Wiltshire Museum relocation plans submitted to Council
It's hoped it'll transform the former Assize Court in Devizes
Plans have been submitted for the huge relocation project of the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes.
This comes after two large charitable foundations pledged a total of £1 million towards the restoration of Devizes Assize Court, a derelict building on Northgate Street.
Wiltshire Council will now consider the planning application that details the work necessary to be able to house the “internationally important collections”.
According to the report, the judicial building ceased being used as a court in the 1980s and following “several decades of neglect” is now derelict.
It was purchased by the Devizes Assize Court Trust (DACT) in November 2018, in partnership with the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS), with the aim of relocating the Wiltshire Museum from Long Street.
Both The Rothschild Foundation and The Julia Rausing Trust donated £500,000 to the project in late 2024, with applicants still seeking further contributions towards their fundraising target.
The current museum building consists of five separate buildings linked together with 25 different floor levels.
The application reads: “Its small, cellular spaces are inaccessible to many audiences and severely limit the interpretation and display of the museum’s internationally important collections.
“The current building lacks flexible multi-use space to truly serve the needs of the museum’s growing audience.”
When complete, Devizes Assize Court will have new floors in the two historic courtrooms and a new two-storey infill extension on the footprint of the now-demolished judges’ and jury rooms.
The plans state: “This extension will provide three new large gallery spaces on the upper floor, while the existing ground floor will house a temporary gallery, a hireable multi-purpose space, an education suite, and a new café that extends into landscaped gardens connected to the canal.
"Additionally, the grand central hall will be “meticulously restored through sensitive conservation efforts”.
The building’s fabric will also be upgraded to improve thermal performance, with integrated air handling and air source heat pumps minimising CO2 consumption “as much as possible”.
The application notes: “The project vision includes reinstating the importance of this historic building as the new home for the Wiltshire Museum and transforming the surrounding landscape into a new node connecting the historic quarter of Devizes to the Kennet and Avon Canal.
“This will create a series of public wharfs, maximizing this local asset and contributing to the town’s vitality.”
Wiltshire Council is expected to make a decision by mid-March.
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