Getting back to Burwell Museum - reopening 6th August

Like everyone, we've been watching the development of government advice and trying to work out what we can do and when. We've decided that we can open some bits of the museum to the public again from Thursday the 6th of August, but because we can't offer a full service we will operate on a donation only basis. We don't want to put any pressure on anyone to visit before they're ready to come out, but we want to provide a service to those who want to use it through the school summer holidays. We're very grateful to everyone who is following us and wishing us well, and we hope to see you when you feel it's right for you! For now, here are our guidelines for opening from next week: 

Welcome back to Burwell Museum! 

You are welcome to:

Visit us on a Thursday between 11am and 3pm

Enjoy our outdoor spaces

Bring your own food and drink and have a picnic

Explore the Upper Gallery, Roman Pottery and Waggon Sheds

See our new exhibition on Burwell Shops in the Hub

Use some of our outdoor toys

Admire the outside of the mill and farm buildings

Use some of our hands-on exhibits (use hand sanitiser afterwards)

Use our toilets - we will clean thoroughly before each open day

Choose whether or not to make a donation to the museum, and how much. Because we can’t offer our full facilities yet entry to the museum will be free, but donations are always appreciated! 

We're sorry, but to keep us all safe we can’t yet allow you to: 

Visit on any other days

Explore the mill, barn, vintage clothing, vehicles or Nissen Hut

Use dressing up clothes, crafts, indoor toys or handling objects 

Use the tea room

Please help us by:

Giving us a name and contact number for track and trace

Following government guidance on social distancing

Washing your hands carefully after using the toilets

Using hand sanitiser regularly at stations around the museum 

Using the bins provided to dispose of your own rubbish

Checking our website and social media for last-minute changes

Telling us what we can improve about your visit, and telling other people if you enjoyed it!

Letting us know if you develop coronavirus symptoms after visiting.

Great news for the museum from the SHARE volunteer awards!

Burwell museum helpers scoop museum awards

Helpers at Burwell Museum and Windmill scooped three prestigious awards at the annual SHARE Museums East Volunteer Awards on Thursday 4th June.

The museum’s Mill Team topped the True Grit category, while volunteers Paul Hawes and John Wisbey each received Silver Owl awards for volunteering for (considerably) more than 25 years.

The winners were announced during a virtual ceremony held online due to social distancing rules and provided a welcome piece of good news for the volunteers, who are unable to continue with their work or open the museum due to coronavirus restrictions.

The True Grit award recognises unglamourous tasks, battling against difficulties, and doing often dirty and unappealing jobs that need specific skills.

The Mill Team was commended by Niki Hughes, Chair of SHARE Volunteer Co-Ordinators Forum, saying they keep the windmill’s wheel turning, are ‘truly inspirational’ and show ‘tenacity and teamwork’.

The team has contributed to the ongoing maintenance of Burwell’s 200-year-old Stevens’ Mill after extensive restoration over the past 40 years.

Burwell Museum and Windmill Administrator, Alison Giles, said: “It’s especially exciting to win this year, our 200th anniversary year, and great to have an opportunity to celebrate the work of our Mill Team, our longest-serving volunteers and all of the other fantastic winners and nominees."

“Burwell Museum was started by volunteers and we very much rely on their goodwill and skills to keep the museum and mill running. We’re very grateful to SHARE for putting on the awards and for their support for museums in the region, especially at this difficult time.”

The museum is planning to celebrate the achievements of the winners, as well as commemorate the 200th anniversary of the windmill later this year or early next year, once social distancing restrictions are lifted.

The awards ceremony can be viewed on YouTube here.

