Roof repairs begin on Cannon Hall Museum

Essential work begins to preserve the historic building and secure the future of its collections.

Cannon Hall Museum, a Grade II*-listed Georgian Country House in Barnsley, has received a grant of £898,405 from the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) to carry out urgent roof repairs. The project will ensure the protection of the hall and its outstanding collections, as well as improving the visitor experience and the environmental sustainability of the museum.

The rock asphalt roof over the main block of the hall was found to be failing, posing a risk its collections, which includes ceramics, furniture, paintings and drawings, as well as being home to the De Morgan Museum. The roof repairs will safeguard the collection for future generations and enhance display conditions in the galleries.

The project will start on Monday, 19 August and be complete in early 2025. It will involve replacing the existing defective roof with a fully ventilated lead roof with new patent glazed rooflights. The project will also include stonework repairs, replacements and repointing to the chimneys, parapets and cornices of the hall, which dates back to the 18th century and is listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England.

The well loved visitor attraction will remain open to the public with minimal disruption throughout the duration of the project and offers a range of exhibitions, events and activities for all ages and interests. Scaffolding will be erected on the front of the house while work takes place but will not affect access.

The project is being led by conservation architects Donald Insall Associates, who supported Barnsley Council to successfully apply for the MEND grant. The grant is part of a £40 million fund from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) administered, awarded and monitored by Arts Council England to support vital maintenance and repairs in museums and galleries across England.

Daniel Elkington, Associate at Donald Insall Associates, said: “This project is fundamentally about maintaining a safe environment for Cannon Hall’s significant collection and visitors. But it’s also about making the building better, more robust and reinstating a traditional material. The building will become more resilient to changing climate conditions and increasing levels of rainfall, benefitting from widened gutters and downpipes which will help the council maintain it for many years to come.”

Councillor Robin Franklin, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: "We are delighted to receive this generous grant from the MEND fund, which will enable us to carry out essential work on the roof at Cannon Hall Museum. The museum is a jewel in the crown of Barnsley's cultural offer and visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The roof repairs will not only preserve the historic building and its collections, but also improve the visitor experience and importantly support our environmental sustainability. People can still come and explore the Museum throughout the project which it free to enter."

Pete Massey, Director Yorkshire and the Humber, Arts Council England said: “Our Museum Estate and Development Fund supports essential infrastructure work on beloved museums and cultural buildings and I’m pleased that we are helping to fund the roof repairs at Cannon Hall Museum. The museum, based in an 18th century building, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Barnsley every year and it’s vital to ensure that the collections and the building itself are protected and preserved so that the local community and visitors can continue to enjoy the exhibitions and events in the future. It’s also fantastic that the work will help increase the museum’s resilience to the changing climate condition and improve its environmental sustainability.”

For more information about the project visit www.cannon-hall.com