Grant award from the Association of Independent Museums and the Pilgrim Trust

The Kent Archaeological Society is pleased to announce that we have been awarded an Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and Pilgrim Trust Conservation Audit Grant in their recent award round!

The KAS was established in 1857 to promote advances in knowledge of Kent’s past through fieldwork, documentary research and publication covering the historic county of Kent including the london boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham as well as the Medway administrations. In our offices in Marsham Street, Maidstone we hold vast collections generated through archaeological fieldwork across Kent both by the society itself and its affiliate groups.

The vast majority of the material held in Marsham Street has been unsuitable for display, handling or research due to its condition and lack of understood context. It is the society’s aim going forward to improve knowledge of our collections so that they can serve the people of Kent and the wider area in educating them about their shared past.

This grant will enable the society to understand the conservation needs of our collection in greater detail thus allowing us to develop a strategy going forward. The audit, which will take place over three days with Jennifer Dinsmore ACR of Halahan, Thomas & Dinsmore (https://htmdpartners.co.uk), will result in a report providing recommendations on future collections care needs and identifying elements where an application to the AIM Pilgrim Trust Collections Care Grant scheme may be useful.

The society cannot wait to work with Jennifer to undertake the audit and we look forward to sharing the results with our membership in due course.

Thanks are extended to both the Association of Independent Museums and The Pilgrim Trust for this award.