Museums in Rural Areas

The Arts Council report (1989) Think Rural: Act Now begins with this quotation from the Rural Development Commission:The English Countryside is not an open air museum, nor is it just a Sunday breath of fresh air for town people. Country areas offer homes and jobs to 10 million people.No one still regards the countryside as an open-air museum — even the Archers addresses some of the current issues, such as the cost of housing, the decline of rural transport and the threat of new road building. However the chocolate box image of rural England is remarkably persistent — in art, poetry and our own perception. Up-market glossies like Country Life, Country Living and the Field portray an environmentalist movement promoting the consumption of pricey organically grown vegetables and designer outdoor clothing. The Hovis advert on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, the Shell pipeline simplistically slicing through Cumbria and leaving not a trace — the image rammed home is of timelessness, tranquillity, refreshment

Geography · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Museums and Cultural Heritage