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broadfield house
glass museum crisis

On January 5th the staff of Broadfield House were told that Dudley Council is proposing to close the Broadfield House Museum and move the collections and research resource through to the Red House Cone site, as from March 2010.

This appears to be a cost-cutting exercise with estimated staff savings of

Broadfield House

£120k for 2010. As this proposal is part of a savings package it is unlikely that Dudley Council will be investing in the Red House Cone. The final decision will be taken by the Council in March 2009.

At present at the Red House Cone there is neither enough exhibition space nor adequate lecture space. The research material, library and collections would be hidden away. Because of this the owners of the loan collections (which include the Friends of Broadfield House) may well want them returned. Furthermore, there is already a large amount of glass in store at Broadfield House and at Himley Hall which is not displayed!

It would be a major loss for glass researchers, makers, enthusiasts and collectors for the important resources of Broadfield House to be lost to use. As one of the two main glass attractions bringing visitors to Stourbridge it would also be a loss to Dudley Council. Its importance as the repository of major glass collections, especially of the 20th century Stourbridge area, is international.

what can we do?

We must all make our feelings known to the Council that this national treasure cannot be boxed up and transferred to the Red House Cone. We must demonstrate the strength of feeling against this proposal. Please do something toward stopping this piece of cultural vandalism.

Whitefriars.com and glass artist Adam Aaronson have combined forces to raise
money for the Friends of Broadfield House. They have used an original Whitefriars ‘Nuts and Bolts’ vase mould (pat. no. 9668) to make a vase to be donated, along with the mould, to the Harrow Museum. Adam Aaronson made the vase and decided to make another at the same time in case one broke in the lehr.

Adam Aaronson with the vase

As both fortunately survived, the second vase is now going to be sold to help raise funds.

You can see the vase and find out more about the sale on the Whitefriars.com
stand in the Great Hall.

The image to the right shows Adam in the process of making one of the vases at
his studio in London. Adam can be found
on stand c14 in the Contemporary Hall.

Sign the petition to save Broadfield House
at the Glass Association stand in the foyer.

The 'Nuts & Bolts' vase made by Eddie King and Adam Aaronson to raise funds for the Friends of Broadfield House is being auctioned at Fieldings in their 'Three Centuries of Glass' sale which takes place on Saturday 18th April at 10am.

Nuts and Bolts vase

Supporting the campaign to save the collections of Broadfield House, the Stourbridge-based firm has generously offered to waive their fees.

It is hoped that the vase, pictured with the accompanying plaque detailing its unique history, will attract the interest of both collectors of Whitefriars glass and those interested in the Broadfield House cause.

For further information, please visit www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk or contact Will Farmer on 01384 444140.

on-line blog

Make your feelings known on the local BBC blog just follow the link below:

www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry

on-line petition on the Glass Association website

Please complete the on-line petition organised by the Glass Association. You can sign at www.glassassociation.org.uk or go straight to the petition page.

sign the paper petition organised by the Glass Association

the petition will be available to sign at the Cambridge Glass Fair on 22nd February 2009.

e-mail or write to key members of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

John Millar - Director of Urban Environment

john.millar@dudley.gov.uk

Dudley MBC, St James’s Road, Dudley, DY1 1HZ

John Polychronakis - intermim Cheif Exec.

john.polychronakis@dudley.gov.uk

Dudley MBC, Council House, Priory Road, Dudley, DY1 1HF

Duncan Lowndes - Asst. Director of Culture and Leisure

duncan.lowndes@dudley.gov.uk

Dudley MBC,Claughton House, Blowers Green Road, Dudley, West Midlands