Museum wins national award

WARRINGTON Museum has won a national award for an exhibition it staged earlier this year.
The exhibition “Mr Smithies and the Lost Tombs of Peru” came first in the category for “projects on a limited budget” category of the Museum and Heritage Awards for Excellence.
The awards are open to all museums and heritage attractions in the UK and many of the national museums enter each year, including the National History Museum and larger museums in Liverpool and Manchester.
Judges were impressed by the team work and thought that went into what is now the most popular exhibition of recent times.
The annual awards – the Oscars of the cultural industries – had a record number of entries this year.
Museum manager Janice Hayes said: “This win is great news for us here at the museum and it really is a validation of all the hard work put in by the staff. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the show, especially Bolton Museum for lending us two of their Peruvian mummies.”
The exhibition consisted of items collected in Peru by an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist from Warrington more than 100 years ago.
It was put together by William Smithies, formerly assistant manager of a Warrington cotton mill, but also a talented archaeologist.
Between 250-300 objects, including pottery, domestic objects and metalwork, were given to Warrington Museum in 1898 by Mr Smithies.
More of his material later came to light in museums across the North West and even in London.
His grandsons offered the museum their grandfather’s Victorian photographs of his time in Peru – and the exhibition was born.
The exhibition proved so popular, its run was extended by a month.
Pictured, left to right are Derek Dick, Craig Sherwood and Michael Roberts, three of the team who worked on the project, with the trophy and certificate.