SEMFSouth and East Museums Federation AGM 2025
Wednesday 2nd July 2025
Ely Museum and the Stained Glass Museum, Ely
By Tabitha Runacres
Our July study day and AGM was a brilliant trip into the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, and members were able to get a great sense of the uniqueness of this place from their drive or train in across the extraordinary Fenland landscape.
We were welcomed by Curator Elie Hughes into to centrally located Ely Museum, which has existed in a range of forms in the town led by some rather eccentric collectors since the 1970s. The museum, an independent museum which leases the building from Ely District Council, needed to refresh its 1990s displays and began work with HAT Architects to rethink the museum spaces in 2016/17 through community engagement large scale staff and volunteer consultation.
However, a certain small crisis called COVID-19 was on the approach, but with strong personal relationships established in person and a large project contingency planned, the museum was able to close in late 2019 and be ahead of the game with virtual working and other adaptions to bear the pandemic lockdowns in 2020. We heard how the team was able to restart work on site after a 3‑week shut down, and front of house roles were moved into project roles, so capacity as a team remained manageable with no-one furloughed. Off-site outreach had already been planned for the project, but needed to be adapted to suit restrictions, including moving some activity online.
The new museum was able to open in Spring 2021, and although the ongoing activity plan had to be adjusted, the museum was able to undertake this large scale development in a time of international crisis. Since reopening, the museum has been able to gather feedback on the new displays, and make adjustments in areas. The Gaol was one area, which was a key recreated space loved by locals (mannequins, straw and all), and in the new display is a pared back prison cell for visitors to dwell in. Feedback from visitors led the team to provide more context, with audio inside and out, as well as monochrome figures within the cell on the walls.
The museum is diving headlong into ambitious plans with rejuvenated programming and local partnerships, with a dedicated exhibition space, meeting room for hire, and expanded offers like Little Explorers. The team has been able to learn key lessons from undertaking a redevelopment project and it was brilliant to see the well thought out and collaborative displays that reflect Ely’s community.
After lunch and our SEMFed AGM which welcomed a new committee member and change of President, we headed over to the Stained Glass Museum which is based in the beautiful Ely Cathedral.
The visit started with a quick climb up some stairs in the corner of the Cathedral, navigating around a school group just leaving, before coming out into the main museum welcome and main gallery space up on the balcony within the Nave. Deputy Curator Emily Allen took us through the unusual position of the museum within a working Cathedral, and some of the complexities that come with this unique location. The museum houses the UK’s only Stained Glass collection with around 3.5k windows and tools from across the world, and has been here since 1970s.
Emily went through the process of stained glass making and gave us a tour of highlight pieces of the collection – the oldest from 1210s! Currently only about 8% of the collections is on display. They comprise not only religious pieces, but others from secular buildings which have been saved. The site went through a redisplay in November 2024, with around half the gallery moved to highlight new stories and acquisitions. Emily made it clear from experience with audiences that everyone has a way into stained glass, even if they don’t think they do – whether it’s the process, the artwork, or the stories and memories. We heard how one older couple left the gallery visibly moved, after realising that a church window panel which they got married under, and thought had been destroyed, was in the museum on display!
We then headed into the museum office/storage/community space, which again has its own challenges but offer a unique space to hold their popular adult and family workshops, as well as the 90 schools kids that come at a any one time for visits. Stained glass making is on the Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts, so the wealth and range of opportunities the small team offer for audiences is extraordinary, especially given the difficulties with the sites and access. The team is applying for second stage of Designation, which would give a huge boost to the importance of the collections as a national collection. The museum is keen to move location, and by not being attached to a specific place or time, the collection could move to any location across the UK – a daunting but exciting opportunity, and we wish them the best of luck and can’t wait to hear updates!
