A new chairman for museum

Jo Kirkham, after 14 years in the role, stepped down as chair of the Rye Castle Museum Association at the AGM on September 14.

During her time as chair, Jo has been the driving force, along with directors, trustees and volunteers, behind developing the museum at both sites, continuing to grow the collection and increasing the knowledge of the history of Rye and the surrounding area.

Deputy chair, Stephen Masters, spoke at the meeting, thanking Jo for the tremendous work that she has done over the years:

“I stand here knowing I’m among the least qualified to speak due to only having known Jo for a few years. But in that short time, I’ve become aware of Jo’s knowledge of Rye and its history, the people Jo knows and the people who know her. The books on sale in this very room bear testament to her Rye knowledge; there are many that she has either written or been acknowledged in.”

Sarah Cooper, operations manager says:

“I’ve shared the museum office with Jo for almost ten years now, doing the day-to-day jobs while she catalogues artefacts and reads the archives. It’s been an education. Honestly, it’s like hanging out with the encyclopedia of Rye. Though she’s no longer the chair, I hope to continue sharing an office with her for years to come.”

After the meeting, Jo said: “I have had the most amazing, stimulating and interesting time as chairman of Rye Museum Association and have been honoured to take on the role which enabled me to come into contact with such a fantastic group of staff and volunteers with which to work.

“However, it is now time to step down for others to take the lead and bring forward new ideas.

“I hope to continue to be involved however with the people involved and the work I absolutely love – especially in helping to research the history of Rye and the district around it and dealing with the museum’s archives and artefacts.

“Rye Museum is a wonderful organisation made up of delightful and talented people keeping the history of Rye alive.“

A look back at the period of Jo Kirkham’s tenure, shows just how many things have been achieved – far too many to mention in full here.

The women’s prison tower, which had been in danger of falling down, was saved and re-opened with an archive on the upper floor and a display about Rye’s women prisoners on show in the cell below. A major education programme ‘Women and Children of Rye’ was instigated and was the first time that the lives of women and children of the town were studied. Both the Castle and East Street sites have solar panels installed (East Street most recently this year), giving green energy to both sites. New lighting, heating and display cases have made the museum and their displays more accessible.

Many improvements have been made to the buildings: a new air-handling system to protect the artefacts in East Street was installed and an extension to the office space and a study room and library were constructed with a bequest.

Under her leadership, the museum became an Arts Council accredited museum,  involving much lengthy and time-consuming administration and paperwork to satisfy the application process. Jo has used her considerable energies to apply for grants and funding and to increase the profile of the museum. The programme of events has given pleasure to many from talks to parties, to study days and craft classes, from trips out to garden parties and quiz evenings, from drama events to working with local children. Jo has organised six international medieval conferences with noted historians as speakers and recently included a celebration of Queen Elizabeth I’s visit to Rye in August 1573, with a trail of objects that the queen would have seen or known.

The museum has received many donations and made important purchases including a very rare ‘silver penny’, minted in Rye between 1135 and 1145, from the metal detectorist who found it – now a favourite artefact on display in East Street.

Jo said: “One of our most amazing displays was, after three tortuous years of negotiation with the British Museum, being allowed to have on loan a very rare cast of the Rosetta Stone to display in our museum. We were especially thrilled to be able to bring in every child from the local primary schools by Rye Community Transport – to see and learn about it.”

Jo will remain closely involved with the museum working on the collections and accessioning new donations or purchases. Her invaluable and extensive knowledge will continue to be extremely important for the museum.

The new chair, Stephen Masters, was appointed by the board of directors at their monthly meeting on Tuesday October 3.

Image Credits: Kenneth Bird , Juliet Duff .