Guernsey Press

Museums report good attendance figures

GUERNSEY MUSEUM at Candie has had the best year for visitors in over a quarter of a century.

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Guernsey Museums’ Dr Jason Monaghan with props from the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film at Candie Museum. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 21037610)

Other museums on the island performed as well or better this year than in 2017, with a significant increase for the one at Candie.

Dr Jason Monaghan, head of heritage services, said 25,000 visitors have been to the museum so far this year.

‘We’ve already welcomed 25,000 people to Candie, which exceeds every year back to 1992. With our exciting family activities planned for December we could even come close to numbers we saw in 1991 by the end of this year. Castle Cornet and Fort Grey both saw similar overall footfall as in 2017. However, we saw an increase in ticket sales at the castle, indicating it attracted more tourists.

‘Interest in the German Naval Signals HQ increased for the second year we’ve run it, with around 800 more visitors than in 2017. Retail sales have been strong across all our sites.’

This year the museum at Candie has featured the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit, parts of a private art collection which included Damien Hirst’s butterfly print and the First World War centenary exhibitions.

Education, Sport & Culture president Matt Fallaize said: ‘It is pleasing to see the museums doing so well, playing a part both in the life of islanders and in the tourist economy.

‘The permanent staff of the museum, its seasonal staff and its volunteer team have all worked hard to achieve this.’

So far this year 57,000 people have visited Castle Cornet, 11,200 have gone to Fort Grey while 3,900 visited the German Naval Signals HQ.

n The castle, Fort Grey and Signals HQ are now closed for the winter but Guernsey Museum at Candie remains open daily 10am-4pm until the end of the Year (Christmas and Boxing Day excluded). The current exhibition is ‘Terre a L’Amende’, photographer Mark Power’s playful look at aspects of Guernsey that never appear in tourist snaps. Normal admission applies but Discovery Pass holders and their children are admitted free.