October 25, 2021 10.44 am This story is over 29 months old

Boston could be the home of the Museum of Brexit

Boston and Peterborough head to head for Brexit museum
Statue of Herbert Ingram infront of Saint Botolph's Church in Boston. | Photo: Adobe Stock/Electric Egg Ltd

Boston’s biggest Brexit vote majority (75%) could be rewarded with a museum, with the Lincolnshire town shortlisted as one of the two potential locations for a so-called Museum of Brexit.

The Museum of Brexit describes itself a project that is “supported by many on both sides of the referendum question, and aims to provide a fair and balanced view of the campaign and what led up to the campaign”.

The trustees of the Museum of Brexit said they’re now deciding between Boston or Peterborough after 18 months of locational research, market trawling and site visits across the UK.

The location decision will be announced in early 2022 and the museum will open by late 2023, according to The Telegraph.

Also read: Boston city?! Council preparing bid to earn city status + What the locals said to our Local Democracy Reporter about the issue of Brexit last year.

In a questions page on the museum’s website it is asked if the museum will be balanced. The response stated: “Yes, because no story can be told in isolation. There were two sides to the 2016 Brexit debate, and both need to be explored.”

Lee Rotherham is a former director of special projects at Vote Leave and one of the trustees of the Museum of Brexit. He led the search for a permanent site and said: “This has been a long and involved process. Each of the 50 initial locations were put through a matrix of 14 criteria.

“This brought the long list down to a point where we could review individual sites on a separate set of fresh criteria relating to the buildings themselves. This was a difficult task as there are some remarkable sites out there.

“Everything from size, cost, transport links, support or otherwise from the local community, and council, through to ability to hire – local wage rates etc were considered.

“In the end we have decided that the two buildings most suitable for our needs are in the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, or the City of Peterborough. Both of these buildings would match the requirements of the museum in display space, archive space, and the ability to run educational programs.

“What is vital is that this project is sustainable, financially and historically. We are not looking at the next 10 years, we are looking at the next hundred.

“It is an exciting time for all of us at the museum, and we are now going through the plans and discussing with the relevant stakeholders about exactly where we will be based, and from there we will be able to start the process of creating a museum that will be able to talk about the history of Brexit, but also the longer story of the United Kingdom’s sovereignty, its international ties of trade and culture and the personal stories that bring this epoch making period of our history to life.”

The building earmarked for the Brexit museum in Boston has not been disclosed at this stage.

Reactions on Twitter to the news over the weekend weren’t so kind.

https://twitter.com/vee_terra/status/1451991434089750535

https://twitter.com/Dave_BSH/status/1452270058923864080

https://twitter.com/cherylangela54/status/1452053910030536705