Proposal for touring artefacts from Elvaston Castle given the thumbs-up

By cvjones caroline jones cvjones@derbytelegraph.co.uk

A PROPOSAL to improve the accessibility of 5,000 artefacts at Elvaston Castle has been given the go-ahead.

For the past eight years, staff at the Derbyshire stately home have been compiling a catalogue of around 12,000 historic objects. Some of these artefacts, which were previously on display or in store at the castle, were either moved to other public collections or disposed of.

But the remaining 5,000 items, which include furniture, costumes and craftsmen's tools, are now set to tour the county.

The proposal, which was approved at a Derbyshire County Council cabinet meeting, will see the collection split into smaller exhibitions.

These will then be displayed in libraries and other community venues.

"There is no point having museum-quality artefacts if you're not going to display them – it's pointless," said Bob Janes, the county council's cabinet member for cultural services.

"The collection is made up of reasonable quality bits and pieces that are suitable for handling and will help to develop education and understanding."

The items, which will remain at Elvaston Castle in the short term, also include dairy equipment, a collection of mouse and rat traps, a 1950s television and a 1960s washing machine.

Among the larger items is a Field Marshall tractor, one of the first to be used in Derbyshire after the Second World War.

The items will be exhibited using a similar system already in place to display the Derbyshire Police collection.

This exhibition, established after the Derbyshire Police Museum in St Mary's Gate was closed four years ago, regularly tours the county's community centres and libraries.

"There was a lot of talk about what to do with the collections after the Derbyshire Police Museum closed," said Mr Janes.

"In the end, themed collections, such as drugs, violence and road traffic, were organised and they went down very well with the public.

"This is what we're hoping to achieve with the Elvaston Castle artefacts."

As part of the proposal, a part-time collections officer post will be created. A total of £16,000 will be taken from the staffing budget in the Environmental Services department to pay for the role.

But campaign group Friends of Elvaston Castle said it was opposed to the plans.

Its main concern was over the source of funding for the collections officer, which members felt could end up coming from the Castle's staff budget.

A spokesperson for the group added: "We are against the dispersal of the castle's museum collection.

"The proposal fails to address the source of the transport costs that will be incurred by dispersing the collection."