By That’s a bit of a shock! It’s a bit like hearing the ravens are quitting the Tower of London.
Yesterday, the National Motor Museum Trust issued a statement announcing that it has begun the process of identifying a new home for the National Motor Museum as its current lease at Beaulieu is approaching the end of its 60-year term.
The Trust says it has a long-term strategy focused on “reimagining and reinvigorating the Museum, engaging with new generations of motoring enthusiasts and diverse communities, while developing and preserving the Designated collection for generations to come”.
It also wants become more active in learning and community engagement, including a vision for the development of a training centre for heritage engineering apprenticeships.
Over the last two years, it says, the Trust and the Montagu family have explored ways to achieve these ambitions in the Museum at Beaulieu through major donor investment and potential redevelopment but have now concluded that the next stage of the National Motor Museum’s ambitious plans and charitable purpose as the national repository of British motoring heritage can best be achieved through a move to a new home.
What of Beaulieu?
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu said:
“My father’s underlying ambition was to record and celebrate the story of motoring for the benefit of the nation. He founded the National Motor Museum Trust to do that, but its collections and activities have expanded beyond what anyone at the time envisaged. The charity’s long-term aims will now stand the best chance of being achieved if it can be based in a new home. I remain committed to honouring my father’s legacy by continuing to do all I can to support the trust. Wherever the National Motor Museum and its collections may be located in the future, Beaulieu will continue to develop as a leading south coast attraction, offering a comparable range of experiences to what people enjoy today, with cars remaining very much a part of our identity.”
The Trust has a world-famous collection of over 200 vehicles and associated motoring items on display at the National Motor Museum. Its collection of more than 1.9 million items includes historically significant motoring artifacts, film footage, images, documents and books.
