Quarry Bank Project secures Arts Council England support

A project that is bringing history to life at Quarry Bank has received a major boost from Arts Council England.

The national development agency has awarded the Quarry Bank Project £75,000, which will go towards internship and apprenticeship schemes, the digitisation of the Quarry Bank archive, and the events and exhibitions programme at the historic National Trust property.

The Arts Council England funding will also contribute to work on opening up the original mill owners’ house as well as a mill worker’s cottage in Styal.

Together they will highlight the contrast between the Greg family home with its elegant rooms and garden views and the two-up two-down cottages, which were built to house the growing workforce.

“We are extremely grateful to Arts Council England for this funding, which is a real boost to our efforts to tell the full Quarry Bank story,” said General Manager Eleanor Underhill.

“The work is a vital part of the overall project, which will transform the way visitors experience Quarry Bank.”

Quarry Bank launched a £1.9 million appeal three years ago to help pull together the different threads of its story, which has a cotton mill at its heart.

In the 1970s, when the National Trust was thinking about the future of Quarry Bank they had the foresight to leave one of the cottages in the village untouched, doing only the necessary maintenance to preserve No.13 Oak Cottages.

Last week a top level clean was undertaken on the cottage by some of the Quarry Bank team in preparation for the restoration work. It is hoped the cottage will open in summer 2017.

Fundraising Consultant Sally Bowden, who took part in the clean-up, said: “It is exciting to see this cottage being reclaimed because it has such character and can tell so many stories about the past.

“We can still see examples of the wallpaper that was used and it shows how house-proud the workers were even though they might have lived in very cramped conditions.”

Arts Council England awarded the money to Quarry Bank from its Museum Resilience Fund, which aims to fill any gaps or development opportunities for excellent museums of all sizes.

John Orna-Ornstein, Director of Museums at Arts Council England, said: “The focus of our investment approach for museums in 2015-18 is on building a more resilient sector.

“The Museum Resilience fund is a key part of that, providing vital support to museums right across the country.”