Philippa backs campaign to save Barnet Museum
International bestselling author of the ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ backs campaign to save Barnet Museum
Philippa Gregory, world-renowned author and historian, together with leading academics, lend their support to museum with connections to The War of the Roses, Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Taylor
Internationally acclaimed author of “The Other Boleyn Girl”, Philippa Gregory, has backed a local campaign to save Barnet Museum. Approached by one of the museum’s supporters via her Official Fan Facebook page, Ms Gregory has signed the petition and agreed write letters to local MP Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in support of the museum which is threatened with closure.
In her best-selling novel “The White Queen”, Ms Gregory writes of the Battle of Barnet, fought on Easter Sunday 1471. It was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses which along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. Historians regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of the Roses, since it brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of The Houses of York and Lancaster and resulted in the death of the powerful Earl of Warwick (known as the ‘Kingmaker’). Edward’s victory was followed by fourteen years of Yorkist rule over England.
In her latest novel, “The Kingmaker’s Daughter” due for release on 16th August this year, Philippa tells the gripping and ultimately tragic story of the Earl of Warwick’s daughters, Anne and Isabel Neville. In the absence of a son and heir, Warwick ruthlessly used the two girls as pawns but they, in their own right, were thoughtful and powerful actors growing up against the backdrop of the court of Edward IV and friendship with the family of Richard Duke of York.
A supporter of the museum, Julie Tucker, of Mill Hill, is an avid reader of Ms Gregory’s work and made the connection while trying to come with ideas to help the museum. Mrs Tucker simply posted a message on Ms Gregory’s fan page and was surprised and delighted when a week later she received a positive response.
Adding her name to the online petition, Ms Gregory wrote: “As a historian and international best-selling author I was shocked to hear of the museum’s problems from one of my readers. I urge councillors to support the continued use of the building by the museum team. It offers an invaluable insight into local history which should be celebrated not forgotten!”
Mrs Tucker has also been in touch with leading academic, Professor Michael Hicks, Head of History at The University of Winchester, who is an expert on Richard III and the Wars of the Roses. Professor Hicks has already signed the online petition and agreed to write letters on the museums behalf.
Professor Hicks also added a comment to his signature on the petition: “The museum is a major resource much used for my article ‘Friern Barnet’ in the Victoria County History of Middlesex VI (1980). It is also in close proximity to the Battle of Barnet, surely the most important historical event in the history of Barnet area, and contains a considerable display. New battlefield work will make the museum more significant. In current stringencies, the withdrawal of funding is understandable. £40,000 annual rent (indeed any rent) is excessive and an act of cultural destruction.”
High Barnet is an area of significant history and possibly the site of the only battle fought within London, the record of which is listed in the Barnet Museum which an energetic team of local people are fighting hard to keep. Barnet Council however plan to charge the museum the market rate rent for the property which the museum simply cannot afford.
Understandably, heritage is not a statutory obligation for the Council and therefore not a priority, but with its current short-term approach not only would the loss of the museum be detrimental to the life and history of Barnet but also directly contradicts the vision of the Mayor, the Department for Communities and Local Government and even the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the online petition, picked up by members of the Philippa Gregory Facebook Fan page, has gone global with signatures coming in from as far afield as Austria, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Spain and the USA. The total number of online signatures now stands at 1280 and growing with over 8,000 people having signed paper versions of the petition. To add your voice to the growing numbers please go to:http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41281.html
Not only is the Barnet Museum a place of interest and the natural interpretive centre for the Battle of Barnet, but the area around has much to interest historians including the market, the fair, the taverns, the hospitals, the almshouses, the Byngs, Ravenscroft, Monck, Birt Acres and the Physic Well, once visited by kings, noblemen, poets and authors such as Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys and Arbella Stuart (grand-daughter of Bess of Hardwick and once considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I).
Barnet Museum is an entirely voluntary staffed charity which has provided a popular and educative community service since 1938. It keeps the institutional memory of the town and promotes it to others, so far this year it has hosted 6-7 classes from 4 different schools (some 200 children).
Barnet Council is empowered to grant the Museum a long term lease at peppercorn rent or transfer the property (which was originally bought by Barnet UDC to house a museum service in perpetuity). It has granted peppercorn rents to other organisations (e.g. Saracens, the allotments) so there is precedent. The Council quotes Section 123(2) of the Local Govt Act saying that it is not allowed to dispose of property at less than market value; that is not true – it can apply to the Secretary of State (DCLG) for an exception or if the “undervalue” is less than £2million, it has discretion itself (and the Museum’s case is far less than £2m). It is all a question of whether the Council and/or its officers can see the longer term value that is provided by the Museum and is prepared to help and facilitate or, as has been the case, hinder and obfuscate.
Commenting on behalf of the museum, Mike Noronha, Museum Treasurer said: “It would be a tragedy to lose this vital community asset which is so valued not only by the people of Barnet but, as we have seen from the online petition, much much further afield.
“The support of Philippa Gregory and Professor Wicks is truly appreciated and will hopefully help to persuade Theresa Villiers, Eric Pickles and Boris Johnson that this is a valuable and irreplaceable community and national resource, with visitors coming from far and wide.”
