Stories From The Sea heralds new era for Museum

A new project due to start later this year at the Museum called ‘Stories of the Sea’ will see the Museum’s team working with groups in the community who are underrepresented or who feel a barrier to accessing the Museum, to unlock new stories about the town’s past through its maritime, social history and world cultures collections.

The groups the Museum team will be working with will include local LGBTQ+ charity HartGables and the North East Migration Project. 

The team will also be looking to work with groups which haven’t been involved with the Museum Service before.

The project is being made possible thanks to an £88,000 grant over two years from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, which is run by the Museums Association and funds projects that work with museums to achieve social impact through their collections.

The grant – which will help support the wider vision for redeveloping the Museum – will see the Museums team work with the groups to explore the Museum’s various collections.

These include the Robert Wood collection of over 45,000 advertising posters for Hartlepool businesses, which provides a fascinating insight into the town’s development from the 1830s onwards, the world cultures collection donated to the town by Colonel William Thomlinson, which spans items from North and South America, Asia and Africa, and the Gray Ship Plan collection, which features plans for the many vessels built and repaired by major town employer Grays Shipyards from the 1920s onwards.

In a further move to engage with a broader range of residents, displays and events will be held in non-museum spaces, such as Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, showcasing untold stories and previously unseen elements of the collections. There will also be new displays and events within the Museum itself.

Councillor Bob Buchan, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Adult and Community-Based Services Committee, said: “We are delighted and very grateful to receive this funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.

“The Stories From The Sea project will make a significant contribution to achieving our vision for the Museum of Hartlepool which includes encouraging residents of all backgrounds to feel a sense of greater connection with, and ‘ownership’ of, the Museum and its collections.

“We already have a strong reputation in Hartlepool for cultural and heritage excellence and this new project – which will reach out to communities and help break down barriers to people engaging with heritage, arts and culture – will enhance that reputation further.”   

If you are interested in taking part in this project please email MuseumofHartlepoolEnquiries@hartlepool.gov.uk