Winners of the 2019 Heritage Awards announced

Heritage Awards

5 Jul

The 2019 Awards ceremony of the Northamptonshire Heritage Forum was held on a perfect summer evening at one of our most beautiful homes, Holdenby House, courtesy of James Lowther on Thursday 4 July 2019.

2019 Heritage Award winners and dignitaries outside Holdenby House

We would like to congratulate and thank all the entrants: the judges commented on the diversity and imaginative nature of the various submissions, and the presentations showed what a wonderful year 2019 was for heritage in the county.

The award highlights Include the People’s Choice, in collaboration with BBC Radio Northampton courtesy of John Griff. This year included online voting for the first time, and it was a stiff competition! The winner was volunteer-run Sywell Aviation Museum, which tells the story of flying in Northamptonshire from the early days to the present day with particular emphasis on the Second World War.

The big award is ‘Heritage Organisation of the Year'. The winner was Daventry Museum, a small volunteer-run museum that packs a huge punch. Judges commented on their great use of resources and their range of exhibitions and engagement activities over the year. Their commemorative Armistice tribute, The Empty Chair Project featuring a chair to represent each soldier from the town who failed to return from the First World War, was a simple idea, beautifully executed and incredibly moving to all who saw it.

The awards were presented by local dignitaries, and included David Laing, the Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. He spoke about the importance of heritage to the community, and thanked the staff, volunteers, organisations and members for their dedication and passion.

The Forum’s patron, The Earl Spencer presented the final award to Daventry Museum and afterwards echoed David Laing’s comments. He then spoke passionately of the need to respect our heritage sites, especially the important battlefield sites and particularly Northamptonshire’s Naseby, which will be affected by HS2. He compared the importance of Naseby to that of Gettysburg in the USA with its impressive visitor centre and museum. Naseby’s access and interpretation is sadly lacking and it is time for a campaign to address the issue.

The evening was closed by Northamptonshire Heritage Forum chair Jane Baile, who reported on the campaign to keep the importance of heritage in the minds of local government during the Unitary Authorities planning.

The event was expertly compered by John Griff of BBC Radio Northampton, and was supported by a small grant from Museum Development East Midlands (MDEM), for which the Forum is most grateful.

The Northamptonshire Heritage Award 2019 winners

Best Event

Highly commended
Northampton Museums and Art Gallery (Transport Day at Abington Park Museum)

Award winner
Roade Local History Society (Roade Cutting 180th Anniversary and National Transport Heritage Site Designation 2018)

Best Exhibition

Highly commended
Daventry Museum (Victorian Daventry – A Period of Change)

Award winner
Kettering Museum and Art Gallery (Local Treasures: The British Museum comes to Kettering)

Best Volunteer Project

Rushden Museum (Store Room Blitz!)

Best Project on a Limited Budget

Irchester Parish Historical Society (Irchester Parish in World War One)

Best Special Project

Highly commended
Cogenhoe and Whiston Heritage Society (Cogenhoe Village Green Plaque Scheme)

Award winner
Brackley Town Council (Stained Glass Window Project)

Community Award

Daventry Museum (The Empty Chair Project)

Hindsight Award for Best Published Work

Northamptonshire Battlefields Society (The Battle of Edgcote 1469 – Re-evaluating the evidence)

People's Choice (with BBC Radio Northampton)

Sywell Aviation Museum

Judges Choice Special Award

Desborough Heritage Centre

Heritage Organisation of the Year 2019

Daventry Museum

Judges

Dr Neville Stankley - Principal Lecturer - Nottingham Trent University
Prof Matthew McCormack - Professor of History - University of Northampton
Dr Caroline Nielsen -Senior Lecturer in History and Heritage - University of Northampton
Dr Mike Rodgers - Sector Development Manager Midlands - The National Archives

Dignitaries presenting

David (and Mrs Mary Laing) - Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire
James Lowther - awards host as owner of Holdenby House, and Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire
Claire Browne - Regional Museum Development Programme Manager of Museum Development East Midlands (MDEM)
Andrew Langley - Chair of Destination Nene Valley and Vice Chair of Nenescape
Jonathan Platt - Head of Investment, England, Midlands and East National Lottery Heritage Fund
Chris Heaton-Harris - MP for Daventry
Kate Dent - Britain’s Best Surprise and Teach Northamptonshire
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer - Patron of Northamptonshire Heritage Forum. Great supporter of our country’s and our county’s heritage and author of note, journalist and broadcaster

awards northamptonshirearts and heritagemuseum awards

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Winners of the 2019 Heritage Awards announced