What's On

We are looking for volunteer help with the distribution of our Autumn/Winter What’s On guide.  The guide arrived on site on Friday 25 September and has already been put through lots of letterboxes in Fulham and Putney.  We would love to get them into more letterboxes and/or into local cafes, shops, hairdressers, doctors surgeries, pubs, libraries, community centres or anywhere else that would reach the local community.  We have a distribution list that we are constantly reviewing and adding to.  Does your local café have Fulham Palace information in it?  Is there a shop or gym that you go into regularly where other customers would like to hear about the events happening at Fulham Palace?

We need your help both adding to the list and delivering leaflets to Fulham and Putney areas - and further afield if you can!  Please email communications@fulhampalace.org.uk with any suggested venues or if you would be able to take some leaflets to deliver.  Leaflets and the list will be also available from reception if you prefer to pop in                                                                                                           there.

Thank you for your help spreading the word.

Arlene Fraser

General Manager

Fulham Palace Honey

As we promised previously, Fulham Palace Honey is now on sale in the Museum Shop. Our bees have been working very hard all  year to let you have a sweet September!

This years batch is particularity tasty and the price is £9 for Fulham Palace Volunteers and £10 for general public.

Due to high demand and limited supplies sales are limited to one jar per person.

Drop into the Museum and enjoy Fulham Palace Honey for your breakfast tomorrow! 

Thanks to all the Volunteer Bee Keepers, Gardeners and Volunteer Gardeners who have helped in the production of the Honey.

And thanks, most of all,  to all the busy bees!

Marlen Armendariz

Volunteer Communication Assistant

Introduction to Volunteer Communication Assistant Marlen Armendariz

The first time I visited Fulham Palace I wondered how this amazing historical jewel was run and who was behind. When I got home I visited the website and I was pleasantly surprised by the great work of the volunteers. As I live close, I decided to apply for Volunteer Communication Assistant position. I was keen to find out how I could contribute to a local organisation whilst gaining some experience for my career. And here I am, introducing myself on the blog.

I am a graduate in Audiovisual Communication and I have years of experience as a production assistant organising film and commercial productions, events and film festivals. I came from Spain two and a half years ago to find new horizons and develop myself as a professional and as a person. And I think volunteering at Fulham Palace can cover both areas.

I am very excited about my new role! I am starting to think of new ideas to improve the communication between volunteers and we would love to hear yours, too. The volunteer website is a great way to get contact with other volunteers and hear their voices. We can use it to create a community and organise things together, especially in London where is so hard to make friends.

I would like to encourage you, my fellow volunteers to write about something you like in your volunteering role, to share your experience or even to publish a little research about something that interests you in the History of Fulham Palace.

This blog is for us and is made by us, we’ve got the power!

A last word before going on Maternity Leave

So many people have said to me early May is a lovely time to have a baby.  That I can see is very true – I have the summer months ahead, future birthday parties can be outside and its not such a problem if the heating breaks down.  What people don’t realise it's not the greatest time to go on maternity leave if you’re a Head Gardener.  There are far too many exciting things going on that I want to be involved in.  We are planting out the vegetable garden, the glasshouse is brimming with stock that we have sown, the knot garden has burst into action with spring basal cuttings to be taken, the grass has greened up and looks amazing now its had its first cut and our new venture of a mowed labyrinth is ready to be set out.  I will simply have to visit often and use Fulham Palace for the wonderful child-friendly haven that it is, as well as enjoy the horticultural developments that the Chrises (the garden supervisors) and the apprentices are getting on with.

Reflecting over the past year in the gardens we can safely say its been action packed.  We now have a fantastic composting unit that will help us manage our green waste effectively and efficiently.  We have a new orchard and have walled trained fruit trees varieties growing on in nurseries for Autumn planting as we speak.

We have our new tractor arriving that we have been able to purchase through the community’s support of our plant and produce sales.  We now have a very smart barrow to sell from based in the Walled Garden, and this project is now being run by some of our fabulous garden volunteers.

