The Museum of Cannock Chase closed to the public on 26 April 2025. But while the building may no longer be open, the important work behind the scenes is continuing – and there’s still lots to look forward to. 

If you are interested in volunteering and getting involved with our collections or community projects, email museumofcannockchase@ihlmail.org. We’d love to hear from you.

A dedicated team of collections specialists will be continuing to work from the site, alongside our brilliant volunteers. They’re taking great care of the collections, carrying out regular conservation, checking item conditions, and monitoring the environment to make sure everything is safe and well looked after.

Over the coming year, the team will also be focusing on a large-scale project to digitise and catalogue the entire collection. With support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, each item will be photographed and added to a national database of significant UK heritage items. This process will help us bring to light new and previously untold stories from Cannock Chase’s rich history. As you can imagine, items have been recorded in all sorts of ways over the decades, so this is a great opportunity to bring everything together into one easy-to-search system.

We're also excited to be working on new ways to take the museum’s collection out into the community. That is likely to include pop-up exhibitions co-created with schools and local groups, where people can help design displays based on their own interests – whether it’s mining, wartime life, or stories of everyday local families. We’re really looking forward to making local history more accessible, hands-on, and meaningful for all ages.

We plan to take some of our handling collection – items like old telephones, mangles and wash tubs – into care homes and schools. These hands-on sessions can spark memories, curiosity, and conversations across generations.

Before the decision was made to close the museum, we ran a major public consultation which saw over 2,000 people share their views. The plans now underway have been shaped directly by what local people told us was most important: keeping the collection safe, sharing more of our local history, and making sure it’s accessible to everyone in Cannock Chase.

We’re also continuing to support a local community group who are exploring the potential to re-open the museum in its current location. They’re developing their business and operational plans, and we’ll keep working closely with them as this progresses.