Moves to clear the clutter at museum struggling for space

A list of 22 items, mainly large pieces of furniture, have been identified as surplus to requirements by curators at Cannon Hall Museum in Cawthorne, near Barnsley.

They said that 11 items which had been donated would be transferred to other museums while another 11, which had been puchased mainly in the 1950s and 60s could be sold at auction.

Collections manager Geoff Preece, said the clearout had been sparked after major changes were made at the hall to accommodate a lift for visitors.

He added: “That took up a lot of space and some items were squeezed into storage. We are now very low on space and needed to make some room.

“When you have a lot of items in storage there is a risk of them getting damaged and we would like to see them being enjoyed elsewhere rather than stored.”

Museums across the country will be contacted after Barnsley Council, which owns the museum, gave its approval.

Mr Preece said some of the pieces involved were in “very poor repair” but added any money made from their sale would be used to improve the museum’s storage capacity.