Mr M.

Cassidy CBE MBA

Chairman
Board of Governors
Museum of London
150 London Wall
London
EC2Y 5HN 14th March 2011

Dear Mr Cassidy,

Re: Potential Cuts at the Museum of London.

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chair of RESCUE – The

British Archaeological Trust to express my concern at the reports that
the Museum of London is to dismiss a senior member of the curatorial
staff while at the same time deleting the post of curator of medieval
collections which has been frozen since 2009.
RESCUE believes that the strengths of a museum, particularly
one with the responsibilities of the Museum of London, lie equally in
the quality and experience of its curatorial staff and in its collections.
The importance of the collections held in the Museum are not in doubt
and they have a high level of significance not only for London but for
the country as a whole. Given London’s position as a city with global
economic and political significance it is no exaggeration to say that the
collections are of international importance. To lose senior curatorial
posts in such an institution will inevitably undermine the position of the
museum as a national centre of excellence in research and
presentation and will severely compromise the ability of the remaining
staff to deliver the kind of high-quality service that the public and the
historical and archaeological professions have come to expect from the
Museum of London. More specifically we are concerned that the loss of
curatorial experience and expertise will compromise the institution in
the following ways:

• An unreasonable burden will be placed upon the surviving

curatorial staff who will be expected to shoulder an unreasonable
workload which will include that of their former senior
colleagues;
 • The ability of the remaining museum staff to deliver the
Museum’s responsibilities in its primary or ‘front-line’ services
will be significantly degraded. These include the delivery of
services to educationalists and academic researchers at all levels
(from the amateur/voluntary sector to the post-doctoral and
professorial), the development and presentation of authoritative
exhibitions on-site, public lectures and other ‘outreach’ services,
including contacts with the press and mass media and
contributions to national and international touring exhibitions;

• The absence of in-house staff with the necessary level of

knowledge and experience will inevitably lead to other
departments within the museum having to seek the assistance of
outside specialists with inevitable cost implications for the
Museum as a whole and an overall lack of internal consistency in
the Museum’s activities.

RESCUE believes that with tourism, and specifically heritage

tourism, likely to play a useful role in the nation’s recovery from the
recession and the effects of the banking crisis, this is a time when
institutions such as the Museum of London should be investing in
assets such as their skilled curators and conservators in order to be
able to present ever more challenging and effective exhibitions and
research opportunities to a global audience. It is deeply regrettable
that this does not seem to be understood by those responsible for
planning for the Museum’s future. We very much hope that these
proposals will be reconsidered and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

Diana Friendship-Taylor (Mrs.)

Chair
RESCUE – The British Archaeological Trust

Cc:
Jack Lohman
Director, Museum of London

Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London,

Alderman Michael Bear

Lord Mayor of London