Help spread the word!

Our new What's on guides have arrived!  This edition is packed full of events taking place at the Palace from April to October, including talks, tours, workshops, drop-ins, cinema, theatre, concerts and much, much more!  All of the events are also listed on our website, which you can view by clicking here.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have offered to help distribute the guides to local cafés, business, libraries, visitor information centres, hotels, and anywhere else you think it would have an impact.  

If you too would like to help spread the word about Fulham Palace and the fabulous events we have planned, that would be great!  

What's on guides are available for pick up from Reception any day of the week between 10am and 4pm.  All we ask is that you let us know how many guides you are taking and where you are planning to delivery them to.  This will help us keep track of where the guides are going and avoid overlaps!

If you would like to help, but can't think of where to deliver them, that is not a problem! A list of suggested locations is also available with Reception.

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. 

Volunteer Forum Update

During our last Volunteer Forum on 17 March 2015, attendees were asked to write down their suggestions for improving Fulham Palace.  Below are those suggestions and the responses.

Income generation

• Winter Ball – fundraising event: Will consider as part of our fund-raising strategy
• Filming crews – BBC, ITV, Universal  -  secondary spend: We are registered with a few film agencies and we are getting more photo shoots now. Waiting for the big break!
• Selling produce at Farmer’s Market: Produce group just been set up, this year they will be concentrating on sales in the walled garden, but something to look into for the future.  Also asking if Friends will run a stall at the Farmer’s market once a month.
• In the absence of the competition from Garden Centre we use our access to supplier to fill gap in market to supply Fulham with garden supplies, seeds, fertilizer, compost: We will be looking at selling seeds.  Larger items will be more difficult as we cannot offer visitor parking on site at present
• More Fulham Palace branded products in the shop: We are hoping to launch our new pop up shop in reception in April/May 2015

Events

• Museums at night:  We run Museums at Night, this year will be our 3rd year. The event is on 15 May – check the What’s on for further details
• Murder mystery like Cluedo:  Will discuss at our next Events meeting
• Open House London: We do this every year, this year it will fall on Sunday 20 September 2015
• Local Businesses Day where they can come in and display their wares, cook dishes from restaurant menus, wine tastings, etc: We will talk about this further and look at how it would benefit Fulham Palace

Courses/training

• Series of gardening lectures for each season/subject area eg bulb planting, borders, veg plot etc: Will pass the ideas on to Lettie/Lucy. We have had a successful apple growing course and are about to launch a veg growing course in April.
• Gardening talks on specific topics eg beginners, propagation or dig v. no dig: As above

Signage and reception

• ‘Thank you for coming’ sign on the back of the A frame by gate of Tudor courtyard: Arlene Fraser to look into this.
• Brown sign at Putney stations, tube and National Rail: Signage group set up with staff and volunteers, meeting LBHF 25/3/15
• Signage at Putney Bridge station and Craven Cottage. Lighting could also be improved: As above
• Signage for the Palace (currently zero): As above
• Better welcome, somehow draw people on past reception: We do have receptionists on duty, and they provide a great welcome. We are looking for more volunteers to work on reception so that there is always a presence. Arlene looking at improving the lighting.
• Start tours at reception: Tours currently start in the museum but we could look at changing this.
• More to evoke the river entrance: Phase III plans will look at opening up another entrance or views to the Palace from the river and Bishop’s Park

Garden and grounds

• Replace the Banksia – or put another climbing rose in: This is the rose that was growing up the Chapel wall. It fell down because it had become too heavy, and the gardeners cut it back. Lucy will be putting a climbing rose in the garden and will look at what options there are in this position.
• Meadow at back of walled garden: Because this is used as a set up and prep area for large events we have previously not planted this up. But Lucy is looking at planting a wild flower meadow.
• Goats for the moat: We have considered goats and sheep but the concern is how to protect them from the public!  We continue to look at how we manage the moat slopes and the gardeners are attending a course next month.
• Pathway to entrance and surface in the courtyard: We would like to remove the tarmac driveway and have something more appropriate as part of Phase III. We will remove the pink sign at the top of the drive. The Tudor courtyard surface needs to be more appropriate so will also look at this as part of Phase III.

