Brothers’ collection of rare historic artefacts risks becoming homeless
A SIGNIFICANT collection of historic Yorkshire artefacts is under threat of homelessness thanks to the modernisation plans of a museum where it has been on display for the past 12 years.
Back in 2010, retired farmers Richard and Edward Harrison signed a long-term loan agreement with the Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton-le-Hole and donated 10,000 antiques dating back to the Elizabethan age to form what they believed was a permanent exhibition.
Yet an “indefinite display” clause was never inserted and the museum’s trustees have decided to refresh the exhibits and have “evicted” the Harrison Collection, despite having housed it in a purpose-built room named in its honour.
The brothers, who used to keep their range in the attic of their remote farm near Pickering before they downsized to a flat in Kirkbymoorside, now face a bill of thousands of pounds to put the collection in storage if they cannot find another museum to accept it within the next four months.
Advising the Harrisons is Gill Garbutt, a family friend.
“There was never an agreement that the building would remain the collection’s life home, and the new trustees have decided to implement other ideas, new displays and make more varied use of the space,” she said,
The Ryedale Folk Museum said: “The decision was made by the trustees of Ryedale Folk Museum last June (2021) not to seek a renewal to the loan of the Harrison Collection after the 10year loan period came to an end on 31 July 2022.”
The items include Elizabethan ‘roundel’ plates, chocolate moulds from Terry’s of York and Victorian food tins and sugar bowls and a collection of surgical tools.
There was never an agreement that the building would remain Gill Garbutt, a family friend. who is advising Richard and Edward Harrison.