Lincoln agrees to transfer artefacts to county council

The transfer is the result of an agreement between the city and county council over the Usher Gallery

Lincoln City Council has reached an agreement to transfer ownership of a number of historic artefacts to Lincolnshire County Council.

The majority of the items were found outside the city, in Lincolnshire or elsewhere.

The transfer is part of an agreement reached regarding the ongoing operation of the city's Usher Gallery.

The council's substantial art collection will remain under the city authority's control.

The transfer solidifies the August 2021 agreement regarding the Usher Gallery's operation and the free storage, conservation, and display of the city council's art and artefacts.

At the time, both authorities also pledged to jointly pursue external funding to develop The Collection building and Usher Gallery, aiming to integrate the two adjacent sites.

It came after the city council considered transferring all items to Nottingham for safe-keeping in 2019.

The collection includes thousands of items of species, clay and fossil samples, along with Roman, Saxon, and Bronze-Age artefacts.

'Positive step'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council's strategic director Simon Walters said the cost of maintaining the materials was nominally higher than their value.

He added the county council would not be able to sell any of them.

"They have to go through a very strict process if in the future they choose to dispose of any items."

Mr Walters also pointed out Lincolnshire County Council had actually been looking after the items since 1974.

The city's Labour leader Ric Metcalfe pointed out the material was all "from outside of the city and doesn't include all the things we hold dear".

Executive member for culture at the county council Lindsey Cawrey, said: "The transfer of these artefacts is a further positive step, securing their future as permanent parts of the collection at Lincoln Museum and the Usher Gallery."