Cannock Chase District Council is proposing to permanently close the Museum of Cannock Chase and the Prince of Wales Theatre, with the recommendation for the museum to close by April 2025. This move will effectively bring an end to the heritage and culture offer for the Cannock Chase District.

The council has released a report regarding the closures (see pages 179 – 187):
https://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/council/meetings/agendas-reports-minutes/cabinet/2024-11-28

From our ancient woodlands to our villages and towns as they stand today, history is deeply ingrained in our communities and in this district. No more so is that felt than at the Museum of Cannock Chase.

The museum sits on the former site of the Valley Colliery that opened 150 years ago, and inhabits the Mines Training Centre that saw the education of over 17,000 miners.

For almost 40 years, the museum has been a valued community space, a place for all ages and backgrounds to use. They continue to connect and engage people with their heritage through local community events and outreach projects, whether visitors come from down the road or as far afield as Australia. They are a valued place of education with family events throughout the year and a well-loved school programme. The museum also champions and promotes local artists and crafts. This proposal overlooks all the good that museums, and cultural institutions, play in improving the wellbeing of their communities.

The museum’s collections tells over 300 years of history of the district and wider area and have become cherished resources. They have collected and safeguarded not only our industrial history but our social history, presenting and preserving the stories of people past and present - of those people who worked to create and shape our communities, and of the people who continue to do so. This entire collection is now at risk of being lost.

To close the museum would be to dismiss the dedication and hard work of all those before us, and a dismissal of the pride and the love of the community. If the council is successful in closing the museum and theatre, what will remain of the heritage and culture of the area? That collection exists for the people of the district to use and losing it will mean losing a part of our identity. We must let our voices be heard - the council has to see how valued culture and heritage are for us. Do not let it die.

We ask you to show your support by signing this petition, sharing it, and
spreading the word. Contact your councillors and MP's.

The council will also be holding public consultations between the 29th November and the 2nd January and we please ask people to attend where they can and let their opinions be known. To quote the council "it is important that the District retains a heritage offer, but one that is more accessible and meets the needs of residents. What this new service looks like will be informed by consultation with residents, service users and local groups".

Updates will be shared throughout this time and a Facebook group has been set up: Save Cannock Chase Heritage and Culture

The above photograph from 1919 includes my grandfather, William “Bill” Thomas Withington, aged 13/14 at the time, lying on the stretcher and my great grandfather, Thomas William Withington, on the left as we look at the photo, aged 43. Both worked for Mid Cannock Colliery and were members of the ambulance team. My great grandfather was a Master Bricklayer for the Colliery and my grandfather was his apprentice who later served as a Royal Engineer for a Staffordshire Engineer Regiment during the second world war as a Master Bricklayer. With the Mines Rescue Centre once being on the site of the Museum I believe this photograph provides a historical connection between the Museum and my family.