Grantham Museum is located at St Peter's Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, in the building provided for it in 1926.

Image of the Grantham Museum

The building also previously housed the public library, and was partly funded by the Carnegie UK Trust which was continuing Andrew Carnegie's project of building libraries across the United Kingdom. Grantham's library is now in the Isaac Newton Centre, and the museum occupies the whole of the 1926 building.

The idea for the museum can be traced back to meetings of the Grantham Scientific society in the 1890s.[1] The basis of the collection is material provided by Henry Preston, the first Curator and Founder, and twentieth century additions included material about Sir Isaac Newton, Edith Smith,[2] and Margaret Thatcher. There is also material about the Dambusters Raid.[3] The museum hosts a variety of exhibitions during the year.

The museum is currently managed by the Grantham Community Heritage Association (GCHA). This charity was formed in 2011 to take over the management of the museum from Lincolnshire County Council with a view to reopening the facility for the Queen's Jubilee in June 2012.

In 2013, a few months before the death of Margaret Thatcher, the GCHA announced plans to raise funds to obtain a statue of the former prime minister.[4][5] The statue was installed on St Peter's Hill Green, close to the museum, in 2022, on a 3.2-metre (10 ft) tall plinth to discourage vandalism.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Museum page on LCC web site". Archived from the original on 10 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Exhibition unveiled at Grantham Museum to commemorate police constable Edith Smith". Grantham Journal. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Grantham Museum". Grantham Museum. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Grantham Museum confirms Thatcher statue plans". BBC News. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Margaret Thatcher Statue". Archived from the original on 26 March 2013.
  6. ^ Browns, Mark (15 May 2022). "Margaret Thatcher statue egged within hours of it being installed". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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52°54′38″N 0°38′24″W / 52.910505°N 0.639930°W / 52.910505; -0.639930 (Grantham Museum)