Burwell Museum Coronavirus update

Like everywhere, we don't really know what's going on at the moment, but here is an update on how things are for us right now: 

We are closed to both the public and volunteers for the foreseeable future. Most of the volunteers who keep us going are in the more "vulnerable" groups, as are a large proportion of our visitors, so we won't be reopening until it's very clear that it's safe to do so. Events in April and May have already been cancelled and it's likely that June will follow unless things change dramatically in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks to a grant from East Cambridgeshire District Council and a legacy last year from Mr Michael Mitcham, we're very lucky to be in a good position financially. We're very grateful to both the council and to Mr. Mitcham and his family for that, as it means we can continue to pay our staff during lockdown and spend the time making sure that our paperwork is all up to date (we'll spare you all the details, but it will be good to have it done!). Many small museums are struggling, though, so if you want to support local museums and industrial heritage then our friends at Prickwillow Museum, Ramsey Rural Museum and the Cambridge museum of Technology are among many appealing for help at the moment. 

Our ongoing projects will continue as soon as we can - we're still waiting for planning permission for the path to the windmill, so we'll need to wait until the council has finished dealing with the crisis, and once our volunteers are able to safely come back to work we will continue with site maintenance and refreshing displays. If you are going past the windmill you may notice that it's looking a bit bedraggled- we've removed most of the shutters to make sure it's safe while we're not working on it. Our next project will be to paint each shutter and put them back again, so although this isn't the kind of year we'd planned for the 200th anniversary year of the windmill we will get it looking smart again as soon as we can! 

We wish all of our volunteers, visitors and supporters well and hope to welcome you back when we can do so safely. 

Thank you for an amazing season in 2019!

Many, many thanks from all at Burwell Museum and Windmill!

Thank you to everyone who has supported, visited and/or volunteered at Burwell Museum and Windmill this year. We’ve had over 3,500 visitors over the year and our amazing volunteers have put in over 4,000 hours between them to make sure that the museum continues to be a really great day out. We’re also very grateful to the Parish Council, the Carnival, Cambridgeshire County Council and Newmarket Waitrose for financial support over the year, and to Newmarket Tesco and Burwell Co-op for giving us gifts in kind (and in the Co-op’s case lots of very much appreciated staff time). Thank you to everyone who has been to the museum either as a visitor or a volunteer in 2019!

Do you have any time to spare?

Although we are now closed to visitors for the winter, there is still a lot going on behind the scenes and WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Are you enthusiastic, community-minded and want to offer some time to a local charity? If this sounds like you then please get in touch about becoming a volunteer with the museum. No previous experience required and you'll receive a very warm welcome! We're especially looking for:

Mill volunteers: We need more people to help with the Mill as we work to prepare for its 200th birthday next year. Mill volunteers work on Tuesdays, usually from around 9.30am until 4pm. You don't have to commit to every Tuesday but it's helpful if you are able to say in advance when you will be there so that work can be planned. Jobs range from routine maintenance tasks to operating the mill itself; full training is provided for the jobs involved. If you want to find out more, you are welcome to come to the museum on a Tuesday or to contact Colin, our Mill manager, on cmarshall@cantab.net.

Site maintenance volunteers: Keeping the museum site going needs lots of people for a wide range of jobs including painting, repairing things and keeping all of our buildings clean and tidy. Previous experience of plumbing, electrics, IT systems etc. would be massively useful but there are plenty of jobs which don't require specialist skills! If you can spare us time on a Tuesday or Thursday to help either with a specific job or with general maintenance tasks, we'd love to hear from you at volunteers@burwellmuseum.org.uk or on 01638 605544.

We've had a great summer at the museum!

The last of our children's holiday activities went well today, with lots of people planting cress seeds to learn about our farming heritage. We've had a great summer all round (helped by some wonderful weather) and it's been great to welcome so many people to our children's activities. We've also welcomed groups from two WIs, Felix Coaches, a car club and the Mother's Union. Now we're looking forward to Heritage Open Days, which for us will be on the 15th, 19th and 22nd of September. On the 15th and 19th we're offering free entry to the museum, then on the 22nd we have our folk celebration with local musicians and dancers. We'll be looking at "People Power" through our collections, including a special guest appearance by the winning soapbox from the Newmarket Soapbox Derby.