21 Feb 2023
The introduction of fees for residents at Verulamium Museum might have gone under the radar in the wake of the backlash against car parking charges and the closure of Abbey View Golf Course and athletics pavilion, but people are now realising the implications of the proposal.
From April SADC wants to charge £8 for visitors and £6 for residents with concessions for seniors and children.
Universal free access to state-supported museums became part of UK cultural policy in 2001, and continued to be championed as an important audience development tool on the policy’s 10th anniversary, as visitor numbers in the national museums were seen to rise by over 150% over that time period.
City tour guide, Cathedral guide and part-time Roman soldier Stephen Potter – aka Laurentius Calvus Petronius – is leading the campaign against fees.
“The arguments for charging included the potential for increased income to improve the quality of museums, cross-subsidy for other services museums provide and better pay to historically over-qualified and under-rewarded museum staff.
“Locally St Albans took a middle line to charge just outside visitors to our award winning Verulamium Museum. Charging for the Museum + Gallery would of course negate the income being derived from the café and shop and would be pointless.
“SADC, their leisure trusts, commissioned services and cultural partners are scrambling to find ways to plug the [funding] gaps and keep assets open. You must make decisions between the “must haves” and “nice to haves”.
“We have a heritage to be proud of – we must have the ability to enjoy and learn from it.
“I believe in “art for all” and give my services free to the museum. But museums are so much more than art; they are rich sources of knowledge and local community memories.
“We all provide for museums’ subsidy through our taxes, for our two museums, but ticket prices if applied to residents will be counter productive and moreover present insurmountable barriers to the poor.
“Charging, bearing in mind that one has to pay for parking at the museum, will be catastrophic for the museum. Up and till now residents have been able to park for free at Westminster lodge and walk through the park to the museum. Introducing a charge for residents now means £6 plus parking. It becomes unaffordable for a local asset which is designed, with events, to encourage repeat visits.
“Verulamium has many friends and volunteers who give of their time and ask for no payment. It was never envisaged that we give a free service so that the museum could generate revenue.
“It is not the case that SADC can reasonably think that this could be a short term measure and could be reversed if finances become available. The loss of trade is quick and immediate. The recovery is slow in the extreme.”
“All the good work by the museum to out-reach and bring in visitors will be swept away and may not return.
“There is already a Museum Trust, a registered charity, that supports the museum service by local people and I believe that charging at Verulamium is disingenuous at best.”
Teacher Corinne Doust is urging residents to contact their local district councillors and calling on them to reject the proposed fees at the Full Council meeting on February 22.
She told the St Albans Times: “Museums play a critical role in preserving and teaching history and heritage, particularly to younger generations.
“Free access to residents builds cultural belonging and an understanding of the foundations of our community – in a lovely dip-in, dip-out way! It’s wonderful to be able to pop in for an hour on a rainy day. The proposed £20K earnings is a drop in the ocean compared to the loss of education and cultural capital. The museum should open on a Sunday if they want to take more money.”
But is this a slippery slope towards charging people to visit St Albans Museum + Gallery? Speaking to the St Albans Times this week council leader Cllr Chris White was reluctant to rule it out: “It’s possible, but nothing is planned for next year other than mitigation.”
