Council responds to concern over museum ‘disrepair’

Launceston Town Council in Cornwall has responded to public concerns that Lawrence House Museum has fallen into “disrepair”, assuring it is working “promptly” to progress renovation.

The Georgian townhouse, leased to Launceston Town Council by the National Trust, suffered water damage when it was closed during the pandemic.

In January 2023, curator Damon Dennis posted on the museum’s site that work had begun restoring the museum with a planned reopening date in April 2024, which has not been met.

Lead officer on the project, Martin Cornish, told Holsworthy Post, “I would oppose the concerns of the building falling into disrepair. Over the past 18 months, a significant amount of investment, coupled with a sizeable proportion of councillor, council staff and museum volunteers time having been spent to safeguard the building.

“This has always been seen as a two-stage process, and barring minor works to the front of the house (of which conversations are ongoing with Historic England), the exterior phase is practically complete.” 

He continued, “The building is…currently unusable, but the vision wholeheartedly remains to deliver a reimagined museum for all.”

Cornish also said the council had received recent pushback from Historic England regarding a planning application for the internal refurbishment of the museum, with advice to undertake a Heritage Impact Assessment to support a re-submission. 

“The council acted promptly on the above advice and instructed consultants to undertake the impact assessment,” said Cornish. “I have been assured that I will be in receipt of the report within the next couple of weeks. Once unpicking the findings, the council will then work with Historic England about the next steps towards expediting the project.”

He added, “I feel it pertinent to add at this point that Historic England are in favour of works being undertaken at the museum.”