News

An anonymous donor is making it possible with a gift of £1.45 million for the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust to go ahead with its plan for a new building for a military museum in the County, at Woodstock.

Chairman of the Trust, Brigadier Ian Inshaw, said, “This is fantastic news. We are grateful and delighted that our donor is willing to support us in this way. We have cash pledges for just under half our £4 million target, with arrangements in place to allow contracts to be let whilst we raise the other half. The project is now going ahead. “

Staff at The Oxfordshire Museum at Woodstock, in whose grounds the building will be located, are also very pleased. Carol Anderson, Museum Services Manager, praised the development, “Brilliant! This will be a museum to recognise the contribution made to the defence of the Country by the members of the County.“

The next stage is to finalise the legal arrangements. Major Hugh Babington Smith, Project Manager, described what follows, “We see ourselves going for planning permission later this year, with a view to building starting in 2010. It will be late 2011 or into 2012 before the museum opens, but in the meantime our museum team continues to work on the collections, put on exhibitions like the two currently running at Woodstock and help the public from our present base at Caversfield.”