Facilities

• Double bins everywhere in stables for schools and restaurant – one recycled material, one general waste  - embarrassing with schools in particular: Arlene Fraser to put this in place

Learning and interpretation

• Display the Bishops’ Badges embroidered by many of our volunteers in past years and other embroideries done by classes: Could rotate the display in the museum and look at long term options as part of Phase III. Can photograph and put on the volunteer portal for now.
• More opportunities to display, show off and explain our very extensive costume and handling collection – at present only seen by schoolchildren: This is something we can look at as part of the consultation for Phase III
• In some of the bare rooms very limited replica period furniture – say 3 bits that can easily be moved when let out – so bare – maybe one small carpet: This is something we are looking at as part of Phase III. Hope to have replica in Great Hall and a few other historic rooms.

*‘Phase III’ is the next lottery project, including the restoration of the Tudor Quadrangle and parts of the garden.

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

Museum News

The museum at Fulham Palace enjoyed an increase in visitors the past year with 17.221 people (1.628 more than in 2013) stopping by to look at the exhibitions.

For those of you who have been enjoying the BBC TV drama Wolf Hall, or indeed the books, there is a currently a small display in the Porteus Library of Tudor bishops in Cromwell’s time. Come and take a look.

In other news, in February volunteers enjoyed two collections care courses on books and textiles led by volunteer Vicky Garrard, museum trainee Sam Lang and museum curator Miranda Poliakoff. If volunteers have ideas for future courses then please let us know.

Guest Blog – Ronny Nicholas, Garden Volunteer

Hello, I’m Ronny and I have (rather uncharacteristically) agreed to do a blog about my Wednesday stint at Fulham Palace Garden. Never having written a blog before and not being a reader of them, I’m wondering what you, the reader, would like to be reading about. While you think about that, a bit of background to set the scene:

Like many of you, I used to make the occasional visit to the Palace garden. While the walk was enjoyable, it made me sad to see the state of neglect around the garden in general and the collapse and decay in the Walled Garden in particular. Therefore, imagine my pleasure when I saw a notice in the Palace asking for volunteer gardeners – I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to help bring this garden back to its former glory. So, I had my interview with Lucy Hart and here I am writing my first blog.

Well, that was some 2 ½ years ago and what a difference the efforts of all of the volunteers and the permanent gardening team have made – all that edging, raking, mulching, composting, pruning, tree circling, sowing, pricking out and potting up, planting out and watering, not to mention levelling what looked like giant molehills in the Walled Garden, have worked wonders – with the garden overall being cleaner, more attractive and far better managed, an increasingly beautiful Walled Garden, replete with fruit and vegetable beds, a new apple orchard, beehive (and delicious honey) as well as ambitious plans for even better things.

It is interesting that on the day in the garden, my focus is essentially set on the tasks set and less so on their consequences. It is only when I pause to think, as now, about my involvement that I recall the large amount of wonderful stuff we have achieved. Go on, give everyone involved a big round of applause.

Anyway, enough of the reminiscing of an old man and a little about what he managed to do today. Well, what we did was very apposite to what I have been writing about – we weeded and tidied up the garden of the Gothic Lodge. One of the very first projects (if not THE first) we had was to clear up and prepare this patch of ground.  It was a nightmare – a large patch of horrid rubble, bottle and rock strewn clay. Boy it was fun, not! And look at it now – a pretty, colourful garden that many of us would be happy to call our own. As a metaphor for how Fulham Palace Garden has blossomed (pun intended) I can find no better example to end my first post. Onward and upward……

*Please note, the Gothic Lodge garden is private, and there is no public access.