April 2008

The important historic landmark Preston Hall Museum is set to look forward to a safer and brighter future with a £3.7 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant.
The funds have been ‘earmarked’* for major restoration work to the building and improvement to the museum collections and are part of a £6.6 million major refurbishment backed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council ensuring the Grade II listed house and museum within can be fully enjoyed by future generations.

Dr Keith Bartlett, Regional Manager for the Heritage Lottery Fund North East, said: “We are delighted to be able to support Preston Hall. Not only is it a much-loved museum in Stockton but it is a significant heritage landmark in the North East, and the home for collections of national importance. The support of the Heritage Lottery Fund will ensure that the building and its collections can be enjoyed by everyone as they learn about their past for many years to come.”

This huge investment for Preston Hall Museum would benefit all by seeing the fabric of the building safeguarded and preserved, and the interior remodelled to provide a host of new facilities and access to collections including the installation of a public lift.

The Preston Hall Museum Project will focus closely on ways to bring the history of Stockton-on-Tees to life by making better use of its collections (the Hall houses some 65,000 items) through the creation of interactive displays and a new learning, activity and events programme. Highlights will include: ‘live’ history displays with costumed actors on the Victorian Street; a programme of activities and ‘taster sessions’ with historical craftspeople such as a potter, farrier, tinsmith and blacksmith; improvements to the Community Outreach Programme ‘Museums on the Move’; a programme of guided study days; and a brand new collections resource using online public access points throughout the museum.
For the first time, the context of the Hall including the Park and former estate will be also explained to visitors looking at the interior and exterior of the building itself in addition to its social history, household economy and staffing in the Victorian era as a home to the Ropner family. In the grounds visitors will also be able to learn about the importance of the River Tees and the Stockton to Darlington Railway and its surviving track-bed.

Jane Hubbard, Museums Service Manager, explains: “Following detailed visitor focus groups and feedback, we are really excited to be working on a plan for bringing Preston Hall firmly into the 21st Century using the latest in curatorial techniques such as live displays and interactive events. We are looking at a whole range of new exhibition topics to inform, educate and enthral our visitors from shipbuilding to the history of social and domestic life, the Stockton & Darlington Railway to an appraisal of local heroes.”

Set in acres of rolling parkland overlooking the River Tees, Preston Hall was originally built in 1825. The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees opened its first museum at the site in 1953 and it is now the main tourist attraction in the area with over 72,000 visitors a year enjoying the chance to experience the areas social history first hand with a ‘stroll back in time’ along its well known Victorian Street and in many period rooms. The museum also contains Fine Art and Armoury collections of national importance and houses Stockton's most famous painting, the Dice Players by Georges de la Tour.

Commenting on the project Cllr Mary Womphrey, Stockton-on-Tees Council's Cabinet Member for leisure and culture, said: “The allocation of this money represents a real coup for the North East. We are absolutely thrilled to learn that the heritage of Preston Hall and the collections at the museum are to receive such well deserved attention. It will mean that the people of Stockton-on-Tees and visitors to the area will be able to enjoy a much improved up-to-date attraction fully worthy of the area it exists to interpret. We thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for their award."  

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Further information:

Interviews can be arranged with:
Jane Hubbard - Museums Service Manager, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Museum Service
Reuben Kench - Head of Culture, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Notes to editors:
*A ‘Stage One Pass’ means that money has been earmarked by HLF for the project in question. Competition at this stage is tough, and while a Stage One Pass does not guarantee funding, it is an indication of positive support, and money for the scheme is set aside. The applicant can then progress to Stage Two and submit a further, fully developed application to secure the full grant.  On occasion, at Stage One, funding will also be awarded towards the development of the scheme.
The Heritage Lottery Fund enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and countryside or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation's heritage for everyone to enjoy. We have awarded grants totalling more than £4 billion to more than 26,000 projects, including over £790 million in London alone
Preston Hall is a Grade II listed building originally built in 1825. It was remodelled and extended in the 1800’s by it’s the owner, local businessman and shipbuilder Robert Ropner.
Purchased by Stockton Council in the 1940s it opened as museum for the region of Stockton-on-Tees in 1953. The Hall is set in Preston Park which contains the original track-bed of the Stockton to Darlington railway line.
Preston Hall Museum is fully-accredited and houses collections of local, regional and national importance. The collections date from 1925 when Spence Bequest (1,775 items with an emphasis on weaponry and military material) was received into the Council’s keeping. The collections now number some 65,000 objects and include: Fine Art (of national importance are the ‘Dice Players’ by George de la Tour; and ‘Mustering of the Warrior Angels’ by JMW Turner); Weaponry & Militaria; The ‘Victorian Street’, including shop fronts and contents; Decorative Art, Costume, Commercial & Industrial, Ceramics (local), Toys & Games, Fishing, Social & Domestic, Transport, Railways, Local Studies Collections.