Cotswold District Council has given a vote of confidence to Cirencester’s award winning Corinium Museum by agreeing to allocate an extra £100,000 and approving recommended contractors for the new Stone Age to Corinium project.

Meeting on November 15, the CDC cabinet reviewed progress on the funding of the project and noted that the Heritage Lottery Fund had awarded a grant of almost £677,000.

The museum’s director and her team had successfully raised almost £539,000 worth of funding from other supporters.

CDC had also previously set aside £50,000 from its priorities fund but increases in construction costs and building materials meant that an extra £100,000 would be required to ensure that several existing pledges were honoured, and the chosen contractors could begin work on-site in January 2019.

Corinium Museum, which is owned by CDC and operated by leisure management contractor SLM, plans to create new Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Early Roman interactive galleries along with a new discovery centre and garden.

Objects that are currently in storage will be put on display for the first time, including rare stone and bone tools, rock art, and beakers.

This will help the museum to tell a new story about the pre-Roman occupation of the Cotswolds and support a wide range of activities, including the new prehistory educational curriculum.

Amanda Hart, museum director, said, “We’re very excited that this is now set to become a reality when work begins on site early next year.

"This project will transform the front part of the Museum, creating a warm welcome for visitors and stunning new galleries which will highlight the prehistoric Cotswolds."