Castles, Palaces and a Zoo Among 2019 Sandford Award Winners

Historic houses, palaces, castles, museums, archives, gardens, parks and a zoo are among over 40 heritage attractions to win a Sandford Award for their high quality heritage education provision. Mr Tom O’Leary, Director of Public Engagement, Historic Royal Palaces will present the awards to a broad range of heritage attractions on Monday 18^th November at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London (one of this year’s recipients) and Caroline Marcus, Chair- Group for Education in Museums will be guest speaker at the event. Looking ahead to the ceremony, John Hamer, Chairman of the Heritage Education Trust, commented: “It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome this year’s Sandford Award winners to such a delightful venue as the V&A Museum of Childhood. The winners, coming from all parts of the United Kingdom, represent some of the best work currently being achieved in heritage education.” The Sandford Award is managed by Bishop Grosseteste University in partnership with the Heritage Education Trust and recognises and promotes quality and best practice in heritage education provided by sites across the British Isles. The Award is independently judged and offers a quality assured assessment of a site’s formal education programme. More than 500 sites including country houses, museums and galleries, archives, places of worship, wildlife parks, gardens, landscapes and different collections have received the prestigious quality mark since the scheme began in 1978. Speaking on behalf of BGU the University’s Vice-Chancellor, the Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, explained why BGU continues to actively support the awards: “Heritage sits at the heart of Bishop Grosseteste and the Sandford Award is a scheme of which we are immensely proud. It is great to see the educational work of so many of the country’s great historic buildings and institutions being rewarded for their inspirational projects designed to make heritage accessible to the public and bringing the past to life in so many creative ways.” For more information about the Sandford Awards, please contact: Jayne Ellis Sandford Award Administrator 01522 583695 Jayne.ellis@bishopg.ac.uk Photo credit: 'Learning at the Palace of Holyroodhouse' - Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019. Photographer: Jane Massey

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2019 Sandford Award winners Beaumanor Hall & Park, Leicestershire Benjamin Franklin House, London Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire Bowhill House & Grounds, Scotland Bradgate Park, Leicestershire Bramall Hall, Greater Manchester Buckingham Palace, London Cannon Hall, South Yorkshire The Charterhouse, London Chester Zoo, Cheshire Chiltern Open Air Museum, Buckinghamshire Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum, Lincolnshire Dunster Castle & Gardens, Somerset Elsecar Heritage Centre, South Yorkshire Fishbourne Roman Palace, West Sussex Fort Nelson, Hampshire Fulham Palace, London Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Somerset Hill of The O’Neill & Ranfurly House Arts & Visitor Centre, Northern Ireland Kelmarsh Hall & Gardens, Northamptonshire Kirkleatham Museum, North Yorkshire London Metropolitan Archives Lotherton, West Yorkshire M&S Company Archive, West Yorkshire Milestones Museum, Hampshire The National Archives, London National Army Museum, London National Museum of Ireland- Country Life, Ireland New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicestershire No.1 Royal Crescent, Somerset Oakham Castle, Rutlandshire Oxford Castle & Prison, Oxfordshire Palace of Holyroodhouse, Scotland Roman Baths, Somerset Royal Museums Greenwich, London Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum, Dorset Time & Tide Museum, Norfolk Ufton Court Educational Trust, Berkshire V&A Museum of Childhood, London V&A Museum, London Welsh Mining Experience: Rhondda Heritage Park, Wales Wicksteed Park, Northamptonshire Windsor Castle, Berkshire