Historic Barton museum restoration plans take significant next steps

Baysgarth House Museum, Barton-Upon-Humber
-Credit: (Image: GrimsbyLive/Donna Clifford)


An application for the first phase of the restoration of Baysgarth House Museum in Barton-upon-Humber has been made by The Ropewalk.

The first stage of restoring the Grade II* listed Georgian era house museum will include repairs to boundary walls and lodges, a café in the stable block and the creation also of an ice cream unit.

The application comes a month after the council publicised its agreement to lease Baysgarth House to The Ropewalk for 15 years. Baysgarth House Museum has been closed to the public since 2019.

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The Ropewalk's CEO Liz Bennett explained more about the first phase plans and their inspiration: "Two years ago during the summer a 'pop-up' café was run by The Ropewalk which established that there was a need for such a facility when the Museum re-opens to the public next year.

"Converting the former toilet block in the stable block and courtyard area into a refreshment area selling not only ice-cream but other refreshments to visitors during the summer months is a part of phase one of the plans for Baysgarth House and has been called for by users of the park, particularly when events are being held there, such as Picnic in the Park and Performance in the Park, as well as the weekly Baysgarth Park parkun."

The ice cream unit would complement plans to run a sister café to the one already run at The Ropewalk, she said. It would be run by the same team, and serve the same variety of light lunches and more.

"It’s important that Baysgarth House can provide such facilities for visitors to the park and the Museum as soon as possible after it re-opens to establish an income stream that will help towards the cost of running of this historic building."

The Ropewalk's arts centre, museum, café and studio spaces have been running for 23 years at the old rope manufactory. This is also a Grade II-listed building and Call Architecture state in an application document The Ropewalk's 23 years gives it "a strong track record in managing a capital redevelopment of a heritage building in Barton."

The council's conservation officers says plans to ensure its viable future are of public benefit
The council's conservation officers says plans to ensure its viable future are of public benefit -Credit:GrimsbyLive/Donna Clifford

The plans for a café at Baysgarth House are likely to be popular. Pre-application consultations in 2020 showed strong support for the idea.

The application states later phases will concentrate on the restoration of Baysgarth House Museum itself. The council's conservation officer has overall welcomed the intention to set up a viable future for the site, saying this "notable public benefit" should be considered when reviewing the application.

Baysgarth House was gifted to the public in 1930 and a museum opened in the property in 1981. The restoration project was previously awarded £10,000 UK Shared Prosperity Funding for a feasibility study, late last year £250,000 from the government's Community Ownership Fund, and a further £150,000 from UKSPF earlier this year.