Annual Review
Welcome to our 2023-24 Annual Review
This has been a jam packed and successful year for the museum. Our visitor numbers have reached over 50,000 for the first time since the pandemic, and we are delighted to have welcomed so many of you, from near and far.
Our two headline exhibitions, The Magic of Middle-earth and May The Toys be With You have been very popular with close to 25,000 of our visitors paying to see one (or both) of the exhibitions. They have also been accompanied by a wonderful programme of events, providing our visitors an unforgettable visit to the museum.
This included inviting members of the 501st UK Garrison to Chichester to help launch May The Toys Be With You. The sight of Darth Vadar strolling along East Street is
not something you'd typically expect to see!
Thanks to the success of Heritage Open Days in September, we have introduced monthly open mornings at The Guildhall in Priory Park which have been very well received. The opportunity to look inside and find out more about this fascinating and historically important building has been hugely appreciated with visitors travelling some distance to take advantage of this rare opportunity. This is just one step we're taking towards making The Guildhall more accessible to the public. Community hire is also increasing, and we hope to offer more opportunities like this moving forwards.
We have taken significant steps this year to reduce the museum's carbon footprint as part of our ongoing commitment to becoming more environmentally friendly. We have upgraded over a third of the museum's lighting to LEDs thanks to a £4000 grant from South East Museum Development, staff have undertaken carbon literacy training and we are sourcing more sustainable products for the museum shop.
We were delighted to have been awarded £44,593 from Arts Council England for an exciting new project which will work with the local community to unlock the advertising archive of Shippam's, the local meat and fish paste company. The project will involve working together with local audiences to explore how family and community shaped one of Chichester's best loved brands through digitisation, oral histories, a public engagement programme and a headline exhibition at The Novium Museum in July 2025.
We have also acquired some interesting items for the collection including Second World War identification tags, a late medieval silver mount and an early medieval silver pendant crucifix. These additions ensure that we safeguard these important artefacts for future generations.
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us this year year, and we look forward to seeing you at the museum soon.
If you would like an accessible version of our Annual Review, please contact us by email: thenovium@chichester.gov.uk or telephone: 01243 775888 (option 1)
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