I look very forward to returning early in 2016 and planning the vegetable garden for its 4th year amongst many other things.  I’m very grateful to Jason Peters, my maternity cover, for holding the fort, leading the team and for continuing the development the Fulham Palace gardens.

Lucy Hart
Head Gardener

Walled Garden Plants and Produce for Sale

We are delighted to announce that we are now selling plants - both ornamentals and edibles, and as they become available, freshly harvested vegetables and fruit from our charming barrow in the Walled Garden.

Make sure that you visit regularly, since the produce - all of it grown in our Walled Garden - will vary depending on seasonal availability.

A huge Thank You! to all of the volunteers who have worked so hard on organising this new initiative and restoring our beautiful new barrow!

Farewell to a Familiar Face

Peter Trott is a face known to all volunteers.  As the Museum Steward he has been around for quite awhile now, having come on board in May 1992 just one week after the museum opened.  Now after a 23-year-old love affair with Fulham Palace he is retiring today, 31 March 2015.  "When you first meet Fulham Palace you just fall in love with it."  The thing he will miss most is coming in on a weekly basis and "seeing the Palace in all its glory through the seasons. It's pretty special here - like working daily in a grand country house." 

A native of Shepherds Bush and a keen advocate of local history Peter first came on board at FP after having been made redundant from a job in The City.  He decided that it was a good thing to be able to leave the rat-race behind so that he could spend more time doing things that fed his interest in local history.  He got a part time job at the Gunnersbury Park Museum and at Fulham & Hammersmith Council.  It was there he saw the FP job advertised. 

He was hired and helped with the last minute work getting ready for the official opening on 2 June 1992. When he first came to Fulham Palace there were only 2 rooms open.  The rest of the building was occupied or semi-derelict.  It has been an exciting thing for him to see the place grow and expand over the years, seeing more rooms open up, the addition of the cafe and other amenities, all of this has given him a great deal of pleasure.  Peter sees the future of FP as quite exciting and says he will of course visit from time to time. 

For our part we want to say thank you Peter for the fantastic service you have given over the years and good luck in your future endeavours. 

Fulham Palace wins Heritage Lottery Fund support

We are delighted to announce that we have received initial support* from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Discovering the Bishop of London’s Palace at Fulham project, which will restore the Palace’s Tudor quadrangle, Great Hall and gardens.

The first round pass was awarded by the HLF at a committee meeting on 12 March.  Development funding of £119,000 has also been awarded to help FPT produce detailed plans in order to make a second round application to HLF in summer 2016.  If this is successful work will begin on site in spring 2017.

Fulham Palace is a site of incredibly strong heritage merit, boasting over 1,300 years of history. In the last 10 years it has been transformed, with the support of HLF and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, from a derelict and rarely visited site into a partially restored historic house and garden with a growing following in the local community. In this next phase we will be working to complete the restoration of the Palace, open up new areas to the public and provide interpretation, exhibitions, events, training, and new roles for volunteers. Alongside this the organisation’s viability will be improved through increased income and reduced energy costs.

The total project costs are anticipated to be £3.45 million and HLF will be contributing just under £2 million if the Trust is successful at round two. FPT has 18 months to raise £1.45 million in order to make sure the project goes ahead.

Commenting on the award, Fulham Palace Trust Chief Executive Siân Harrington said: “We are so pleased that the Heritage Lottery Fund is as enthusiastic about Fulham Palace as we are, and shares our ambition to widen access and appreciation of the Palace’s rich and eventful history and horticulture.”

Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, Fulham Palace Trust has previously completed two successful projects which restored and explored the heritage of the Palace and its gardens. We look forward to seeing their completed plans for the next exciting chapter of Fulham Palace’s heritage story and to create a sustainable future for the popular site.”

About the Heritage Lottery Fund:
*Heritage Grant applications are assessed in two rounds.  A first-round pass is given when HLF has endorsed outline proposals and earmarked funding. A first-round pass may also include an immediate award to fund the development of the project. Detailed proposals are then considered by HLF at second-round and as long as plans have progressed satisfactorily and according to the original proposal, an award for the project is confirmed.

From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players’ money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. www.hlf.org.uk