Sussex museums receive hundreds of thousands of pounds for improvements

The sites are two of many across the country to receive a share of the £4 million pot

A historical market hall from the Weald and Downland Living Museum, Chichester
Author: Chris PatelPublished 10th Apr 2026

Local museums across the country have received £4 million to improve accessibility to arts and culture - and Sussex is home to two of them.

24 museums have been nominated to receive a share of the fund, given out by a partnership between the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and the charity Wolfson Foundation.

The fund, which has awarded more than £50 million over the past 24 years, aims to support museums by improving displays, enhancing collection care and making exhibitions more accessible to visitors.

Weald and Downland Living Museum, which retells rural history from its site in Chichester, received £227,000.

The Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton, netted £139,900 from the fund.

Museums Minister Baroness Twycross said: “We want to ensure that everyone, everywhere can experience arts and culture in the area they call home and this fund plays a key role in making that possible."

Other projects that have received funding in the latest round

North West

  • Platt Hall (Manchester City Galleries) - £38,700
  • Manchester Museum - £200,000

North East

  • Segedunum Roman Fort - £213,100
  • Seven Stories, National Centre for Children’s Books - £316,200
  • Museum of Hartlepool - £218,400
  • Kirkleatham Museum - £272,000

South East

  • Reading Museum - £80,000
  • Pitt Rivers Museum - £55,000

South West

  • SS Great Britain - £46,300
  • Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon - £103,000
  • Bristol Museum and Art Gallery - £317,100
  • The Burton at Bideford - £86,500

West Midlands

  • Barber Institute of Fine Arts - £150,000
  • British Motor Museum - £147,700
  • Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - £183,100
  • Black Country Living Museum - £272,000

East Midlands

  • National Tramway Museum - £210,600

East of England

  • Food Museum - £357,600
  • Norwich Castle - £228,900

London

  • Garden Museum - £75,000

Yorkshire and the Humber

  • Thackray Museum of Medicine - £39,900
  • Hepworth Wakefield - £22,000

hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/play/