Arts Council accreditation of the largest railway museum in Rutland, Rocks by Rail, has been renewed.

Accreditation standards as applied to UK museums and galleries is the benchmark by which a Museum should be run. It identifies agreed standards and defines good practice in order to encourage future development.

Being awarded Accreditation not only opens up funding opportunities but provides access to professional advice and support. Donors and sponsors wishing to support the museum can do so in confidence that their contributions will help preserve the railway’s heritage and inspire future generations.

Before the application for Accreditation was submitted volunteers carried out a large amount of work, both physical and paper-based. Among the improvements were: better access for the disabled; reorganising relics, drawings, and artefacts; cataloguing; and arranging storage.

The full title of the museum is ‘Rocks by Rail: The Living Ironstone Museum’, and is sited on part of a former Midland Railway branch line near Oakham in Rutland. To allow further improvements to be made, it will be closed over the winter period but will reopen on Easter Sunday, 9th April 2023.

Ian Reeves, Chairman of Trustees, said: ‘We were delighted and proud to hear that we had secured re-accreditation of our volunteer run Museum. The assessment process was rigorous, the process was much impacted by problems caused by the pandemic and the result reflects enormous credit on our loyal volunteers.

“Special thanks are due to all who have helped achieve this. We believe that we have a great industrial heritage museum and it is good to have that confirmed by professional assessment.

“We are grateful for the support from Museum Development East Midlands and in particular the guidance provided by our Curatorial adviser Anita Hollinshead.

“Finally we must acknowledge the work of those volunteers who have gone before us, who developed the Museum Collection and set up a system on which we have been able to build.”