfully atmospheric setting. I wish you so very well with your campaign. As your contributer from Australia has suggested, Huntingdon is the better for having such a national treasure in it’ s centre. The Town Council, although under the same pressures to restrict spending as CCC, will surely appreciate the local benefit of at least giving some support to such a worthy campaign. Again I wish you well and hope common sense will prevail.
Mr. Hartley is quite correct in his comments. I visited the museum in 1996 and was very impressed. Although the effort is directed towards Cromwell i would suggest that the relationship with Samuel Pepys be expanded on and that his tenure in Huntindon, Cambridge and Hitchingbrooke be fully interpreted. How about a tour or walk about tying in the museum and the town the meadows and to Brampton?
This is our heritage! it should stay open! The only time our country did not have a ruling monarch is when Cromwell took over the country. The king having been executed. This museum gives an insight into Cromwell the man.
I operate a small boat hire business in Huntingdon. Until we took over the business we were completely unaware of how many people visit Huntingdon for holidays or days out. People that live in Huntingdon do not consider Huntingdon as a tourist destination and so are unaware of the benefits the tourism trade can bring to the town. With an ever decreasing high street the council should be encouraging more people to visit our heritage not removing it. It seems to me that councils don’t ever try to improve the number of visitors to places such as the Cromwell Museum, they just want to give up.
I have just found this site, and am amazed that the Council could even think of closing a vital link in our Countries development. The museum is not their property to do with as they want, it is a vital part of our Country’s history. Cambridge Council are the fortunate custodians of a property that links our parliament that is the envy of the world, and enabled it to survive the destruction of empires during the great wars of the 20th century.
For over 30 years I worked for the London Borough of Bromley, and we would have given our right arm to have had such a piece of our history to cherish.
At a time when democracy and the future of our country is on everybody’s lips we should preserve and assert the great democrats of the past. Cromwell was one of these. What can be done to assist.