Museum in race against the clock to find new home

A man with white hair and glasses. He is wearing a white shift with a black sleeveless jacket and an apron around his waist. He is pulling a metal bar away from a table. He is focussed on the table to his left. In the background, the walls are busy with artwork. To the far left in the foreground, there is the silhouette of machinery. Image source, Norwich Printing Museum
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Norwich Printing Museum has been looking for a new home since 2019

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A museum is in a race against the clock to find a new permanent location before its lease expires.

The Norwich Printing Museum has been given until October to find a new home as its temporary lease on Blickling Estate, Aylsham, Norfolk, is set to end.

Formerly known as the John Jarrold Printing Museum, it owns one of the country's largest printing press collections.

The museum's team have been looking for a new location since 2019 and hoped that recruiting new trustees would help their efforts.

Paul Nash, the chair of the Norwich Printing Museum Trust, said that it was "really quite difficult" to find a building they could use.

The new building would need a loading bay which can fit large items, and it needs flooring capable of holding the heavy machinery.

He said: "Suitable buildings are not as common as you might think."

The temporary display on the Blickling Estate currently houses 15% of the museum's items, with the rest being kept in storage.

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The museum is also searching for new trustees to help with relocating

The museum is run by a team of six trustees. They have been looking to double their team in the New Year to help with finding a new location.

Mr Nash said that they were looking for people who were enthusiastic about the future of the museum, or with knowledge of the history of the printing press.

"We are looking for people with a passion for the museum in and around Norwich," he said.

"However, if you can bring knowledge or skills from further afield, we'll welcome that."

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